midsummer classic
Back With a Bang Yale student Charles Stone, a former winner of the Hong Kong Junior Close Championship, captures Bolle Midsummer Classic title on return to the city
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he largest field in Hong Kong golf assembled in early June for the Bolle Midsummer Classic. Played over the New Course at The Hong Kong Golf Club, over 300 local golfers took part in the annual two-day event, although it was the men’s gross stroke play competition, a division reserved for lower handicappers that provided the most drama. As is usually the case at the Midsummer Classic, the tournament was played in extreme heat and humidity – but Charles Stone, among others, put in some fine performances. Stone, a former Hong Kong Junior Close champion, has just completed his freshman year at Yale and immediately got back into the swing of things at his home course; the Fanling member firing a classy 71 over a slightly modified layout (the par-four ninth hole was closed; competitors played the par-three thirteenth hole twice, albeit to different greens), which was two-over-par on the day. Stone finished just one stroke ahead of Winston Wu, who had to settle for his second successive runner-up finish at this event. Terrence Chung, Adrian Leung and Bibendum Leung placed in a tie for third, a further shot back. Jay Won, the Discovery Bay Golf Club member who has put in a number of notable showings in recent times, would have joined the trio had it not been for a disastrous end to his round. The Korean-born Won made a quadruple bogey eight at the tricky par-four eighteenth to drop into a share of twelfth. “It all came together for me,” said Stone, who has been practicing with the Yale Golf Team for the past semester. “It’s my lowest score for some time, so it’s nice to get back to shooting in the low 70s. The key was being able to keep the mistakes to a minimum. All in all it was a pretty solid round, which I’m very happy about. “My goal is to get on the [Yale] team, so this is a nice confidence boost ahead of the next season.”—Alex Jenkins
Daniel Wong
End of Year Glory: Stone, right, returned from his first year at college to card a solid two-over-par round over a slightly modified New Course to claim the title
Men’s Gross Stroke Play Results 1 2 3= 6= 9=
Charles Stone Winston Wu Terrence Chung Adrian Leung Bibendum Leung Oliver Roberts Edwin Lam Tim Gilmore Nicky Au Andrew Tsui
Ladies’ Gross Stableford Results 71 72 73 73 73 74 74 75 75 75
1= 3 4= 6 7 8 9=
Michelle Lee Ruby Yim Miranda So Cheung Ping Jasmine Chee Rita Chan Lun Hau-yee Ann Chan Alice Karr Kelly Kung
29 29 28 26 26 25 24 23 22 22
A full list of results can be found at www.hkga.com 42
HK Golfer・JUL 2011
HKGOLFER.COM
Bolle Boys (clockwise from top): The men's winners with Bolle's Andrew Leung and Vivien Lai, Jay Won (T12); Adrian Leung (T3); Oliver Roberts (T6); runnerup Winston Wu; and winner Charles Stone
Defending champion CJ Gatto HKGOLFER.COM
HK GolferăƒťJUL 2011
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