(SHENZHEN, China) – Jian Chuan Lin from Guangdong secured himself a place in the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final following a convincing five-shot victory in the third China Championship at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen.
Lying two shots off the lead after day one with a 74, 14-year-old Jian showed great maturity in round two to shoot a one-over-par 73, the lowest round of the day, and finish on 147, five ahead of his nearest challenger. As well as receiving the challenge trophy and the boys’ under-16 gold medal, his reward is a place in the Grand Final, back at Mission Hills in March 2009, and the chance to spend time with six-time Major winner Nick Faldo.
Joining Jian in the Grand Final will be the other gold medallists from the China Championship: Yang Shao Shan of Myanmar (boys’ under-21); Thailand’s Koravit Pakhim Kwok (boys’ under-18); Zhang Yu Yang of China (girls’ under-21); and Hong Kong’s Xin Zhuo Si (girls’ under-16). Wild-cards were also awarded to leading Chinese players Li Zheng (boys’ under-21); Zhu Wei Yu (boys’ under-18); and He Miao Er (girls’ under-16).
Supported by Mission Hills, The R&A and UBS, over 90 leading young golfers, boys and girls aged 11 to 21, competed in the China Championship at Mission Hills. In a bid to develop tomorrow’s champions, the competitors experienced strict tournament conditions on the course; while off the course they received expert advice from golf coaches at the Mission Hills David LeadbetterGolf Academy. Local schoolchildren were also invited to receive free coaching and watch the competitors in action, part of Faldo’s drive to simultaneously create access to the sport at a grass-roots level.
Also backed by Korn/Ferry International, the China Championship was the third of 12 Faldo Series Asia events in 2008/2009, including four in China plus one in each of Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand andVietnam.
Sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, over 60 competitors from across the region will qualify for the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final on the Faldo Course at Mission Hills, China in March 2009. As well as spending time with the six-time Major winner, the finalists will be hoping to emulate the 2007 champion, 17-year-old Rashid Khan of India. Khan’s victory earned him a place in the international Faldo Series Grand Final and, courtesy of the Asian Tour, a start in the Volvo Masters Asia and a scholarship to stage one of Asian Tour qualifying school.
Leading final scores (from China unless stated): Boys under-21: 153 – Yang Shao Shan (Myanmar, 77, 76); 156 – Chew Cheng Han (Singapore, 73, 83). Boys under-18: 151 – Koravit Pakhim Kwok (Thailand, 74, 77); 155 – Zhu Wei Yu (77, 78). Boys under-16: 147 – Jian Chuan Lin (74, 73); 152 – Zhou Pei (South Africa, 75, 77). Girls under-21: 152 – Zhang Yu Yang (72, 80); 160 – Liu Yun Yun (82, 78). Girls under-16: 153 – Xin Zhuo Si (Hong Kong, 80, 73); 153 – Peng Jie (Chinese Taipei, 73, 80).
For information on the Faldo Series Asia visit www.nickfaldo.com
About the Faldo Series Asia
Nick Faldo launched the Faldo Series Asia (‘FSA’) in January 2006 to bring opportunities to young people in Asia through golf and to help identify and nurture the region’s next generation of champions.
The FSA features an annual schedule of tournaments in different territories across the region. Over 60 players qualify for the FSA Grand Final, hosted by the six-time Major winner on the Faldo Course at Mission Hills Golf Club in China.
Combining experience with education, FSA tournaments give talented young golfers, boys and girls aged 11 to 21, the chance to benefit from top-level competition under strict tournament conditions and receive expert advice from guest speakers on golf related topics. Simultaneously local children gain access to golf at the tournaments through a programme of grass-roots activities and the chance to watch the competitors in action.
Part of Faldo’s charity, The Faldo Trust for Tomorrow’s Champions (Asia) Limited, and underwritten by Faldo himself, the FSA is supported by major partners Mission Hills, The R&A and UBS and patron Korn/Ferry International. It is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC).
About Mission Hills Golf Club, China
Founded in 1994 and located just 30 minutes drive from the Hong Kong border, Mission Hills is the World’s No. 1 Golf Club, accredited by the Guinness World Records™, with 12 signature courses, each designed by golf legends from the five continents: Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorenstam, Vijay Singh, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els, Greg Norman, Jose Maria Olazabal, David Duval, David Leadbetter, Jumbo Ozaki, Pete Dye and Zhang LianWei. It is an exclusive gated residential community housing a world-class five-star hotel, spa and country club with the largest tennis facility in Asia. Mission Hills is also an infrastructure that spreads over 15 square kilometres of land and is the first home to the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in China.
Mission Hills has hosted many golf competitions and exhibition events, and is the proud venue for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup from November 2007 until 2018 for 12 consecutive years.
Hosting major tournaments has been a regular activity at Mission Hills and it all started with the first international golf tournament in China back in 1995, the 41st World Cup of Golf; followed by the Tiger Woods China Challenge in 2001 and the first two editions of the Dynasty Cup in 2003 and 2005. The Club is also the venue for the Mission Hills Asia Pacific Open Amateur Championship for the next 10 years and the “Home of the Faldo Series Asia.” Mission Hills was recently voted Golf Resort of the Year for the Rest of the World category by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO).
About The R&A
The R&A is golf’s world rules and development body and organiser of The Open Championship. It operates with the consent of 130 national and international, amateur and professional organisations, from almost 120 countries and on behalf of an estimated 30 million golfers in Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific and The Americas (outside the USA and Mexico). The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the game’s governing body in the United States and Mexico.
About UBS
UBS’s appointment as a ‘Major Partner’ of the Faldo Series Asia highlights the bank’s commitment to helping the next generation of Asia Pacific golfing stars reach their potential and joined its unrivalled stable of elite golfing properties in Asia Pacific in April, 2006.
UBS is one of golf’s most significant pan-regional sponsors of golf in Asia Pacific with a portfolio that includes the flagship UBS Hong Kong Open, which will celebrate its 50th edition in 2008, the UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship, the ‘players championship’ of Japanese men’s golf, and the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai, where it is the ‘Official Financial Services Provider’.
In addition, UBS is title sponsor of The UBS Golf Club, a leading golf television show broadcast throughout Asia on the ESPN STAR Sports network and The Golf Channel Japan in English, Chinese and Japanese, according to territory.
Internationally, UBS has partnerships with THE PLAYERS Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the US PGA Tour.
UBS is one of the world’s leading financial firms, serving a discerning international client base. Its business, global in scale, is focused on growth. As an integrated firm, UBS creates added value for clients by drawing on the combined resources and expertise of all its businesses.
UBS is the leading global wealth manager, a top tier investment banking and securities firm, and one of the largest global asset managers. In Switzerland, UBS is the market leader in retail and commercial banking.
UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices in 50 countries, with about 39% of its employees working in the Americas, 34% in Switzerland, 16% in the rest of Europe and 11% in Asia Pacific. UBS’s financial businesses employ more than 80,000 people around the world.
Its shares are listed on the SWX Swiss stock exchange, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).
Contact:
Stephen Reynolds
Buffalo Communications
For Mission Hills Golf Club
703.761.1444
sreynolds@billycaspergolf.com
www.buffalocommunications.com
