Photo by: Photo Supplied

The 2008 FCC Indochina Cambodian team players.

CORPORATE golf is about to tee off again this year at Siem Reap's Angkor Golf Resort, with the ANZ Royal Bank Invitational Golf Tournament to be first onto the fairway for 2009.

This tournament will take place on Sunday, March 22, at Angkor Golf Resort; and the resort's operations manager, Adam Robertson, said a field of about 80 golfers is anticipated for this year's tournament, a big increase from the 46 international players at last year's inaugural ANZ Royal Bank Invitational.

ANZ Royal's CEO Stephen Higgins told Scene, "The golf day provides an excellent opportunity for us to spend time with some of our customers in a more relaxed environment and is also a great chance for our customers to meet each other".

FCC Angkor is leading the charge this year in the golf stakes, with two events locked in and talks of more to come.

Arrangements are now in place for this year's FCC Indochine Cup at the Angkor Golf Resort - the three-day regional tournament that is loosely based on the Ryder Cup and has now been scheduled for September 18-20.

Last year the tournament was played between teams from Cambodia and Vietnam.

 But this year the plan is to draw in more players from other countries around the region.

FCC is also hosting an actual Ryder Cup organisation tournament on May 14-17, at present dubbed the Ryder Cup XXV.

Two teams of 20 US players each will compete in a series of three 18-hole playoffs.

Last year the Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa started a golf program by hosting the De Bortoli Invitational Pro-Am 2008 three-day golf tournament at the Angkor Golf Resort.

This was an all-Australian event, and with the Aussie dollar now languishing in the doldrums, it's uncertain whether this tournament will be on this year's agenda.

Siem Reap's third golf course, the Siem Reap Lake Resort Golf Club, has flagged interest in corporate golf, but no events have been scheduled.

Meanwhile, there has been some confusion about the number of holes at this golf club, with some media reports claiming the course has 27 holes.

But Miss Ha-Na Hong, head of the club's management support team, confirms that the course is an 18-holer.