Upgraded junior tour tees up next-gen for success

Offering budding young putters an invaluable test to jump-start their careers, the HSBC National Junior Golf Championship swung by for its Beijing stop last week.

So young, yet so serious. Watching the action, it was sometimes easy to forget that the fresh-faced golfers who teed up at north Beijing's Topwin Golf and Country Club were all either elementary or secondary school students. However, they displayed focus, competitive drive and composure beyond their years to showcase their massive potential and suggest Chinese golf has a very bright future indeed.

The Beijing tournament, the fourth of six legs on the circuit, adopted an exciting match-play format — head-to-head contests scored hole by hole, with the winner declared when he or she leads the opponent by more holes than remain to be played.