For the first time in 20 years, the Masters Tournament is adding a new way for amateurs to reach Augusta National Golf Club.

Billy Payne, tournament and club chairman, announced in February the creation of the Asian Amateur Championship. The winner will earn a spot in the 2010 Masters.

"Amateurs have always been critical to the tradition and history of the Masters," Payne said. "The continuation and prominence of amateurs in the field is a salute to our grass roots and a way to showcase golfers as they are developing."

The inaugural Asian Amateur Championship will be held Oct. 29-Nov. 1 at Mission Hills Golf Club in China.

The 72-hole stroke play event will have a field of no more than 120 players, and competitors will come from Asia-Pacific-affiliated countries.

The Masters has offered spots for five amateur participants in its field: the U.S. Amateur winner and runner-up, the British Amateur winner, the U.S. Public Links champion and the U.S. Mid-Amateur winner.

The new Asian tournament is being created in partnership with the Royal &Ancient, which governs golf outside of the United States, and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, which represents 32 countries in the region. The winner and runner-up will earn places in international final qualifying for the British Open.

The event will be played in other countries affiliated with the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, and the 2010 Asian Amateur Championship is already scheduled to be held in Japan.

Reach John Boyette at (706) 823-3337 or john.boyette@augustachronicle.com.