Aiful Cup

{{infobox golf tournament

| name = The Golf Tournament in Omaezaki

| image =

| caption =

| location = Omaezaki, Shizuoka, Japan

| establishment = 1998

| course = Shizuoka Country Hamaoka Course & Hotel

| par = 71

| yardage = {{convert|6922|yd|m}}

| lang =

| org =

| tour = Japan Golf Tour

| format = Stroke play

| purse = {{currency|120,000,000|JPY}}

| month_played = July

| final_year = 2006

| defunct =

| aggregate = 268 Yasuharu Imano (2002)
268 Tatsuhiko Takahashi (2005)

| to-par = −20 Yasuharu Imano (2002)

| score =

| current_champion =

| final_champion = {{flagicon|JPN}} Toru Taniguchi

| map = Japan#Japan Shizuoka Prefecture

| map_label = Shizuoka Country Hamaoka CC

| map_caption = Location in Japan##Location in the Shizuoka Prefecture

| map_relief = yes

| map_label_position =

| map_size = 200

| coordinates = {{coord|34.655|138.095}}

}}

The Aiful Cup was a professional golf tournament held in Japan from 1998 to 2006. It was an event on the Japan Golf Tour and was played at a variety of courses throughout Japan. The final event in 2006 was titled The Golf Tournament in Omaezaki with a purse of ¥120,000,000, with ¥24,000,000 going to the winner.

Overview

The tournament was originally planned to be held as the "Aiful Cup Golf Tournament" under the special sponsorship of Aiful, a major consumer finance company.

However, Aiful's violations of the Money Lending Business Control and Regulation Law, including aggressive sales activities, severe collections, and illegal interest rates, were discovered and became a social problem. The 2006 tournament was held under the same name as the original agreement (120 million yen prize money, 24 million yen prize money for the winner, etc.).『産経新聞』2006年5月14日付大阪本社朝刊22面。 However, the tournament was abandoned after 2007 due to "various circumstances surrounding the consumer finance industry" (for the same reason, the "ACOM International" and the "LPGA Takefuji Classic" were also abandoned).「ゴルフツアー来季4戦以上消える 男の出番激減 止まらぬスポンサー撤退 賞金30億割れも」『日刊スポーツ』2006年(平成18年)11月9日付10面。

The Shizuoka Country Hamaoka Course, the venue of the tournament, used to be the site of the "DAIDOH DRINKO Shizuoka Open" (sponsored by Shizuoka Shimbun and Shizuoka Broadcasting) held every year in late March.

Tournament hosts

class=wikitable style="font-size:95%"

!Years !! Venue !! Location

2006Shizuoka Country Hamaoka Course & HotelOmaezaki, Shizuoka
2004–2005Daisen Ark Country ClubHōki, Tottori
2002–2003Golf Club Twin Fields (Gold Course)Komatsu, Ishikawa
1999–2002Ajigasawa Kogen Golf CourseAjigasawa, Aomori
1998Aomori Country ClubAomori, Aomori

Winners

class=wikitable style="font-size:95%"

!Year!!Winner!!Score!!To par!!Margin of
victory!!Runner(s)-up

colspan=7|The Golf Tournament in Omaezaki
2006{{flagicon|JPN}} Toru Taniguchialign=center|273align=center|−11Playoff{{flagicon|JPN}} Tomohiro Kondo
{{flagicon|KOR}} Hur Suk-ho
colspan=7|Aiful Cup
2005{{flagicon|JPN}} Tatsuhiko Takahashialign=center|268align=center|−161 stroke{{flagicon|JPN}} Yasuaki Takashima
2004{{flagicon|JPN}} Takuya Taniguchialign=center|270align=center|−142 strokes{{flagicon|JPN}} Katsumasa Miyamoto
2003{{flagicon|JPN}} Taichi Teshimaalign=center|269align=center|−19Playoff{{flagicon|JPN}} Katsumasa Miyamoto
2002{{flagicon|JPN}} Yasuharu Imanoalign=center|268align=center|−201 stroke{{flagicon|JPN}} Toshimitsu Izawa
2001{{flagicon|TWN}} Lin Keng-chialign=center|270align=center|−18Playoff{{flagicon|JPN}} Toru Suzuki
2000{{flagicon|USA}} Dean Wilsonalign=center|271align=center|−171 stroke{{flagicon|JPN}} Eiji Mizoguchi
1999{{flagicon|JPN|1870}} Toshimitsu Izawaalign=center|274align=center|−141 stroke{{flagicon|JPN|1870}} Toru Taniguchi
1998{{flagicon|JPN|1870}} Hidemichi Tanakaalign=center|273align=center|−151 stroke{{flagicon|JPN|1870}} Toshimitsu Izawa
{{flagicon|JPN|1870}} Tatsuo Takasaki

{{notelist}}

Source:{{cite web |title=大会ヒストリー |trans-title=Tournament history |url=http://www.aifulcup.jp/history.html |website=Aiful Cup |access-date=31 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060208175822/http://www.aifulcup.jp/history.html |archive-date=8 February 2006 |language=Japanese}}

References

{{reflist}}