By IANS
Kolkata : India’s next generation of golfers will line up in the Faldo Series Asia India championship at the Tollygunge Club here Nov 13-14, all hoping to win the chance to learn from six-time Major winner Nick Faldo.
Last year’s winner, 20-year-old Anirban Lahiri will not be present to defend his title having decided to turn professional. However, there will be a host of other leading amateurs in the field, boys and girls aged 12 to 21, all hoping to win one of six places on offer at the 2007 Faldo Series Asia grand final, to be hosted by Faldo at Mission Hills Golf Club in China Dec 12-14.
Nick Faldo launched FSA in January 2006 to bring opportunities to young people in Asia through golf and to help identify and nurture the region’s next generation of champions.
Commented Nick Faldo: “I have been impressed by the dedication and talent among young golfers in India ever since we started the Faldo Series Asia. I am sure there will some more impressive performances this year and I look forward to spending time with the winners in China.”
“I would like to thank the Indian Golf Union for its continued support and the Tollygunge Club for hosting this year’s event,” added Faldo.
Supported by Mission Hills, The R&A and UBS, the FSA was set up by Faldo to develop future champions.
During the FSA India championship, the competitors will experience strict tournament conditions on the championship course at the Tollygunge Club, while off the course they will receive expert advice from a guest speaker.
Furthermore, younger children from the community will be invited to receive free coaching and watch the players in action as part of Faldo’s drive to simultaneously increase access to the sport at a grass-roots level.
The India championship will be the ninth of 11 FSA events in 2007 in nine countries, including three in China plus one each in Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the UAE.
Sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, over 60 competitors from across the continent will qualify for the 2007 FSA grand final on the Faldo course at Mission Hills.
Not only will they have the opportunity to learn from Faldo, they will also be hoping to follow in the footsteps of the 2006 champion, 18-year-old Nakarin Ratanakul of Thailand, whose victory earned him a game with Faldo, a place in the Faldo Series grand final in Europe and, courtesy of the Asian Tour, a start in the Volvo Masters of Asia and a scholarship to stage one of Asian Tour qualifying school.