ASHENZHEN, 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 2009 Mission Hills Jack Nicklaus Junior Championship, April 29-30, on its Nicklaus-designed World Cup Course.
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.
“Our sponsorship of the Mission Hills Jack Nicklaus Junior Championship is vital to our goal of spreading the game throughout China,” says Tenniel Chu, Executive Director, Mission Hills Golf Club. “Aligning our club with Jack Nicklaus, golf’s greatest champion and ambassador, exhibits how serious we are about raising the sport’s profile.”
Says Jack Nicklaus in a statement to the contestants: “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 for the renowned 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.
About Mission Hills Golf Club
Stretching across the lush, rolling hills of Shenzhen and Dongguan in southern China, Mission Hills is China’s highest rated golf club, and the largest golf club in the world according to the Guinness World Records. The property is home to 12 resort and championship courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Annika Sorenstam, Ernie Els, Jose Maria Olazabal, Vijay Singh, David Leadbetter, David Duval, Jumbo Ozaki and Zhang Lian Wei.
Mission Hills is a full-service, luxury resort, featuring four clubhouses, three spas, a five-star hotel, three golf academies (including schools from world renowned instructors David Leadbetter and Cindy Reid), 51 tennis courts with a professional tennis academy, and numerous fine dining establishments serving cuisine from around the world. It has hosted more than 50 international tournaments, including the 1995 World Cup of Golf and the Tiger Woods China Challenge in 2001. In 2007, Mission Hills began its role as host of 12 editions of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.
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