Date: August 01, 2017
Author: Mark Hayes

Kim, Morgan off to Asia-Pac JR Champs

Australia will send two in-form teams to the Asia Pacific Junior Championship in Hong Kong this month.

Defending boys' champion Jed Morgan, of Queensland, will form a formidable team with Australian Junior champion Grace Kim, of New South Wales.

Kim, 16, won the national girls' crown in April, then was a key member of both the winning NSW Junior Interstate team and the senior state team runner-up in Perth.

The Avondale Golf Club representative also won the Greg Norman Junior Masters in December and was also awarded the Golf NSW Jean Derrin Trophy for the female player with the lowest scoring average across the state for 2016.

"I am excited to play in this tournament, and I can't wait to fly out."

"I've been working out in the gym at Precision Athletica and my Golf game is steady so I'm fairly confident."

"I've heard so many good things about Jed and I'm thrilled to be teaming up with him to represent Australia. I'm sure it's going to be a great experience," A proud Kim smiled.

This past year has been a whirlwind for Morgan, who represented Queensland in the men's Interstate Series in Perth around winning a string of junior events around the Asia-Pacific region.

Morgan, 17, followed his win in Taiwan last year with multiple wins in Queensland, plus Singapore, the Northern Territory and New South Wales.

Golf Australia high-performance director Brad James was excited by their prospects when the tournament gets underway at the Hong Kong Golf Club on August 30.

"Both Grace and Jed have been super impressive in this past year, so we look forward to them acquitting themselves well as a team," James said.

James also said the national coaching panel had opted to give international exposure to another pair of bright prospects, Kay Bannan and Nathan Page, both of Victoria.

Bannan, 14, is the reigning champ at both The National Junior Girls' Classic and the Southern Junior Girls' Classic, but she's already had experience against some of the world's leading pros after qualifying for this year's Vic Open.

Page, also 14, won the Australian Schools 15 and Under Championship last year and was T15 in this year's Australian Boys Amateur 2017 before finishing joint runner-up at the Yarrawonga Junior Open.

"It's just a tremendous opportunity for them to experience playing on an international stage – and if their form continues, who knows what they could achieve?"

The tournament is played over 54 holes with fourball on day one, followed by foursomes on day two, and individual stroke play on the final day.

Golf Australia’s Matt Cutler will manage the teams, while Sarah King from South Australia will be the coach.