European Tour star launches 2009 event

Posted on 09/03/09. Source: Fairway to Green Magazine (By Staff writer)

Wee Wonders 2009

European Tour winner Nick Dougherty launches the 2009 HSBC Wee Wonders Championships this month (March) at The Grove.

Dougherty will be participating in a day of coaching and playing golf with Wee Wonders both past and present.

The HSBC Wee Wonders Championships is supporting the next generation of golfers by providing participants with the opportunity to challenge themselves in a fun, competitive environment without the need to have a handicap or be a member of a golf club.

It is the biggest grass-roots junior golf programme in the UK and Ireland for five-to-12-year-olds and since HSBC began sponsoring the programme in 2003, participation has grown each year with an expected 5,500 young golfers registering this year across 145 local qualifying events.

Dougherty, a protégé of the Faldo Junior Series, knows how important and exciting junior golf can be.

He enjoyed a fantastic amateur career, culminating in his participation in the victorious Walker Cup Team in August 2001. He progressed from winning the World Boys Championship in 1999 and Faldo Junior Series three times to representing the men's England and GB&I teams.

He represented England 74 times at boys and senior levels and won the World Cup of Golf in Buenos Aires.

Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship HSBC, said: "Before making it on the world stage as a European Tour professional, Nick enjoyed a fantastic amateur career and is a true role model for all young golfers to aspire to. We hope that with Nick's support, along with the commitment of so many great local golf facilities, we will inspire children all over the country to have a go at the game of golf."

The HSBC Wee Wonders day will include current players, but also former champions who have now developed into world-class amateurs.

HSBC Wee Wonders alumni Hannah Barwood will also be attending the day. Barwood plays at Knowle GC, Gloucestershire. The Bristol-based golfer, who plays off +2, also had a fantastic 2008. She won the English Ladies Championships beating two Curtis Cup players along the way, won the English Girls Order of Merit, and made her full England ladies debut.

She will be competing in her first Ladies European Tour event in Asia this year, courtesy of winning the 2008 Faldo Series grand final in Brazil.

HSBC is the title sponsor of three prestigious professional international golf tournaments. The HSBC New Zealand PGA Championships at Clearwater Golf Club, Christchurch; the HSBC Women's Championship to be staged at the Tanah Merah Country Club, Singapore; and the HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club, Shanghai in November.

As well as title sponsorship of some of the world's finest golfing events, HSBC is also committed to growing the sport at a grassroots level.

In China the HSBC China Junior Golf Programme, launched jointly by the China Golf Association (CGA) and HSBC in 2008, is a three-year programme targeting local teen and pre-teen golfers between the ages of 11-17 and aims to promote the long-term development of golf in China by providing young players with opportunities to receive professional training and compete in golf events.

To register for the 2009 HSBC Wee Wonders Championships visit www.hsbcweewonders.com or call 0207 862 0060.