Shanghai: As the rain and cold halved the fields registered to play in the 2008 China Telecom Cup Elite Golf Invitational and the Kunshan Golf Association Monthly Medal, the two tournaments that were set to tee off around the same time took advantage of the unusual situation and combined their respective events to make the most of a miserable day.

With about 90 hearty souls braving the weather over the West and North courses, the rules stated all players could share the China Telecom awards. The Kunshan Golf Association awards, however, could only be won by association members. Any participant who won two awards could get two trophies but could only share one prize. The other share of the prizes were awarded to the others via a lucky draw.

In addition, the three gross champion winners of the Kunshan Golf Association Monthly Medal were also the gross champions of the China Telecom Elite Golf Invitational. They could get two trophies, but only one share of the prizes. The prizes left were awarded through a lucky draw.

Playing under a New New Peoria scoring system, Xie Qun claimed the gross champion honor for both tournaments as the 9.6 handicap carded a round of nine-over 81. Huang Qinglong finished runner-up, one shot off the pace, beating second runner-up Wang Shengting (82) by virtue of a higher handicap.

Other Kunshan Golf Association honors went to Cui Chengri who won the nett championship with a nett 74.6 after a round of 83. Chen Zhongming and Chen Baishou, both identical 19.2 handicaps, each registered a nett 74.8. Chen Zhongming, however, claimed the runner-up prize by virtue of taking fewer putts in his final nine holes.

In the China Telecom prizes, Yi Yantao was the nett champion with a nett 73.4, followed by Chen Shizheng (73.8) and Zhang Zhicheng (74.2).

Other prizes saw Guo Zhongzhe claim the longest drive prize and Pu Wei take the nearest-the-pin when he put his ball to within one foot of the flag on the North Course sixth hole.