Windy Shao

windysjf@hotmail.com

ZHANG MIJIA from the Chinese mainland won the overall title at the first edition of Mission Hills National Junior Golf Invitational in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, on Sunday.

A total of 118 junior golfers from China and the U.S. participated in the three-day event.

Lei Yiqiao from the Chinese mainland and Huang Shaotse from China’s Taiwan won the girls’ and boys’ championship, respectively.

Huang lost narrowly to Zhang in the previous Faldo Series China, and he felt a little bit disappointed at the same result this time.

“After the first round, I found that the results were very close. I then changed my strategy and took the lead in the second round, but I didn’t expect that our results would be so close in the end,” Huang said at the post-match news conference.

Zhang, with her recent outstanding performances, also received a wild card for the 2023 China Golf Association Women’s Championship. She will soon travel to Haikou to participate in the tournament after the end of the junior series.

“This will be my first time to compete on a professional golf course. I am very grateful for the opportunity,” Zhang said.

Organized by Mission Hills Golf Club, the national invitational is sanctioned by the China Golf Association and supported by the Guangdong Golf Association and the Shenzhen Golf Association.

The competition results will be included in the world amateur player ranking and the China Golf Association junior tournament ranking.