The 11th Mercedes-Benz Junior Golf Asian Masters Final is currently being played at the Burapha Golf Club & Resort this week from 12–14 June. The tournament is the final round of the Mercedes-Benz Junior Golf Championships.
A total of over 80 Thai golfers who have won through seven qualifying rounds held between September 2012 and May this year are competing for places in the Mercedes-Benz junior golf team, which will line up against top Asian junior golfers in the ZLW Cup at the Luxehills International golf club in Chengdu, China later this year.
Tournament organizers and sponsors pose for a photo following a press conference leading-up to the 11th Mercedes-Benz Junior Golf Asian Masters Final, being held at Burapha Golf Club & Resort from 12–14 June.
They are also testing their skills at Burapha against a record number of overseas entries from Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Taiwan and the USA.
The Mercedes-Benz Junior Golf Asian Masters Final is being played over 54 holes, and comprises of both boys and girls events divided into 4 age groups, 12 and under, 14 and under, 17 and under and 23 and under. Six Thai winners, one boy and one girl from each age group, except the 23 and under category will be eligible to play in the Mercedes-Benz junior golf team which will travel to China in August. The travel expenses for the six golfers will be paid by Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) Limited. Winners in the 23 and under class will get wild card entries into a Thai PGA or Thai LPGA Tour event.
Emphasis in the programme is placed not only on golfing skills, but also on educational excellence as the Thai junior golfers in the qualifying rounds gain bonus points for their grades at school. The higher the grade the more bonus points they receive.
Komkrit Nongsawat, General Manager of Marketing and Communications of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) Ltd said that “Golf enables us to approach key target groups that we would not be able to reach to the same extent through other sports. At the same time supporting programmes like the Mercedes-Benz Junior Golf Championships also allows us to keep in direct contact with our customers as over 50% of the participants in the championships are the sons and daughters of Mercedes-Benz owners.”
The 11th running the Mercedes-Benz Junior Golf Championships has seen a better than ever standard of golf, judging by the results from the seven qualifying rounds. The fact that a record number of foreign golfers are contesting this year’s final, highlights that the tournament has now established itself as one of the leading international junior golf tournaments in the region.