World To Pay Close Attention To Mission Hills Gathering, Says Nicklaus

World To Pay Close Attention To Mission Hills Gathering, Says Nicklaus

Courtesy of Asian Golf Monthly

Shenzhen (April 29): The eyes of the golfing world will be trained on China’s Mission Hills Golf Club this week when the stars of tomorrow lock horns in the Mission Hills Jack Nicklaus Junior Championship.

The 36-hole event will be played over the acclaimed Nicklaus-designed World Cup Course on April 29-30.

Inspired and supported by Nicklaus’ passionate efforts in the area of junior golf development, Mission Hills set out in 2008 to create a tournament in his name to give young, gifted players the opportunity to compete under professional tournament conditions.

For the second consecutive year, a field of girls and boys under the age of 18 will contend for a collection of prizes, the most prestigious of which includes an exemption to the inaugural Asian Amateur Championship in October 2009, as well as an opportunity to play in September’s The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy in Scotland.

Tenniel Chu, executive director, Mission Hills Golf Club, said: “Our sponsorship of the Mission Hills Jack Nicklaus Junior Championship is vital to our goal of spreading the game throughout China.

“Aligning our club with Jack Nicklaus, golf’s greatest champion and ambassador, exhibits how serious we are about raising the sport’s profile.”

In a statement to the contestants, Nicklaus said: “Many expect China to be the breeding ground for golf’s next great player. The world will be paying close attention this week as some of the stars of tomorrow converge on Mission Hills, the world’s largest and most heralded golf resort.

“I’ll be watching with interest to see who emerges as winner of the Mission Hills Jack Nicklaus Junior Championship.”

Opened to international acclaim in 1994, Jack Nicklaus’ World Cup design was the first course at Mission Hills. Site of more than 30 international tournaments, including the 1995 World Cup, it will host October’s inaugural Asian Amateur Championship.

The Asian Amateur Championship is the first golf amateur tournament in the Pacific Rim to offer its winner an exemption to the Masters Tournament.

Mission Hills’ other contributions to junior and amateur golf in Asia include sponsorship of the Grand Final of the Faldo Series Asia junior circuit; offering three golf academies, including one each from celebrated instructors David Leadbetter and Cindy Reid; and regularly inviting golf dignitaries like Nicklaus, Leadbetter, Nick Faldo and Vijay Singh to conduct skills clinics at the club.