Volvo China Open
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Shenzhen, China |
| Established | 1995 |
| Course(s) | Hidden Grace Golf Club |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,147 yards (6,535 m) |
| Tour(s) | European Tour Asian Tour China Tour Asia Golf Circuit OneAsia Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | US$1,500,000 |
| Month played | October |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 264 Nicolas Colsaerts (2011) |
| To par | −24 as above |
| Current champion | |
 Sarit Suwannarut | |
| Location map | |
  Hidden Grace GC Location in China | |
The Volvo China Open is a men's golf tournament that has been held annually in China since 1995. The event is organised by the China Golf Association and was co-sanctioned by the European Tour from 2004 until 2019. It has also featured as part of the Asian Tour, the OneAsia Tour, the China Tour and the Asia Golf Circuit.
History[edit]
The first event was played in 1995 as the China Open and featured on the Asia Golf Circuit. Raúl Fretes was the inaugural champion. The following year the event moved to the Asian Tour's schedule and continued to through 2008. The event joined the European Tour in 2004. Stephen Dodd won the first edition on the European Tour.[1]
Changes occurred in 2009 with the announcement of the OneAsia Tour, a new golf tour set up by the China Golf Association in partnership with the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Japan Golf Tour, the Korean PGA and the Korean Golf Association. Having been involved in the early stages, the Asian Tour withdrew from the OneAsia Tour. As a result, four events, the Volvo China Open, Pine Valley Beijing Open, Korea Open and Midea China Classic were removed from the schedule and subsequently became the founding events of the new tour. In addition, the Asian Tour stated that they would not allow their members to play in those events unless already qualified via membership of the European Tour, promising stiff penalties for those that ignored this ruling.[2][3]
In 2011, Nicolas Colsaerts broke the tournament scoring record, shooting an aggregate of 264 (24 under par). He won by four shots.[4]
Wu Ashun won the 2015 event by one shot over David Howell. He made history as he became the first Chinese player to win a European Tour event on home soil.[5] Li Haotong won the event the following year, shooting a final-round 64 to win by three shots. He also became the second successive winner on home soil.[6]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 events were not sanctioned by the European Tour and proceeded as sole-sanctioned China Tour events.[7][8][9] Zhang Jin won the 2021 event by making birdie at the final hole to beat Li Haotong by one shot.[10] The 2022 event was scheduled to take place at the end of April on the European Tour but was postponed as restrictions due to the pandemic persisted in China,[11] and ultimately not played. In 2023, it returned to the Asian Tour schedule as part of the International Series, and in 2024 will return to the European Tour.[12]
Venues[edit]
The following venues have been used since the founding of the Volvo China Open in 1995.
| Venue | Location | First | Last | Times |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing International Golf Club | Beijing | 1995 | 1997 | 3 |
| Shanghai Sun Island International Club | Shanghai | 1998 | 1998 | 1 |
| Shanghai Silport Golf Club | Shanghai | 1999 | 2007 | 7 |
| Shenzhen Golf Club | Shenzhen | 2005 | 2005 | 1 |
| Beijing Honghua International Golf Club | Beijing | 2006 | 2006 | 1 |
| Beijing CBD International Golf Club | Beijing | 2008 | 2009 | 2 |
| Suzhou Jinji Lake International Golf Club | Jiangsu | 2010 | 2010 | 1 |
| Luxehills International Country Club | Sichuan | 2011 | 2011 | 1 |
| Binhai Lake Golf Club | Tianjin | 2012 | 2013 | 2 |
| Hidden Grace Golf Club (formerly Genzon Golf Club)[13] | Shenzhen | 2014 | 2023 | 4 |
| Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club | Shanghai | 2015 | 2015 | 1 |
| Topwin Golf and Country Club | Beijing | 2016 | 2018 | 3 |
Winners[edit]
| Year | Tour(s)[a] | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | ASA, CHN | Sarit Suwannarut |
269 | −19 | 6 strokes |  Chen Guxin Kho Taichi |
Hidden Grace |
| 2022 | EUR | No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021 | CHN, |
Zhang Jin |
280 | −8 | 1 stroke | Li Haotong |
