First USA China Friendship Cup Scheduled for July

"On behalf of the Golf Coaches Association of America and National Golf Coaches Association, we are very honored to be invited to compete in such a prestigious event against a group of young people from China - an up-and-coming population in the game of golf," said GCAA President Tom Drennan. "We hope that this will be a memorable experience for everyone involved and will develop friendships between our two nations that will last a lifetime."

"It is a great time that the USA China Friendship Cup should be held from July 25-29, 2006, and on behalf of the China Golf Association, I am pleased to send our national team to participate in this tournament," said Zhang Xiao Ning Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the China Golf Association. "It is a nice beginning for both sides, and also it is a great time for Chinese golf. I think our young golfers could learn more from this, and also for the coaches and our association.

"Oak Valley Golf Club is extremely honored to host the inaugural USA China Friendship Cup," said Huey Yu, founder and president of Oak Valley Golf Club. "On this historic occasion 12 young people from the USA and China are joined together by the game of golf to do something that has never been done before, to play a match play competition between these two nations. We hope Oak Valley proves to be a fair test of golfing skills for these young competitors and that both teams will enjoy our facilities and Southern California hospitality. "

The bi-annual Friendship Cup will be played in Beijing in the summer of 2008 just prior to the beginning of the Summer Olympics, and will return to the USA in 2010.