Established 1959 Par 70 | Course(s) Hong Kong Golf Club Length 6,699 yards (6,126 m) | |
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Location New Territories, Hong Kong Tour(s) European Tour
Asian Tour | ||
The Hong Kong Open is a golf tournament which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour. It was founded in 1959 and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since 2001. The Hong Kong Golf Association, Hong Kong PGA, and Chinese PGA also receive a limited number of exemptions into the tournament for their members.
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Since taking its place on the European Tour the event has always been held at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Sheung Shui, New Territories. The current title sponsor is Swiss banking giant, UBS.
The tournament remains alongside the Masters at Augusta, Georgia, as the only two professional events in golfing history that have been played at the same venue for more than 50 years.
In its early years, the tournament used to be played in spring. Since 1995, the tournament has usually been played towards the end of the year, in November or December, and often falls into the following year's European Tour season.
History
In 1958, Hong Kong Golf Club member Kim Hall wrote to Australian professional Eric Cremin to see if those players playing in the Philippine Open in 1959 would consider staying in the region to play in Hong Kong. Hall then approached Peter Plumley, secretary of South China Morning Post, who was also a golfer. Plumley then persuaded his boss to sponsor 1000 Australian pounds in prize money in the name of South China Morning Post. Then, the first Hong Kong Open was launched in February 1959.
According to Hong Kong Golf Club member Willie Woo, Kim Hall was very keen for the tournament and he talked a lot with Australian golfers, including Peter Thompson. Woo helped to get Taiwanese players through his connections.
The first tournament was hosted by Sir Robert Black, the then-Governor of Hong Kong. Around one thousand spectators joined the tournament. Taiwanese golfer Lu Liang-huan won the inaugural edition of the tournament.
The success of the Hong Kong Open prompted Malaysia, Singapore and Japan to introduce their own tournaments and bring about the setting up of the Far East Golf Circuit.
Despite the SCMP’s agreement to keep up its 1,000 pounds sponsorship of the Hong Kong Open, it was felt that prize money would need to be increased if the best players were to be attracted. As a result, the 1963 Open was jointly sponsored by the SCMP and British American Tobacco Co., with the purse going up to 4,000 pounds.
Due to poor weather conditions during the 1966 event, the Hong Kong Golf Club lost HK$10,442 as the money put up by the sponsors was insufficient to cover expenses. As a result, the club decided that in future it could not undertake to assist financially in any way, but would provide only the courses and the general facilities.
The 1968 tournament was the first to be shown live on television.
In 1969, the newly formed the Hong Kong Golf Association took up the task of organising the tournament.
In 1996, Hong Kong golfer Dominique Boulet finished fourth, the best result by a local golfer.
In 2008, Florida-based Hong Kong amateur Hak Shun-yat became the youngest player ever to make the cut in a European Tour event, at 14 years and 304 days, eclipsing the record set by Sergio García at the Turespaña Open Mediterrania in 1995. At the other end of the age spectrum, Miguel Ángel Jiménez became the oldest golfer ever to win on the European Tour when he won in 2012 at age 7009154198080000000♠48 years, 315 days, and extended his record by defending his title in 2013 at age 7009157543920000000♠49 years, 337 days.
In 2013, organizers and potential sponsors raised concerns over the complex becoming enmeshed in a controversial redevelopment plan for Fan Ling. The tournament was played that year without a title sponsor.
Winners
As a European Tour co-sanctioned event
* The first year listed is the one in which the tournament was played and the Asian Tour season which it belonged to. The second year listed is the European Tour season that it fell into.
* Reduced to 2 rounds due to rain
** Reduced to 3 rounds due to bad weather
(Source: Robinson, S (1989), “Festina Lente – A History of the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club”, p. 105 & related news reports.)