Genzon |
| 2020 | Zhang Huilin |
269 | −19 | 9 strokes | Ding Wenyi (a) |
Genzon | |
| 2019 | ASA, EUR |  Mikko Korhonen |
268 | −20 | Playoff |  Benjamin Hébert |
Genzon |
| 2018 | ASA, EUR |  Alexander Björk |
270 | −18 | 1 stroke |  Adrián Otaegui |
Topwin |
| 2017 | EUR, ONE | Alexander Lévy (2) |
271 | −17 | Playoff |  Dylan Frittelli |
Topwin |
| 2016 | EUR, ONE | Li Haotong |
266 | −22 | 3 strokes |  Felipe Aguilar |
Topwin |
| 2015 | EUR, ONE | Wu Ashun |
279 | −9 | 1 stroke |  David Howell |
Tomson Shanghai Pudong |
| 2014 | EUR, ONE | Alexander Lévy |
269 | −19 | 4 strokes | Tommy Fleetwood |
Genzon |
| 2013 | EUR, ONE |  Brett Rumford |
272 | −16 | 4 strokes | Mikko Ilonen |
Binhai Lake |
| 2012 | EUR, ONE | Branden Grace |
267 | −21 | 3 strokes |  Nicolas Colsaerts |
Binhai Lake |
| 2011 | EUR, ONE | Nicolas Colsaerts |
264 | −24 | 4 strokes |  Søren Kjeldsen Peter Lawrie Danny Lee Pablo Martín |
Luxehills International |
| 2010 | EUR, ONE |  Yang Yong-eun |
273 | −15 | 2 strokes |  Rhys Davies Stephen Dodd |
Suzhou Jinji Lake |
| 2009 | EUR, ONE | Scott Strange |
280 | −8 | 1 stroke | Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño |
Beijing CBD International |
| 2008 | ASA, EUR | Damien McGrane |
278 | −10 | 9 strokes | Simon Griffiths Mike Lorenzo-Vera Oliver Wilson |
Beijing CBD International |
| 2007 | ASA, EUR |  Markus Brier |
274 | −10 | 5 strokes | Scott Hend Graeme McDowell Andrew McLardy |
Shanghai Silport |
| 2006 | ASA, EUR |  Jeev Milkha Singh |
278 | −10 | 1 stroke | Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño |
Beijing Honghua International |
| 2005 | ASA, EUR | Paul Casey |
275 | −13 | Playoff | Oliver Wilson |
Shenzhen |
| 2004 | ASA, EUR | Stephen Dodd |
276 | −12 | 3 strokes | Thomas Bjørn |
Shanghai Silport |
| 2003 | ASA | Zhang Lianwei |
277 | −11 | 2 strokes | Thaworn Wiratchant |
Shanghai Silport |
| 2002 | ASA | David Gleeson |
272 | −16 | 1 stroke |  Pablo del Olmo |
Shanghai Silport |
| 2001 | ASA | Charlie Wi |
272 | −16 | 1 stroke | Thongchai Jaidee |
Shanghai Silport |
| 2000 | ASA | Simon Dyson |
275 | −13 | 1 stroke | Jyoti Randhawa |
Shanghai Silport |
| 1999 | ASA |  Kyi Hla Han |
273 | −15 | 7 strokes |  Christian Peña |
Shanghai Silport |
| 1998 | ASA | Ed Fryatt |
269 | −19 | 2 strokes |  Takeshi Ohyama |
Shanghai Sun Island International |
| 1997 | ASA | Cheng Jun |
280 | −8 | 5 strokes | Adrian Percey |
Beijing International |
| 1996 | ASA | Prayad Marksaeng |
269 | −19 | 9 strokes |  Hsieh Yu-shu |
Beijing International |
| 1995 | AGC |  Raúl Fretes |
277 | −11 | 3 strokes | Lai Ying-juh |
Beijing International |
Notes[edit]
- ^ AGC − Asia Golf Circuit; ASA − Asian Tour; CHN − China Tour; EUR − European Tour; ONE − OneAsia Tour.
- ^ a b Tournament held without European Tour/Asian Tour sanctioning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
References[edit]
- ^ "Dodd Savours First European Tour Victory in Shanghai". European Tour. 19 March 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "$A3 million China Open golf tees off". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
- ^ "Asians stay away from OneAsia Tour". Malaysia Star. 16 April 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
- ^ "Colsaerts claims maiden title in China". ESPN. 24 April 2011.
- ^ "Wu Ashun wins the Volvo China Open to create history". Sky Sports News. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Li Haotong Takes Victory In Volvo China Open". Sky News. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Volvo China Open". China Tour. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "China Open removed, Portugal Masters added to European Tour". Associated Press. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ "New Dates for 2021 Volvo China Open". Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation. 17 October 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ^ "China Open puts safety first as Zhang reigns supreme". 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Updates to 2022 schedule". PGA European Tour. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Ball, Josh (13 September 2023). "Volvo China Open returns to Asian Tour as International Series event; Vu added to stellar field for Aramco Team Series". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ "China's Award-Winning Destination". European Tour Destinations. Retrieved 1 November 2023.