Five young golfers have been chosen to compete in the grand final of the Faldo Series Asia golf tournament taking place at Mission Hills Golf Club

Ngo Bao Nghi will compete in the grand final of the Faldo Series Asia at Mission Hills Golf Club in China in March.

The 16-year-old Nghi won the Girls Under-21 title of the FSA Vietnam Championship at Ocean Dunes Golf Club in Phan Thiet City in the central province of Binh Thuan over the weekend.

Nghi’s 158 was three strokes better than Joon Lee, who was last year’s overall winner and took the Boys Under-21 honors this year. Lee scored five strokes clear of Nguyen Tri Dung, who triumphed in the Boys Under-16 division.

“Being able to play consistently in challenging conditions was very satisfying,” Nghi said in a statement sent to the Daily on Tuesday by the organizing committee of the tournament. “So I’m really looking forward to Mission Hills and of course to meeting Faldo.”

The six-time major winner and founder of FSA, Nick Faldo, will serve as master of ceremonies for the final. He also designed both Ocean Dunes and the course at Mission Hills.

Vinh and Nga are the runners-up in the Boys Under-16 and Girls Under-21 divisions. Nga’s 78 was the lowest single-round score for the tournament, which takes the 2009-2010 schedule to 15 tournaments in 12 different countries across the continent.

Nga also won the Gannon Vietnam Open Ladies Championship at the same Ocean Dunes Golf Club two weeks ago.

The weekend also featured a ‘tournament within a tournament’, the Vietnam National Junior Championship. Nguyen Thanh Binh won the Boys Under-21 division, while Dung and Nghi were champions in the Boys Under-16 and Girls Under-16 respectively.

The competitions drew 40 young golfers and also young spectators who are encouraged to try the practice range at Ocean Dunes.

“We understand that golf is relatively new to Vietnam, so our objective is to increase everyone’s interest in playing the game – new players, members, the general public,” said Kurt Greve, general manager and director of golf at Ocean Dunes.

VietNamNet/SGT