A Chinese Master Legion
2017-10-15 14:30:03

The 2017 Foshan Open-European Challenge Tour & China Tour will kick off next week at the Foshan Golf Club. As one of the most prestigious annual sporting events of South China, it is not only attractive to most of the top 50 golfers from the European Challenge Tour, but also favored by the best domestic players. 37 golfers of the top 50 of China Golf Association will join in. Apart from the tournament ambassador Chen Zihao, 41 Chinese players have also confirmed entry with an eager to compete against an international legion led by the Finnish golfer Tapio Pulkkanen for “The Canton Cup" in Foshan.

Many people were impressed by Chen Zihao’s performance at the 2016 Foshan Open. Chen has participated in the annual competition for 3 times. He comes from Zhuhai city in Guangdong Province and he enjoys himself very much in the hometown-held event. Last year, his outstanding performance particularly astonished all of the spectators. Tied for the 6th place, he broke the ranking record that Chinese golfers had made at the Foshan Open and therefore became the youngest winner of the "Best Chinese Player". This year, he has accepted the invitation from the Organizing Committee to be the ambassador and the game next week will be his fourth entry. "Over the past years, the Foshan Open is getting increasingly spectacular and the event is held in a friendly and warm atmosphere. Thanks for the trust and favor of the Foshan Open," he sounded excited, “I’m honored to have this opportunity to be the ambassador and definitely I will spare no efforts this time to surpass myself.” In the most recent China Tour, Chen marvelously obtained a 6th place. With this momentum he is likely to achieve his goal.

Chen Zihao

Zhang Huilin is another former "Best Chinese Player" at the Foshan Open. Winning the award in 2015 was a life-changing breakthrough for him, after which he claimed another two champions in professional tournaments. Now he remarkably ranks 8th in China Golf Association, which makes him one of the home favorites. So far, Chinese players have had no chance to celebrate a victory on the Challenge Tour. But for the double-crowned, the 2017 Foshan Open may be the time for him and other Chinese players as well to reach new heights!

Zhang Huilin

To have Ouyang Zheng at the Foshan Open will be one great bonus for the spectators, too. Earlier this year, he successfully broke through and secured a card to the 2017 Asian Tour, stunning the world with his amazing skills. A win next week will definitely open many doors for him because it means a place in the Challenge Tour money list and also the opportunity of direct promotion to the European Tour next season. Being part of the European Challenge Tour's all-important season ending series, the Foshan Open is believed to make a difference with a total prize up to 500,000 USD including 80,000 USD for the champion. For Ouyang Zheng and other in-form Chinese players, this is absolutely a great event that they will not miss out.

Ouyang Zheng

At the same time, the Hong Kong golfer Hei Chunyi, who won the first championship in his 5-year professional career in August this year, will come in the groove. He finished with 65 strokes at the last round in Yunnan Championship and won with an overwhelming margin of 10 strokes. The young 23-year-old is fully confident that he will take that fine form to the Foshan Open and another win is just around the corner. 

Hei Chunyi

As one of the international golf tournaments with the most Chinese players, the Foshan Open has evolved to be an important stage for domestic golfers. The red force is standing out. Li Haotong, Zhang Xinjun, Dou Zecheng and other players who played at the Foshan Open over the past years are now standing firm in the international arena. It is exactly through these fiercely fought tournament journeys such as the Foshan Open that they grew to be golf icons of China. Luo Xuewen, Zhuang Zhu, Wang Yanzhang and other new golfers will also join in the 2017 Foshan Open. With all the focus, will they duplicate the success of Li Haotong et al. and achieve new accomplishments for the Chinese Golfers’ family?

In addition, at the 2017 Foshan Open, we will also see Huang Jiapei, the junior golfer, and Li Zhongqiu, the amateur master-hand in South China. Both of them are selected for the tournament through 2 qualifications. Zhang Zihong, an active top emerging golfer nicknamed “Little Giant”, will also come back this year. On the same course will they compete with domestic and foreign professional players. All these have proved that, being one of the most prestigious sporting events in South China, the Foshan Open also strongly supports the growth of local players. What big surprises will these new-rising forces bring us? Let’s just wait and see.

Huang Jiapei Champion of 2017 World Stars of Junior Golf Championship and 2017 HSBC China Junior Golf Program Junior Golf Championship Hangzhou.

Li Zhongqiu(Second from Left) After winning 2017 Southern China Golf Club Members’ Ranking Tournament Final, Li Zhongqiu emerged as the second qualifier to 2017 Foshan Open. 

The award “Best Chinese Player” is sponsored by the international well-known jewelry brand Chow Tai Fook same as previous years. This year's prize will be a gold jewelry named “Leaping over the Dragon Gate”, which is worth 150,000 RMB and vividly passing on Chow Tai Fook’s best wishes to the Chinese golfers. Undoubtedly, this will cause an intense battle on the course.

2017 Foshan Open "Best Chinese Player" award--“Leaping over the Dragon Gate”, from Chow Tai Fook 

“Traditional wisdom believes that three years, small change; five years, moderate change; ten years, big change. The Foshan Open proves to be a perfect demonstration here.” said the Director of Multi-Ball Games Administrative Center of State Sports and Vice President of China Golf Association. “Since the signing of a 10-year agreement in 2013 by the European Challenge Tour, China Golf Association, Guangdong Golf Association, Foshan Government and New World China Land, the past four years have witnessed how the tournament continues to develop in quality and grow in popularity. All of us are delighted to see its vigorous development. Excellent golfers gathered here at the Foshan Golf Club and showed the world the charm of this Canton culture featured exciting golf event. More people will know golf and love golf through the Foshan Open. In addition, the beneficial impact on the Chinese golf players of joining in will also be considerable. Not only is there a chance to compete with the best golf players from all over the world, but also the chance to prepare themselves better for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020. Hope them have a fantastic game and a terrific week in Foshan.”

Wang Liwei Director of Multi-Ball Games Administrative Center of State Sports and Vice President of China Golf Association

2017 Foshan Open-European Challenge Tour & China Tour is hosted by Multi-Ball Game Administrative Center of General Administration of Sports of China, co-sanctioned by the China Golf Association and the European Challenge Tour, co-organized by Guangdong Golf Association, presented by New World China Land, promoted by Foshan Golf Club, supported by Foshan Municipal Government and Nanhai Hi-Tech Industry, Development Zone Government. With a crowd of famous domestic and international sponsors including Chow Tai Fook, Carabao, Allianz, Ri Feng, Guangdong Shiwan Wine Group and many others, the tournament is believed to be more splendid this year.