Date: August 01, 2017
Author: Golf Australia

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

And Golf Australia high performance director Brad James 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.

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.

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. Kim won the Greg Norman Junior Masters in December and was also awarded the Golf NSW Jean Derrin Trophy, as the female player with the lowest scoring average across a series of tournaments.

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 just 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.

James was excited with both combinations' prospects when the tournament is played at the Hong Kong Golf Club from 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.

"And the younger team, 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, day two featuring foursomes and individual stroke play to wind up on September 1.

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