Chengdu, China: The APGC Junior Championship Mitsubishi Corporation Cup, the Asia-Pacific’s premier team and individual championship for boys and girls, has been cancelled for 2020.
Given on-going travel restrictions prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, officials have called off the sixth edition of the event that had been scheduled to take place at Chengdu Poly Golf Club in central Sichuan in September.
Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, said: “The safety and well-being of players, officials and all those at the host venue are our number one priority.
“I know that junior golfers from around the region will be disappointed with the cancellation. However, due to the uncertainty that remains regarding travel and quarantine, we felt we could not delay making a decision any longer.
“In its short history, the tournament has already showcased the best young golfing talent from Asia-Pacific and is regarded as an important stepping stone on the road to turning professional.”
Players who are 17 years or under as of August 30 each year are eligible to participate with each APGC member organisation able to enter a maximum of two teams, with the exception of the hosts, who are allowed to enter three teams.
Inaugurated in 2015, the event announced the potential of Japan’s Nasa Hataoka, who fired a 68 at Chinese Taipei’s Sunrise Golf & Country Club to tie Korean Park Hyun-kyung for top spot in the girls’ individual category.
Hataoka has gone on to achieve fame and fortune on the LPGA Tour and currently is placed fourth in the Rolex Women’s World Ranking.
The 2019 APGC Junior Championship Mitsubishi Corporation Cup was staged at Japan’s Hakone Country Club in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Team Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and Tsubasa Kajitani combined to claim victory in the team championship after the tournament was reduced to 36 holes due to inclement weather.
Teams play fourballs on the first day, foursomes on the second day and singles on the third day. The four combined scores count for each team’s total.
The winner of the boys’ individual stroke play was Australian Harrison Crowe, who earned an invitation to participate in the 2020 Diamond Cup, a co-sanctioned event between the Japan Golf Tour Organisation and the Asian Tour.
The winner of the girls’ individual stroke play was China’s Yin Xiaowen, who received an invitation to participate in the Korea Women’s Open.
Neither of these invitations could be fulfilled for 2020 as the Diamond Cup was cancelled and the Korea Women’s Open took place without any international players due Covid-19.
The APGC Junior Championship Mitsubishi Corporation Cup is part of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation’s portfolio of events that also includes the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific, Nomura Cup, Queen Sirikit Cup, APGC Senior Championship, Bonallack Trophy and Patsy Hankins Trophy, and the Asia-Pacific Open Diamond Cup Golf on the Japan Golf Tour Organisation schedule.