HONG KONG, 17 Aug 2015, (HK Golfer News Wire) - Both Hong Kong national players will now head to the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions in Shanghai for a unique, all-expenses-paid golf education experience courtesy of HSBC, sponsors of the Hong Kong Golf Association’s Junior Golf Programme.
“To win in my final year as a junior and seal the double is a special feeling,” said a smiling D’Souza who also triumphed in the Hong Kong Junior Close Championship at the same venue earlier in the year. “The opportunity to go to the HSBC Champions and watch the world’s best players in action is big. My ultimate dream is to be competing in tournaments like that one day.”
The HKGA’s Exclusive Banking Partner, HSBC will invite D’Souza and 16-year-old Lee on a week-long trip to Shanghai where they will participate in the Pro-Am, enjoy access to top players, learn from industry professionals, watch play from inside the ropes and volunteer at the event itself.
The once-in-a-lifetime trip will conclude with a match between the HKGA juniors and their peers from the China Golf Association played on the Championship course at Sheshan. The match will feature two boys and two girls in each team with D’Souza and Lee being joined by two further players selected by the HKGA. The CGA will select their team of four. The match format will be 18-hole stroke play with the winners decided by the lowest aggregate of the best three scores for each team.
Thanks to a brilliant four-under 67 in wet conditions, D’Souza finished at one under par over three days to win by six shots from the Hong Kong duo of Lou Tan and overnight leader Ku Lung-hei. In the girls’ division, Vivian Lee finished on 218 to win convincingly by 13 from Chinese Taipei’s Sasaki Yukie with Hong Kong’s Emily Leung in third.
With more than 90 players in the Junior Open field, several pupils from Pun U Association Wah Yan and SKH St. James’ Primary Schools were also at Discovery Bay to watch the action unfold. The local school children also took part in some ShortGolf training as part of the HKGA’s HSBC Golf For Schools programme.
Also supported by Exclusive Car Partner Mercedes-Benz, the Hong Kong Junior Open continues today when the under 11-year-olds compete over 18 holes at Hong Kong Golf Club’s Deep Water Bay.
Leading final scores:
Boys’ 15-17:
212 – Leon D’Souza (HKG) 71 74 67; 218 – Lou Tan (HKG) 72 75 71, Ku Lung-hei (HKG) 75 69 74.
Girls’ 15-17:
218 – Vivian Lee (HKG) 72 71 75; 231 – Sasaki Yukie (TPE) 73 82 76; 233 – Emily Leung (HKG) 74 83 76.
Boys’ 13-14:
221 – Zhang Yifu (CHN) 71 74 76; 222 – Taichi Kho (HKG) 72 74 76; 232 – Cyrus Lee (HKG) 77 79 76.
Girls’ 13-14:
237 – Selina Li Yuen-yuet (HKG) 81 76 80; 238 – Zhu Wenqi (CHN) 73 82 83; 242 – Wendy Hsiao (TPE) 80 81 81.
Boys’ 11-12:
154 – Kent Hsiao (TPE) 76 78; 158 – Lin Yige (CHN) 82 76; 160 – Hu Ze-sen (HKG) 83 77.
Girls’ 11-12:
142 – Yang Manli-xiang (CHN) 70 72; 150 – Chloe Chan (HKG) 73 77; 153 – Tiffany Wu Nga-wun (HKG) 77 76.