Dunhill Masters set for Fanling
ROYAL Hong Kong Golf Club (RHKGC) will host next year's US$400,000 Alfred Dunhill Masters.
Extensive discussions have already taken place between officials from sponsors Alfred Dunhill, tournament promoters IMG and the RHKGC with a view to staging the event at Fanling.
An official announcement that the third Masters, featuring numerous big-name stars, will be held in the territory next November is expected by the end of this month.
The Masters was launched last year following the decision to discontinue with the Alfred Dunhill Cup qualifying tournament in Southeast Asia.
New Zealander Michael Campbell withstood the challenges of Craig Parry, Ian Woosnam and Vijay Singh to emerge victorious at the Emeralda Golf and Country Club in Jakarta two weeks ago.
Originally, Alfred Dunhill had indicated that they wanted the tournament to be included on the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation's (APGC) Asian Tour. However, when the APGC said they were unable to fit it into their 1994 calendar, organisers opted for a three-year link with the Australasian Tour.
The English men's luxury goods company have strong ties with Royal Hong Kong having twice staged qualifying tournaments in the territory.
In 1985, the first year of the world's richest team event, Fanling held the Asia-Pacific qualifier when the Hong Kong team of Yau Sui-ming, Alex Tang and Lee Parker won through to the finals at St Andrews - to this day the only occasion that the territory have qualified.
Seven years later the Composite Course hosted the World Qualifier which was won by the New Zealand trio of Frank Nobilo, Simon Owen and Grant Waite. The event also marked the first overseas professional tournament of a rising South African star by the name of Ernie Els.
