The junior golf tournament would be the topmost golfing event hosted by Nepal till date and will feature young golfers from Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and host Nepal. Nepal Golf Association (NGA) and Gokarna Forest Resort are the joint organizers of the event.[break]
The organizers expect participation of at least 40 Nepali players.
According to Deepak Acharya, the director of Gokarna Forest Resort, the event will feature boys and girls golfers in two age categories, 12 to 16 and 17 to 21. At least four golfers--two winners each from boys and girls section--will be selected to compete in the grand finale of seventh Faldo Series Asia at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzheng, China.
"However, the number of players qualifying for the grand finale may increase on the basis of score and the total number of participants. The decision for this will be made by Faldo Series Asia team," Acharya said.
Acharya also opined that the opportunity to host Faldo Series set up by Nick Faldo, the six time winner of major golf title, was itself an achievement for Nepal. The series was established in 1996 and the series takes place in 38 courses across 28 countries. Acharya also thanked NGA General Secretary Tashi Ghale for his initiation in securing the hosting rights for Nepal. Nepal has got the hosting rights for two years.
According to Acharya, member of any golf club of Nepal and handicapped golfers will qualify directly to compete in the event. Besides this, non-handicapped and non-members need to go through qualifiers to be held in Kathmandu, Dharan and Pokhara from October 1 to 10.
NGA General Secretary Ghale opined that junior tournaments play key role in the development of golf and the Faldo Series would play a vital role for that. "We got the rights to host this event due to international standard of Gokarna Golf Club."
Gokarna Golf Club and NGA will bear all the expenses of hosting the event. Meanwhile, Himalayan Youth Golf Association of America has contributed US$ 5000 to support the organizers. The host needs to pay the amount after earning the hosting rights.
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