HKGA | MENS CLOSE
Just the Tonic for Slimline Max Fanling member Max Wong made up for three years of runner-up finishes with an impressive victory at the Hong Kong Close, writes Alex Jenkins. Photography by Daniel Wong
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"There are so many juniors now and they’re all so good that it feels great to finally come out on top again.”
Clockwise from above: Shinichi Mizuno, the 2011 champion, finished the tournament strongly to earn second place; Terrence Ng shared the first-round lead after a fine 67; Australia-based Matthew Cheung surveys a putt on the last day; Max Wong is all smiles after collecting his second Hong Kong Close title 42
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r e-energised Ma x Wong Chen-kun claimed his second Mizuno Hong Kong Close A mateu r Cha mpionsh ip with a runaway victory at Fanling over the Lunar New
Year holiday. Wong, the champion in 2007, showed his class over the final 36 holes to finish on a fourunder total of 276, a seven-stroke advantage over the fast-finishing Shinichi Mizuno (283) in second place. Seventeen-year-old Matthew Cheung Hung-hai (285) placed third, a further two shots adrift. “This is one for the old guys,” declared Hong Kong Golf Club member Wong, 38, who finished runner-up to players in their teens for three straight years between 2010 and 2012. “There are so many juniors now and they’re all so good that it feels great to finally come out on top again.” He isn’t wrong. Such has been the rise in the standard of junior golf in Hong Kong in recent times that of the 24 players who made the halfway cut, 18 were aged 19 or under. Incidentally, the cut mark of 154 (14-overpar) is thought to have been the lowest in the championship’s long history. Wong has lost 30 pounds in weight in the past six months and his improved fitness showed on a gruelling final day. Taking a slender oneHKGOLFER.COM
shot lead over 18-year-old Terrence Ng, Wong fired a steady 71 in the morning round to build his advantage before pulling away from the field with a fine 68 in the afternoon. “My goal was to stay bogey-free in the final round and I almost achieved it,” said Wong, whose only dropped shot came at the 18th hole. “The important thing was getting the pace of the greens.” As a result of his win, Wong, who holed a fouriron at the fourth hole for an ace during his first round of 67, earns a berth into the Hong Kong Open, the territory’s oldest professional sports event, which will be played in early December. “I’m delighted with that,” beamed Wong. “I can’t wait to go up against the pros.”
Mizuno Hong Kong Close Amateur Championship Results 1 Max Wong 2 Shinichi Mizuno 3 Matthew Cheung 4 Terrence Ng 5 Jackie Chan 6 Oliver Roberts 7 Leonard Ho 8 Doug Williams 9 Michael Regan Wong 10= Max Ting Tim Orgill 12 Fritz Lo 13= Bibendum Leung Martin Liu 15= Alexander Jewkes Lucas Lam 17 Leon Philip D’Souza 18 Ambrose Tam 19 Tong Siu-lun 20 Stephen Ahmoye
67 73 69 67 73 72 69 75 75 75 71 76 77 75 73 77 75 75 78 75
70 73 70 71 68 70 78 76 75 70 79 77 72 75 79 71 75 78 76 75
71 69 75 73 77 72 74 73 77 83 78 72 76 75 76 77 76 74 79 77
68 68 71 76 71 78 75 73 71 72 72 76 77 77 75 78 78 80 75 82
276 283 285 287 289 292 296 297 298 300 300 301 302 302 303 303 304 307 308 309
Shinichi Wraps Up Order of Merit While Shinichi Mizuno, the 2011 champion, didn’t get the result he wanted, his fine play over the final two rounds – a 69 in the morning and a 68 in the afternoon – helped him sew up the HKGA Order of Merit title for the 2012/2013 season. The 19-year-old, who has since enrolled at the University of Kyoto, has enjoyed a highly consistent past 12 months with wins at the Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau International Open and Midsummer Classic as well as a third place at the Hong Kong Open Amateur Championship. Mizuno’s second place at the Close Amateur earned him 24 points, giving him a total of 80 points and a 31-point advantage over Doug Williams in second place. Terrence Ng, Mizuno’s international teammate, finished third on 47 points. “Winning the Order of Merit is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, so it’s nice to have accomplished it before I head off to university,” said Mizuno. “I tried my best to win here but Max [Wong] played great and he is a very deserving champion.”
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HKGA Order of Merit Results 1
Shinichi Mizuno
80 points
2
Doug Williams
49
3
Terrence Ng
47
4 Michael Regan Wong
33
5
Jackie Chan
32
6 Max Wong
30
7
23
Jeffrey Wang
8 Humphrey Wong
21
9 Matthew Cheung
20
10
17.5
Leon Philip D’Souza
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Jackie Chan
Tim Orgill
Fritz Lo 44
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Terrence Ng
Oliver Roberts
Doug Williams
Michael Regan Wong HKGOLFER.COM