Hong Kong to host APGC’s Junior Championship

Monday, 17 July 2017 00:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Hong Kong Golf Club will host the 2017 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation’s (APGC) Junior Championship for the Mitsubishi Corporation Cup from 30 August-1 September.

Queenie Lai Ying-tung

The championship is the latest addition to the Hong Kong Golf Association’s (HKGA) active hosting calendar. Each year, the HKGA hosts over 30 tournaments, with 38 scheduled in 2017 alone, making it one of Hong Kong’s most active national sports associations.

The HKGA also sanctions the prestigious Hong Kong Open, the city’s oldest professional sporting event, which will mark its 59th anniversary later this year.

“The HKGA is delighted to have the opportunity to host the Asia-Pacific Junior Championship,” said HKGA President Harald Dudok van Heel. “The tournament is a welcome addition to an already busy calendar of HKGA-hosted events and offers an exciting competitive opportunity for Hong Kong’s premier junior golfers. We look forward to welcoming the region’s top junior players in August.”

The tournament field draws the top juniors from across the 45-member regional confederation and follows the Youth Olympic Games format, pairing a single male and female player in each team.

During the first round teams play four-ball, in the second round a foursome, and in the final round the boys and girls play individually (stroke play).

Players who are 17 years or under as of 30 August are eligible and each APGC member can enter a maximum of two teams, with the exception of the hosts, who are allowed to enter three teams.

Entries will be announced upon the completion of the registration period in July.

The leading individual male player (in round three’s individual play competition) will be invited to take part in the Asia-Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup 2017, which will be held in Japan in September.

The leading individual female player (in round three’s stroke play) will be invited to take part in the 2018 Korea Women’s Open in June 2018.

Last year’s tournament in Chinese Taipei drew entries from 18 APGC members, as well as an invited team from the European Golf Association.

“Since the inception of the Mitsubishi Corporation Cup in 2015, the tournament has gone from strength to strength and become a sought after opportunity for Asia’s top young golfers to test their mettle in an exciting competitive format,” said General Secretary of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation Kyungjae Lee.

“We look forward to bringing the Mitsubishi Cup to Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Golf Club for the first time this summer and are confident that our partners, the Hong Kong Golf Association, will deliver another premier competition.”

Since being established in 2015, the tournament has been dominated by South Korea, whose teams have won the event for both of its first two years.