Displaying The Skill and Focus Of Tomorrows Professionals
Seventy-two junior golfers displayed the skill, focus and determination of tomorrow’s professionals when they competed for their age group title at the 10th HSBC Wee Wonders Championship. Following in the footsteps of their heroes they gathered at the Belgove Course, St Andrews, Scotland last weekend (September 9th and 10th) and fought many close battles in their bid to lead their respective fields and earn a place in the US Kids Golf Championship 2006.
The strength of the girl’s field was evident throughout the competition with Samantha Fuller (Chiswick) winning her age group (5-6) by the greatest margin across all the age groups.
While 10 year old Leona Maguire (Ballyconnell), who plays off a 14 handicap, lead the girl’s field outright at the end of the Grand Final with a score of 61 and had the second best score across the entire field after round one finishing 2 under par.
Across the boy’s field there were many close contests; in the boys 7 – 8 age group category Tim Harry (Glamorgan) beat off strong competition from Lewis George (Crewe), Josh Thorley (Burton-On-Trent) and Billy Spooner (Peterborough), who had placed number two in the 2005 US Kids Championship, to win his place in the 2006 US Kid’s Championship Team.
While in the boys 9 – 10 age group category Aaron Rai (Wolverhampton) and William Aldred (Welwyn Garden City) displayed the same winning form that took them both to first place in 2004 and fought the closest contest of the 2005 Championship with Aaron coming from behind to secure his victory with a strong finish of 3, 3, 2.
Highlighting the determination and focus of all HSBC Wee Wonders was the effort of Rhys Pugh (Pontypridd); after his third attempt to reach the Grand Final he completed two rounds of three under par and finished on 54 (6 under par finish).
Rhys will now join 11 other HSBC Wee Wonders in the Team HSBC Wee Wonders GB & I when they compete in the 2006 US Kids Championship.
The HSBC Wee Wonders Open Golf Championships is the UK’s leading golf competition for boys and girls aged 5-12 years old with well over 10,000 competitors since its inception in 1995. The Championships requires competitors to play 36 shots and place their flag where their final shot finishes. Played on a par 3 course the winners are those achieving the greatest distance around the course. The format used makes it enjoyable for all levels of golfer to experience the thrill of competitive golf, including family members watching on.
HSBC’s association with Wee Wonders is part of a broader commitment to golf. From the junior and amateur golf level grassroots level to the title sponsorship of the professional game’s high profile tournaments. HSBC’s program of golf sponsorship now extends over three regions and includes the Women’s World Match Play at Hamilton Farm Golf Club in New Jersey (USA) in July, the HSBC World Match Play at Wentworth Club (UK) in September and the HSBC Champions at Shanghai Sheshan International Golf Club in November.
Alasdair Good PGA, Director of Wee Wonders Limited, said, “2005 is set to be our best year yet. It is also a big birthday year in which we will be celebrating 10 years of the Championships. The continued support from HSBC is key in securing our future as well as developing opportunities for junior golf”.
Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A, remarked, “Encouraging youngsters to take up golf is of paramount importance to the future of our sport. To do so through organising a competition of the scale of Wee Wonders is wonderful not just for the game but also for the youngsters themselves. Here at The R&A we applaud HSBC Wee Wonders and look forward to following its progress throughout the season. Our best wishes go to all competitors.”
William Parry, Head of Sponsorship at HSBC, commented, “HSBC is delighted to be extending its support of the Wee Wonders event. 2005 is a big year for our golf sponsorship programme, and in keeping with this we continue to focus our efforts not just on the world’s leading men’s and women’s professionals, but also on the thousands of aspiring boys and girls golfers throughout GB&I. This year also being the tenth anniversary, we felt it a fitting gesture to reward Alasdair Good and his team of organisers, who have given so much to the event, that we step up our sponsorship and overall involvement to mark these celebrations”.
Contact:
Nereda Lark or Tawny Hazelwood
Octagon
020 7862 0060
nereda.lark@octagon.com or tawny.hazelwood@octagon.com