sports

The final matches of the autumn amateur golf tournament took place at the Pyongyang Golf Course on October 19-20.

O Kwang Hyok, vice-minister of Physical Culture and Sports who is concurrently chief of the Golf Association of the DPRK, said in the opening ceremony which was held on October 19, that he hoped that all the participants would achieve good results while displaying noble sportsmanship and fair play with the pride in leading the spread and development of golf culture in the country.

There were stroke play, doubles, skill competition and water golf amusement games in the amateur golf tournament, drawing over 40 amateurs.

In order to ensure fair play, the organizing committee of the contest divided participants into four divisions according to their level, age and sex. The first division involved amateurs whose handicap is less than 97, the second division more than 98, the third division for women fans and the fourth division included the aged amateurs above 60 who could not do the whole match play for their health reasons.

In the stroke play, the players of the first division played four rounds with 18 holes, the second- and third-division players three rounds and the fourth-division players two rounds with 9 holes. The rankings were decided by bringing the results together.

Paek Sun Hak won the first place in the first division, Kim Myong Nam in the second division, Jon Kyong Hui in the third division and Ryu Song Thaek in the fourth division.

In the doubles, women amateurs of the third division teamed up with men amateurs whose average handicap is less than 110 and played two rounds with 18 holes. The rankings were decided by putting together the results of the two rounds.

Kim Su Ryon and Kim Jong Chol won the doubles event.

Kim Su Ryon, who competed in the third-division, demonstrated her excellent skills with the handicap of around 70 in the preliminaries.

In the skill competition, which was held through driving contest, near pin and hole-in-one, Ho In Chol won prizes in the driving contest and near pin by displaying high skills.

In the closing ceremony on October 20, diplomas, cups and relevant prizes were awarded to excellent players.

During the event in which 80-odd-year-old golfers competed in harmony with those in their twenties, the doubles and water golf amusement games were held in a spectacular way.

Ri Yong Ju, a senior staffer of the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports and one of the organizers of the contest, said that the last two events which were held very distinctively unlike those of last year encouraged the zeal for the contest among beginners and injected youthful vigour into the aged golf fans.