[Shenzhen, China – 14th December 2018]Golfing legend Annika Sorenstam will return to southern China in February to host the ninth edition of her ever-popular ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills.  The all-girls event is one of the highlights of an award-winning junior schedule at the world’s largest golf facility that features more than 30 tournaments for thousands of young golfers during 2019.

Hosted by the ten-time Major Champion, the 2019 ANNIKA Invitational will take place on her highly-acclaimed Annika Course at Mission Hills Dongguan from February 27 to March 1.  With R&A and CGA ranking points on offer, top female golfers aged eight to 18 will compete over three rounds for a place in the prestigious ANNIKA Invitational USA presented by Rolex.

Tenniel Chu, Group Vice-Chairman of Mission Hills said:  “Following recent announcements of our PGA of America partnership and our golf scholarship programme with The R&A, 2019 promises to be another significant year for the Mission Hills junior golf programme as we strive to introduce more Chinese people to the game and contribute to the growth of golf worldwide.”

Other highlights of the 2019 junior calendar at Mission Hills include two Faldo Series qualifiers in the same year.  Given the popularity of Sir Nick Faldo’s global golf development initiative, which has been running at Mission Hills since 2006, a Faldo Series Shenzhen Championship has been scheduled for May 24-26 followed by a Faldo Series Hainan Championship on October 25-27.

The 2019 tournament schedule – part of a junior golf programme at Mission Hills that was recently voted Best Youth Programme in Asia at the Sport Industry Awards – tees off on January 6 with the first of 10 legs for the Mission Hills Junior Series and is followed by the first of 10 Mission Hills Par-3 Series events on January 13.

Also returning to the schedule will be the 12th Jack Nicklaus Junior Championship (April 19-21) and the third Mission Hills Junior Open (March 29-31), both offering its leading players the opportunity to compete in America, the latter at the World Stars of Junior Golf event in Las Vegas.

Mission Hills Group is the owner and operator of two luxury resorts in China, one in Shenzhen in southern China and the other in Haikou on the tropical tourism island of Hainan.  Together, the fully-integrated facilities span a total of 40 square kilometres and 22 golf courses, making Mission Hills the largest golf complex in the world.

Photo – 10-time Major Champion Annika Sorenstam hosts a clinic for players during the 2018 ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills China.