Shanghai: Silport had the privilege of hosting the city’s top amateur golfers when the Shanghai Golf Association (SGA) and China Southern Airlines staged the Ninth Shanghai Amateur Golf Open at the club on October 28.

Following a ceremonial tee off by Zhu Jiaming, chairman of the Shanghai Golf Association, and Liu Shaoyong, general manager of China Southern Airlines, the field of 94 players teed off under wet conditions after an early morning rain had left the greens on the East and Center courses soft and slow.

The damp conditions could not deter He Xiaoe as the 3.6 handicap shot a three-over 75 to claim the low gross among the men, one stroke better than five players a shot further back.

Zhang Aiwei proved the top female on the day as she claimed or shared both the nett and gross prizes. The 13.2 handicap shot an 85 to tie Silport member Wang Aiming for the low gross and took the low nett with a score of 71.8.

In the men’s nett category, Jin Wei captured the honors as the 8.4 handicap registered a six-over 78 for a nett 69.6 score.
Other honors saw Gao Hongliang and Chen Zhaohui win the respective men’s and ladies’ nearest-the-pin prizes, while Liu Deqing and Wang Aiming each had a longest drive on the East Course ninth hole.

At the awards’ dinner afterwards, the SGA’s Zhu said the tournament had gone from strength-to-strength each year since launching in 1997. Its advent had encouraged local players to practice and improve their game with the hope of doing better in each successive year.

“Without the support of all the partners such as Mizuno, Silport and China Southern, we could hardly reach the great achievements we have made today,” he said. “Today I would like to thank all the sponsors and I look forward to continuing growth.”

A special thanks goes to sponsors Tag Hauer, Southern Airlines, Star Cruises and Mizuno.