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WORLD STARS OF TOMORROW DAZZLED BY WORLD STARS OF TODAY

2017-03-18

More than 100 junior golfers were treated to a golfing masterclass today from some of the world’s top lady golfers at the Mission Hills Haikou resort on the tropical Hainan Island in China.

Six professional golfers from the Ladies European Tour, the China LPGA Tour and the Korea LPGA Tour took time out from the World Ladies Championship to share tips and take part in a skills challenge with juniors competing in the inaugural Mission Hills World Stars of Junior Golf Championship.

Amongst the professionals was Kylie Henry, who showed them how she completes a full back swing and then uses her lower half to drive through the ball when hitting her tees shots 260 yards on average. Meanwhile Stacey Peters demonstrated how to hit a high shot by moving her ball position forward and moving her weight fractionally backwards.

Kylie said: “It’s just so important to connect with the kids and ensure that they enjoy golf and it’s nice that we can get a bit closer to them and make it more personable for them.”

Stacey added: “The juniors have a tournament on, so it’s exciting for them to get to meet us and ask us some questions. If I was in their position, I’d be so excited and I would have loved the opportunity to do this.”

The junior golfers are competing over four rounds on the Lava Fields Course at Mission Hills Haikou, one of ten public courses at what is accredited as the largest public golf facility in the world. Six lucky winners – three boy and three girls – will win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the IJGA World Stars of Junior Golf Championship in Las Vegas, USA in July, a tournament ranked by The R&A, the NJGS, Golfweek and the AJGA and seen by many as a stepping stone to college golf.

The sixth World Ladies Championship – a 600,000 US dollar event – is unfolding on the neighbouring Blackstone Course, voted Best Course in Asia. Founded by Mission Hills back in 2012, the list of past winners includes So Yeon Ryu from Korea (2015), Olympic gold medallist Inbee Park, also from Korea (2014), Norway’s Suzann Pettersen (2013) and home favourite Shanshan Feng of China (2012) – winners of 11 Majors between them.

Both tournaments conclude on Sunday when a world star of today and a world star of tomorrow will be crowned!