By IANS
Beijing : The race for 13 slots in this year’s Volvo China Open April 17-20 will begin when the International Qualifying tournament is staged at Discovery Bay Golf Club in Hong Kong,
More than 70 hopefuls, including regulars from the Asian Tour, will shoot for one of four available spots in Hong Kong Feb 27-28 to play in the Open Championship of China.
Three other 36-hole qualifying competitions are open to men, women and juniors from China who meet the conditions of entry and will be held across the country in March and April.
The qualifying tournaments in China will offer a total of nine spots into the Volvo China Open that will take place in Beijing CBD International Golf Club and is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and China Golf Association.
“Last year we were pleasantly surprised by the numbers who entered for International Qualifying and local qualifying,” said Alistair Polson, executive director of the Volvo China Open.
“There’s a whole new crop of young ambitious professionals with dreams of making an early impact by doing well in a big event. So competition for starting spots is getting more intense. With four places in the Open available via international qualifying, we expect quite a rush of entries.”
“We’ve put in $100,000 into prize money. $30,000 will go to each of the mainland events and $10,000 to international qualifying. We hope that this will further boost the total number of players who will enter the qualifying tournaments,” Polson said.
He is also hopeful that the introduction of the qualifying tournament will help Chinese golfers.
“The introduction of qualifying tournaments for the Volvo China Open has proven to be very successful and we are determined to maintain this concept of keeping China’s national Open a truly ‘Open’ championship.
“It is our hope and vision that one day, a Chinese qualifier will go on to become the Volvo China Open champion,” he said.