The early part of the year is traditionally one of the busiest periods for the Hong Kong Golf Association – this is when some of our major events are held – and I’m glad to report that 2011 has so far been highlighted by some excellent displays from local golfers.
Arguably the standout performance so far has been Shinichi Mizuno’s fantastic effort in winning the Montrose Fine Wines
Hong Kong Close Amateur Championship at Fanling over the Lunar New Year. The 17-year-old played tremendously well to hold off the challenge of three-time Hong Kong Golf Club champion Max Wong and will once again play at the UBS Hong Kong Open as a result. I’m sure he’s looking forward to teeing it up with the some of the greatest names in golf, and I wish him the best of luck.
Shinichi’s win was the third year in a row that a junior golfer (i.e. someone under the age of 18) has triumphed at the Close. His win follows Liu Lok-tin last year and Steven Lam in 2009. This, I believe, shows superb progress and certainly underlines the success of the HKGA’s Junior Development Programme.
Another junior, Tiffany Chan, was equally as impressive in winning the Hong Kong Ladies Close Championship, which was held at Discovery Bay Golf Club at the end of February. It was the second year in a row that Tiffany has won the tournament and she finished in style with a final round of 71, one-under-par. Congratulations to her.
A very young ladies’ team travelled to Delhi Golf Club in India to represent Hong Kong at the recent Queen Sirikit Cup – officially known as the as the Asia-Pacific Ladies International Golf Team Championship. Mimi Ho, Michelle Cheung and Tiana Lau were by far the youngest competitors at the event, but put in admirable performances which bode very well for the future. You can read more about how they fared at the bottom of this page.
Naturally the success of local junior golf wouldn’t be possible without the help of all the staff and volunteers who put so much time and effort into making the numerous tournaments held throughout the year run smoothly. Nor would the Development Programme be able to grow the game in Hong Kong without the contributions of our corporate sponsor, EFG Bank. Headed by Albert Chiu, chief executive for Asia, and Chairman Robert Chiu (both pictured here), EFG has been a fantastic supporter of junior golf in our community and I’m delighted that they will continue their contributions for the year ahead to the tune of HK$1.2 million. The announcement of this was made at during the EFG Bank Junior Golf prize presentation dinner held at the Hong Kong Football Club just before the Lunar New Year and I would like, on behalf of the HKGA, to offer my most sincere thanks to them. Their commitment to local junior golf is unsurpassed.
A final word to the non-playing team captains who voluntarily give up their time to travel and look after the international sides. Their dedication is greatly appreciated.
—Ning Li President HKGA
Click here to see the published article.
