To
mark its 20th anniversary, Mission Hills - which has 12
courses at Shenzhen in
Guangdong province and 10 on the southern island of Hainan - is
opening up its Zhang Lian-Wei course
at Shenzhen and Stepping Stone and
Double Pin courses at Haikou (on Hainan) to
nurture the development of junior golf as
the sport prepares for its return to theOlympic Games
in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
"For
the past 20 years, Mission Hills has been committed to
promoting and popularising golf in China, especially among
junior golfers," the vice chairman of Mission Hills Group,
Tenniel Chu, said in making the announcement. "By providing open
access for juniors to our Zhang Lian-Wei, Stepping Stone and
Double Pin Courses we hope more giftedOlympic golf talents
can be nurtured."
Mr
Chu, who is secretary-general of the One Asia tour and the president
of the Guangdong Golf Association, said it always had
been Mission Hills' vision to promote junior golf development
and support the growth of the game internationally.
Among
its junior golf development initiatives have been staging
the Asian Amateur Championship in 2009, a partnership with Nike
Golf in 2011 to create the Mission
Hills Nike Golf Junior Championship attended by Tiger
Woods, and partnering with modern legends including Jack Nicklaus,
Greg Norman, Sir Nick Faldo and Annika Sorenstam to host junior
tournaments open to junior golfers worldwide.
Already,
one winner from these tournaments, China's 14-year-old prodigy, Guan
Tianlang, has qualified for the 2013 Masters and in April will become
the youngest player ever to participate in the tournament.
Dominic
Wall, the Asia-Pacific director of golf's governing body, the R&A,
said: "This is a wonderful initiative for junior golf
and Mission Hills must be congratulated for showing
leadership in this area. This will lead to many more children taking
up golf, which can only enhance development of golf in
China."
The
Zhang Lian-wei course has been named the world's leading par-3 course
by US Golf Magazine. Stepping Stoneand Double Pin
are part of the world's largest
collection of
lava golf courses on Hainan. Double Pin has two pins
(flags) at each green, enabling players of all levels to hone their
game in the complex's visually stunning landscape.
