KUALA LUMPUR: The tough economic climate has claimed another scalp with the postponement of the inaugural Vascory Classic next month.

Jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour, the US$750,000 (RM2.87mil) event was scheduled to take place from August 20-23 at Templer Park Country Club.

The Star reported on Friday that the tournament will now move to April 2016 to coincide with the club’s 25th anniversary celebration.

A source close to the organisers told The ClubHouse that they have found it difficult to convice willing co-sponsors as businesses struggle to cope with the introduction of the Goods & Services Tax (GST) regime in April as well as the continued weakening of the Ringgit against the greenback.

“The early interest shown by many companies has tapered down and some have indicated that they are not in a position to back a professional golf tournament at the moment. Pushing the event to next year will give the organisers more time to source for sponsors and make the event a real success and not just a vanity project,” the source noted.

The ClubHouse also understands that title sponsor Vascory Land is rethinking its sponsorship arrangements for this year. The company pulled its support from the flourishing domestic Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour in June, citing differences with the Tour.

The postponement, nonetheless, is a big blow to the Asian Tour schedule, with another notable Malaysian event – the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters also being called off recently. The Chiangmai Golf Classic, scheduled from Sept 3-6, has also been cancelled because of the current political situation in the kingdom.