Golf: World of junior golf to be showcased at Hesketh

May 6 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

HESKETH will host the 2008 Junior Open Championship, which brings together young players from around the world.

It takes place in the build-up to the Open Championship, with this year’s 54-holes event taking place from July 14-16 ahead of the main event at Royal Birkdale.

A 14-year-old Sergio Garcia played in the inaugural event in 1994.

David Hill, the R&A’s director of championships, urged local golf fans to support the tournament.

"This is not a competition to find the best junior in the world; it’s about the R&A reaching out and encouraging countries right across the world to send their boy and a girl to play over 54 holes," he explained.

"There will be a gold division, a silver division and a bronze division because we recognise that Mongolia and Samoa don’t have scratch handicap players, so there will be three separate competitions."

Entries have been received so far from more than 60 countries.