The race for 13 tickets into this year’s Volvo China Open will begin in earnest with the staging of the International Qualifying tournament at Discovery Bay Golf Club in Hong Kong from February 27-28.
 
More than 70 hopefuls, including regulars from the Asian Tour, who will shoot for one of four available spots in Hong Kong to play in the Open Championship of China.
 
Amongst those tipped to sparkle include upcoming youngsters Ben Leong of Malaysia, winner of the Qualifying School, and Filipino talent Jay Bayron, Mahal Pearce, a former New Zealand Open champion, and Australian Richard Moir.         
 
This year’s Volvo China Open will be played at Beijing CBD International Golf Club from April 17-20.
 
In maintaining its policy of keeping the Volvo China Open a truly “open” affair, three other 36-hole qualifying competitions, which is opened to men, women and juniors from China who meet the conditions of entry, will be held across the country in March and April.
 
The qualifying tournaments in mainland China will offer a total of nine spots into the Volvo China Open, which 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.”
 
Polson announced that prize money for qualifying will be introduced this year. “We’ve put in US$100,000 into prize money. US$30,000 will go to each of the mainland events and US$10,000 to International Qualifying
 
“We hope that this will further boost the total number of players who will enter the qualifying tournaments,” said Polson.
 
“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.
 
“With the recent success of Liang Wen-chong on the Asian Tour, I believe that more Chinese players will now dare to dream,” he added.
 
QUALIFYING SCHEDULE
February 27-28:
International Qualifying, Discovery Bay GC, Hong Kong
Open to players from worldwide
The leading four scores qualify
US$10,000 prize money among the leading 10 pros
 
March 11-12:
South China Qualifying at Harbour Plaza GC, Dongguan
Restricted to mainland Chinese players
The leading three scores qualify
US$30,000 prize money among the leading 20 pros
 
March 25-26:
Mid-China Qualifying at Shanghai Silport GC
Restricted to mainland Chinese players
The leading three scores qualify
US$30,000 prize money among the leading 20 pros
 
April 1-2:
North China Qualifying, Beijing Honghua International GC
Restricted to mainland Chinese players
The leading three scores qualify
US$30,000 prize money among the leading 20 pros