MasterCard launches Junior Masters Tournament
BY iseekgolf.com | Junior Golf Tour | 2004 MasterCard Junior Masters | General | 27 Apr 2004
For the first time, Australia’s best junior golfers are being offered the chance of a lifetime to play alongside professionals in the MasterCard Masters golf tournament at Huntingdale Golf Club in December. This is the first prize at the upcoming MasterCard Junior Masters golf tournament which is being launched today.
The winning male player at the MasterCard Junior Masters will receive an exemption from MasterCard to play in the MasterCard Masters and the winning female player will receive an exemption to play in a women’s professional tournament.
The MasterCard Junior Masters tournament, taking place at the Vines Resort, Perth from 5 – 9 July, will bring together 100 of the best junior male and female golfers under 18 years of age from Australia, New Zealand, Asia and South Africa. Each Australian state will nominate four male and four female players to be invited to participate and they will be joined by 20 international young golfers from New Zealand, South Africa, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Japan and the Philippines.
The competing golfers will be chosen by their state golf associations, state junior foundations and women’s golf associations, assuring the tournament will have the highest ranked junior players from each state.
A concept developed by former Australian tournament professional Wayne Smith, the MasterCard Junior Masters tournament will be run with the help of tournament director, Phil Cutt, Women’s Golf Western Australia, the West Australian Golf Association, and the Graham Marsh Junior Golf Foundation. The tournament also has the support of the Department of Sport and Recreation in W.A., the Australian Sports Foundation and a number of professional players, including Craig Parry, Stephen Leaney, Brett Rumford, Michael Long, Shani Waugh, Jarrod Moseley and Nick O’Hern.
Tournament Chairman Wayne Smith said: “Professional encouragement and financial support is essential to the development of any junior golfer. For those that aspire to becoming a professional, MasterCard is providing a unique opportunity. MasterCard’s sponsorship of the tournament and provision of the exemption enables us to develop a tournament that offers young golfers from all over Australia and indeed, the world, an amazing opportunity to play in a professional tournament at a young age.”
“Having grown up playing junior golf in WA and having children who are golfers, I recognize the need to support, develop and nurture talent. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our supporters including MasterCard International, the Vines Resort, Bob Touhy and Associates and the professional players who have extended their support.”
Natalie Lockwood, vice president, Marketing, MasterCard Australia, said: "We believe that the support and development of Australia’s young golfing talent is as important as supporting today’s professionals. MasterCard is delighted to be able to offer a young golfer an exemption to the MasterCard Masters which will no doubt be a very rewarding experience. We hope that the MasterCard Junior Masters will go on to become an annual event to showcase our young golfers and give them an opportunity to play and compete against today’s golfing professionals.
“At MasterCard we are very proud of our partnership with golf internationally and in Australia including our involvement with the MasterCard Masters, the Australian Women’s Open, the Australian Open and golfers Adam Scott and Gareth Paddison. We are delighted to extend our partnership to include the young golfing community who are the professionals of tomorrow,” Ms Lockwood continued.
Source – MasterCard International
