Shanghai: Silport welcomed back an old friend when the Jiangsu province arm of GoTone hosted its VIP Golf Club 2007 Final at the club for 120 guests over the East and Center layouts.

The tournament by the digital cellular service giant, a frequent visitor to Silport over the years, had a decidedly Olympic theme to the proceedings. In addition to the presence of the five Fuwa mascots for next summer’s Beijing Games, there was also a charity element to the tournament with the proceedings benefiting the Suzhou Dongran School.

On the par three Center No. 2 and the challenging East No. 6 holes, players were asked to make a donation to the school charity if they could not successfully navigate the greens from their tee shots. To show their appreciation for GoTone’s charity efforts, students from the school were on hand to perform on stage for the players, as was a troupe of professional actors from the Kunqu Opera.

The drama on the course was equally intense as the shotgun start required the ladies to play from the red tees and the men from the blues. Meng Wei proved the dominant golfer on the day as he topped the field for the low gross ahead of Sun Pingxiang and Zhang Lijie in third, the best among the female players.

Other winners saw Yang Yudong win the low nett in Group A with a nett 70, followed by Ma Hongfei (72) and Cui Chengri (72). Wang Yaping won Group B with a nett 67, ahead of runner-up Qiao Wali (70) and Wang Rongsong (71).

Chen Qinghuang had a memorable day as his 260-yard blast earned him the longest drive prize in addition to topping Group C with a nett 71. Hu Jian (72) was runner-up, followed by Ke Zhengkui (72).

Xu Chunjing was the nearest-the-pin winner when he put his tee shot to within 1.5 feet of the flag.