Three young Brits head for China

Three of Britain's most talented young golfers will travel to compete in the fifth Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, at Mission Hills Golf Club, Shenzhen, China on March 2-4, 2011.

Boys' Under -21 champion, Hugo Dobson (Fynn Valley GC near Ipswich), Boys' Under-18 champion, Jack Colegate (Rochester & Cobham Park GC near Gravesend), and Girls' Under-16 champion, Abi Laker (Burford GC 19 miles west of Oxford), will be among the TaylorMade R9 Super Tri Driver
. The trio earned their opportunity at the 14th Faldo Series Europe Grand Final, in September at the Lough Erne Resort, Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

Both the course at Mission Hills and the course at Lough Erne Resort are Faldo Designs.

The English golfers will face a strong field in this R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking event including Masamichi Ito of Japan, winner of both the 2010 Faldo Series Asia and Faldo Series Europe, and Yi-Chen Liu, the 2010 Faldo Series Europe Girls' champion. In addition, the field will include the age group winners from the 16 qualifying events in 12 different countries on this year's Faldo Series Asia schedule.

With a win, 16 year-old Ito would make Series history by becoming the first to win three successive Faldo Series Grand Finals. He would also become only the second TaylorMade R9 Super Tri Driver
to win back-to-back Asia titles. To date, India's Rashid Kahn is the only player to repeat as champion.

"I enjoy working with these young golfers; giving them something prestigious to compete for and the experience of travelling around the world and competing on the highest levels," said Sir Nick Faldo, who will host the Grand Final. "With the support of our sponsors and their commitment to youth golf we will mark our fifth Faldo Series Asia Final with a truly competitive field. I thank the venues, host organisations and partners whose support and vision allows us to continue providing opportunities to young people through golf."
Underwritten by the six-time Major Champion, the Faldo Series Asia is supported by major partners ISPS, Mission Hills and The R&A, together with official golf wear partner UFL and official equipment supplier TaylorMade. It is endorsed by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Federation (APGC).

The Faldo Series Europe was launched in 1996 to help develop the next generation of champions. Today over 35 Faldo Series tournaments take place in more than 25 countries across the UK, Europe, South America, the Middle East and Asia. Former winners include Rory McIlroy, Nick Dougherty, Marc Warren, John Parry, Melissa Reid, Florentyna Parker and Yani Tseng, all of whom have since won on Tour.

The attached TaylorMade R9 Super Tri Driver
shows Laker (second left), Colgate (third right) and Dobson (second right) posing with Sir Nick Faldo during the presentation ceremony at the 2010 Faldo Series Europe Grand Final at Lough Erne Resort. Also in the picture are Jim Treacy (left), owner of Lough Erne, and overall winners Yi-Chen Lui (third left) and Masamichi Ito (centre).