Aug. 12, 2008, SHENZHEN, China — Mission Hills Golf Club — the world’s largest collection of premier golf courses with 12 layouts designed by many of the greatest golfers and golf course architects from five continents — will host the inaugural Mission Hills Jack Nicklaus Junior Championship August 20-21, 2008, on its Nicklaus-designed World Cup Course.
The tournament will be 36 holes of gross stroke play and is open to juniors of all nationalities under the age of 18. Prizes will be awarded to top-3 finishers in the Boys and Girls divisions and include complimentary golf lessons at the Mission Hills Golf Academy. The overall winner of the Boys division will also be awarded an exemption into the Mission Hills Asia-Pacific Open Amateur Championship 2009.
“Mission Hills has a proud history of fostering junior golf development in China,” says Tenniel Chu, Executive Director, Mission Hills Golf Club. “We’ve enjoyed a long association with Jack Nicklaus and look forward to growing the Mission Hills Jack Nicklaus Junior Championship into one of Asia’s ‘can’t miss’ junior tournaments.”
Opened to international acclaim in 1994, Jack Nicklaus’ World Cup design was the first course at Mission Hills. In the years since, it has hosted more than 30 international tournaments, including the 1995 World Cup and two Dynasty Cups. In April the “Golden Bear” visited Mission Hills and was presented with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the China Golf Association for his commitment to developing the sport in China.
Like Nicklaus, Mission Hills continues to do its part to grow golf in the Middle Kingdom. It is annual host of the China Championship and Grand Final for the renowned Faldo Series Asia junior circuit, offers three golf academies, including one each from celebrated instructors David Leadbetter and Cindy Reid, and regularly invites golf dignitaries like Nicklaus, Leadbetter, Nick Faldo and Vijay Singh to conduct skills clinics.
“Golf is a wonderful game,” says Chu. “Mission Hills is doing as much as it can to expose as many Chinese, both young and old, as possible. We eagerly anticipate a day in the near future when Chinese players are commonplace on leaderboards at major golf events around the world.”
