By IANS
New Delhi : The six Indian junior golfers selected to play in the final of the second Faldo Series Asia grand final tees this week at Mission Hills Golf Club in China will have an added incentive.
Not only will they compete for the title of Faldo Series Asia champion, they will also vie for a place in the European grand final of the Faldo Series 2008 and valuable R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking points up for grabs.
In addition, there is on offer a place in the Asian Tour’s Volvo Masters Asia 2008 for the leading boy.
There are no Indian girls in event, where the incentive includes a start in a flagship event on the 2008 Ladies European Tour for the leading girl.
The six Indian boys are Rahul Bakshi, Abhinav Lohan, S. Chikkarangappa, Trishul Chinnappa, Abhijit Chadha and Rashid Khan.
Supported by Mission Hills, The R&A and UBS, and hosted by six-time Major winner Nick Faldo, a total of 64 golfers, boys and girls aged 12 to 21, are taking part in the 54-hole Faldo Series Asia (FSA) grand final. The field includes 59 players from 10 different Asian countries and a further five winners from the Faldo Series grand final in Europe. Ten competitors alone are representing mainland China.
Sanctioned by the Asian Tour, the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation and the Guangdong Golf Association, Faldo will spend time with the finalists at Mission Hills, the world’s largest golf club as recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records, in order to pass on his advice and experience from over 30 years of playing at the highest level.
Other experts from the world of golf have already been educating the finalists since they arrived for practice on Monday with seminars on topics that have included life on Tour; rules and etiquette; and fitness in golf. Tomorrow, the players will receive advice on working with the media.
In a bid by Faldo to simultaneously create access to the sport for a younger audience, local schoolchildren are invited to the FSA grand final at Mission Hills on the final day, during which they will watch the finalists in action, see Nick Faldo take part in a unique skills challenge and have the opportunity to experience golf themselves in a special ‘Kids Zone’.
The FSA grand final is being played over three rounds on the highly acclaimed Faldo Course, with a cut after 36 holes. The format is gross stroke-play with trophies awarded to the leading boy in the under-21, under-18 and under-16 categories and the leading girl in the under-21 and under-16 divisions. Boys are playing from the gold tees (6,500 yards) and girls from the blue tees (6,100 yards).
The FSA trophy will be presented by Faldo to the overall champion, regardless of age or gender.