SZ team defends title at GBA Golf League

The Fifth Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) Golf League wrapped up on Aug. 22, with the Shenzhen Original Residents Elite Team defending its title.

The team clinched the championship with a total score of 713 strokes. Runners-up were the Promised Heritage Golf Team (715), followed by the Guangzhou Dragon Lake Team (734).

Winners pose for a photo after the GBA Golf League finals in Dongguan on Aug. 22. Courtesy of Mission Hills Group

This year’s tournament, condensed into a three-month schedule for the first time, began in early June and culminated with the finals at Mission Hills Dongguan’s Norman Course on August 21–22. A total of 36 teams from major GBA cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Foshan competed, with nine advancing to the finals.

The two-day final maintained the 36-hole team stroke play format, featuring both foursomes and four-ball matches.

Founded in 2015, the Shenzhen Original Residents Elite Team is composed mainly of golf enthusiasts from Shenzhen’s historic Nantou area. They first won the league title in 2024 and demonstrated strong consistency in this year’s defense of their crown.

“Compared with previous years, the schedule this year was more compact, and yet the competition was no less exciting,” said Han Zhishan, general manager of Mission Hills Golf Club. “In three months’ time, the 15th National Games will open right here in the Greater Bay Area. As the first Games co-hosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, it will once again ignite passion across the country. I believe our league has served as a warm-up, showcasing high-level play and strong sporting spirit.”

Since the event’s launch in 2020, nearly 200 teams and 13,000 players have participated. Han noted that teams increasingly highlight their cultural identity and adaptability to the evolving tournament format. “This year’s finals featured both long-established powerhouses and rising newcomers,” he said.

The league is structured in three phases: preliminaries, semifinals, and finals. This year’s champions earned a prize package valued at about 400,000 yuan, including 12 VIP tickets to the 2026 Mission Hills Golfathon, a Blackstone Card, and custom golf bags for each team member. The top eight teams also qualified for the 9th National Amateur Golf Super League Finals to be held in Haikou this November.

Mission Hills first launched its amateur team circuit in 2020, later upgrading it into the GBA Golf League. As a pioneer in China’s golf industry, the group has long promoted both public engagement in the sport and youth golf development. With the 15th National Games approaching, Mission Hills is also hosting a slate of high-profile tournaments, including the Golfathon, the GBA Amateur Team League, and the upcoming Aramco Team Series Shenzhen stop in November.