Best Hope of Local Victory

Jason Hak, Hong Kong’s No.1 player, bids to become the tournament’s first local winner after Australian Daniel Nisbet prevailed at The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club last year

Last year, Australian Daniel Nisbet emerged victorious after a playoff, describing Clearwater Bay as “the most breathtaking course I’ve ever played”.

Hak will again carry Hong Kong’s best hope of a local victory at the Clearwater Bay Open, which this year has an increased purse of RMB1.5 million, up 25% from RMB1.2 million last year. “There was a bit of attention on me last year because I’m from Hong Kong. I fell away a bit after the second round, but I had a good weekend and finished OK,” said Hak, who tied for 20th after a seven-under-par closing round of 63.

19-year-old Jin Cheng has accepted a sponsor invite to compete at the second Clearwater Bay Open and admitted he’s eager to return to the scene of his greatest triumph. Jin shot a first-round 62 on his way to winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur title, which earned him a spot in last year’s Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, where the-then 18-year-old missed the cut in his major championship debut but enjoyed global exposure.

Jin has plenty of experience of professional tournaments so far, playing regularly on the PGA TOUR China in 2014 and 2015. In April this year, he competed in the PGA TOUR’s RBC Heritage on an invite. In early 2016, he made the cut at both the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and Maybank Championship Malaysia – both European Tour events – after receiving invitations on the back of his Asia-Pacific Amateur win in Hong Kong.

Last year, local stalwart James Stewart competed on an invite from the Hong Kong Professional Golfers’ Association (HKPGA), while the Hong Kong Golf Association (HKGA) awarded an invite to amateur Leon D’Souza, then 18. Fellow teenage amateurs Isaac Lam and Yue Yin-ho extended the Hong Kong presence in the field when they progressed through the Monday qualifying tournament.

This year’s Clearwater Bay Open will again feature a Monday qualifier, which offers the chance for Hong Kong amateurs and pros to join the field, while local players could again compete on sponsor invites in the 120-player line-up.

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Written by Louie Chan

Photography by Liu Zhuang

Click here to see the published article.

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