Young Amateurs prepare for Faldo Series Australia Championship

The Faldo Series Asia will break new ground next week with the staging of the inaugural Faldo Series Australia Championship.

To take place at Sydney’s Castle Hill Country Club on December 14-15, the World Amateur Golf Ranking event has attracted a 60-strong field that is spearheaded by talented local prospect Daniel Gale.

The 19-year-old has been in fine form and is looking to end 2015 on a high by be-coming the first winner of the Faldo Series Australia Championship, the 17th leg of the record-breaking 2015-16 Faldo Series Asia season.

As well as winning the Lynwood Cup and City of Wagga Open this year, Gale showed he can mix it with the professionals when posting a top-20 finish in last month’s New South Wales Open at Stonecutters Ridge Golf Course.

Should he succeed over his home course next week, the Sydneysider will book him-self a starting spot in the 10th Anniversary Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, to be hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at Mission Hills China next March.

Six-time Major champion Faldo, Britain’s most successful golfer, said: “Australia is one of the world’s great golfing countries and the addition of Australia to the Faldo Series Asia further underlines my commitment to developing junior golf around the world.

“I always enjoyed playing in Australia and I now very much look forward to seeing the Faldo Series Australia Championship develop into one of the linchpins of the Faldo Series.

“It is my hope that the Faldo Series Australia Championship will provide a platform for identifying and nurturing the next generation of world-class Australian golfers.”

Melissa Ellis, General Manager at Castle Hill, said: “Castle Hill Country Club is thrilled to host the inaugural Faldo Series Australia Championship and to showcase our challenging course to leading Australian junior players.

“We have a great pool of talent at Castle Hill and are proud to have nine of our jun-iors representing the club in the field. We look forward to building this tournament in the coming years.”

Since its inception in 1950, Castle Hill Country Club has been a frequent tournament venue. As well as holding the 2013 New South Wales (NSW) Open, the club has staged two Australian PGA Championships, three NSW PGA Championships, four Canon Challenges and the 2013 Men’s and Women’s NSW Medal.

Dominic Wall, The R&A’s Director, Asia-Pacific, said: “The R&A has supported the Faldo Series for the past 10 years and we are delighted to see the Series now being played in Australia.

“The Faldo Series has provided opportunities for many young golfers across the Asian region to test their skills at national level and internationally in the Asian Final held in China and the European Final. These opportunities will now be available to Australian junior golfers which will no doubt help these golfers gain valuable interna-tional experience."

Supported by The R&A and Mission Hills and endorsed by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, the 2015-16 Faldo Series Asia campaign stretches over 11 months and will include a minimum of 21 events in 17 countries.

Recognised as the only global amateur series for boys and girls, the Faldo Series was established in 1996, expanding to Asia in 2006.

Today, 40 Faldo Series tournaments take place in 30-plus countries worldwide, touching more than 7,000 golfers each year. Past winners include Tseng Ya-ni and Rory McIlroy, who took his tally of professional Major titles to four with his wins at last year’s Open Championship and US PGA Championship.