The largest field in Hong Kong golf assembled in early June for the Bolle Midsummer Classic. Played over the New Course at The Hong Kong Golf Club, over 300 local golfers took part in the annual two-day event, although it was the men’s gross stroke play competition, a division reserved for lower handicappers that provided the most drama.
As is usually the case at the Midsummer Classic, the tournament was played in extreme heat and humidity – but Charles Stone, among others, put in some fine performances.
Stone, a former Hong Kong Junior Close champion, has just completed his freshman year at Yale and immediately got back into the swing of things at his home course; the Fanling member firing a classy 71 over a slightly modified layout (the par-four ninth hole was closed; competitors played the par-three thirteenth hole twice, albeit to different greens), which was two-over-par on the day.
Stone finished just one stroke ahead of Winston Wu, who had to settle for his second successive runner-up finish at this event. Terrence Chung, Adrian Leung and Bibendum Leung placed in a tie for third, a further shot back. Jay Won, the Discovery Bay Golf Club member who has put in a number of notable showings in recent times, would have joined the trio had it not been for a disastrous end to his round. The Korean-born Won made a quadruple bogey eight at the tricky par-four eighteenth to drop into a share of twelfth.
“It all came together for me,” said Stone, who has been practicing with the Yale Golf Team for the past semester. “It’s my lowest score for some time, so it’s nice to get back to shooting in the low 70s. The key was being able to keep the mistakes to a minimum. All in all it was a pretty solid round, which I’m very happy about.
“My goal is to get on the [Yale] team, so this is a nice confidence boost ahead of the next season.”—Alex Jenkins
Men’s Gross Stroke Play Results
1 Charles Stone 71
2 Winston Wu 72
3= Terrence Chung 73
Adrian Leung 73
Bibendum Leung 73
6= Oliver Roberts 74
Edwin Lam 74
Tim Gilmore 75
9= Nicky Au 75
Andrew Tsui 75
Ladies’ Gross Stableford Results
1= Michelle Lee 29
Ruby Yim 29
3 Miranda So 28
4= Cheung Ping 26
Jasmine Chee 26
6 Rita Chan 25
7 Lun Hau-yee 24
8 Ann Chan 23
9= Alice Karr 22
Kelly Kung 22
A full list of results can be found at www.hkga.com
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