AG200 May2017 by Asia Pacific Golf Group

ISSUE

200

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CHANGE: This has always held back people from adopting new and more efﬁcient ways of doing things. However, a mobile smart app isn’t all about change; it’s about improvement. It is about how a golf club can beneﬁt its members and visitors, allowing them to do things quicker and easier. Mobile technology is also about driving additional revenues, communicating effectively and cutting costs.

So, how does a golf club start to get involved with the change process? In order to create a successful golf club app there must be balance between the club and a golfer’s interests because it is this exercise that will help create an app that blends ﬂexibility with practicality, technology with simplicity and reliability with usability. Working together with London-based Advanced Digital LLC, ASIAN GOLF presents an easy to understand introduction to Mobile Apps for golf clubs.

EQUIPMENT FOCUS 42 PING A CONSERVATIVE BRAND? THINK AGAIN! PING has launched two visually striking PLD2 putters - the Camo Ketsch Realtree Xtra, and the Camo Ketsch Muddy Girl. With the launch of its latest line of putters, PING is taking an alternative approach by merging an innovative graphic application process with high-performance heads precision-milled at PING. And this reprfesents PING lab’s efforts to advance new putter design, technology and engineering concepts.

50 GOES LIKE HELL, SOUNDS LIKE HEAVEN Yes – you are not seeing things! The headline describes Parsons Xtreme Golf’s latest golf clubs. There’s absolutely no denying the fact that the new drivers, fairway woods

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SPECIAL FEATURE 32 THE TRUMP TOUCH COMES TO THE DESERT Trump International Golf Club, a world class golf facility has opened in the oil-rich Emirate State of Dubai. The course was ofﬁcially opened earlier this year and ASIAN GOLF sent its International Roving Editor, Al Campbell to check out the spectacular facility.

78 HOW THE JAPANESE GOT GOING WITH TOURNAMENT GOLF

This is a new editorial column made possible through a collaboration between the PGA Tour of America and ASIAN GOLF. Given the growing presence in Asia of the largest professional golf tour in the world, we felt that it was incumbent upon us to provide the PGA Tour with its own platform to talk about its activities throughout this vast Continent.

GAME-IMPROVEMENT 86 BLACK HAT TIPS: GOLF AND TENNIS – STRANGE BEDFELLOWS?

and hybrids in the PXG-X Collection are all superior products engineered for extremely low spin, incredible distance, and unmatched sound and feel.

60 WEDGES ARE THE “GROOVIEST” CLUBS IN YOUR BAG! This is a special FOCUS report on wedges and how important these clubs are to anyone’s game of golf. To get the job done, we have worked with the VOKEY brand of wedges which are arguably amongst the best in the world.

68 ELIXR – BORN OUT OF 21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY Readers may remember OnCore as the company that introduced the revolutionary hollow metal-core MA Series 1 golf ball in 2013. The Buffalo-headquartered company has not let up since then and has maintained its pursuit of innovation with its latest product, the ELIXR.

Our resident golf guru, the inimitable Tony Meechai provides a valuable tip on how you can learn to master your golf swing. So typical of him, he uses a tennis racket to illustrate how swinging the racket properly can have a very positive effect on one’s golf swing. Tony makes it all look simple but it works!

92 PROTOUR-COLLEGE: THE DIFFERENCE THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE! In the current series of golﬁng tips, ASIAN GOLF’s resident golf coaches focus, explore and explain the importance of understanding the importance of mental skills and the difference this makes in the training of junior golfers.

REGULARS 8 EDITORIAL TEAM 12 SHARED THOUGHTS FROM THE PUBLISHER: ASIA DOES NOT NEED AN “AFFILIATED TOUR” The race to bulk up professional golf tour events in Asia is on and unlike any other region on the Planet, Asia seems to be the main theatre for the battle for sponsored events.

Mike Sebastian Editor/Chief Executive Ofﬁcer [mike@asiapaciﬁcgolfgroup.com]

INTERNATIONAL ROVING EDITORS

James Graham Prusa Correspondent

Angela Raymond President [angela@asiapaciﬁcgolfgroup.com]

Alan Campbell (China/Middle East) Correspondent

Andy Stangenberg Club Services Advisor

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS

Raquel Arcega

Tony Meechai (Black Hat Golf Tips -Thailand)

Executive Creative Art Director [raquel@asiapaciﬁcgolfgroup.com]

(Pro Tour College)

David Milne & Lawrie Montague

INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES

Alice Ho Business Executive [alice@asiapaciﬁcgolfgroup.com]

Alice Ho Email: alice@asiapaciﬁcgolfgroup.com

ASIA PACIFIC GOLF GROUP(2014) PTE LTD

Wayne Lwee Head, Digital Network/Video Editor [wayne@asiapaciﬁcgolfgroup.com]

1 Yishun Industrial Street 1, #07-23 A’posh Bizhub, Singapore 768160 Tel: +65 6323 2800 | Fax: +65 6323 2838 Company Registration No.: 201405689G

Myra Paras Accounts Executive [myra@asiapaciﬁcgolfgroup.com]

No part of Asian Golf may be reproduced in any other publications, printed or published without the written permission of the publisher. Opinions in Asian Golf are the writers’ and are not necessarily endorsed by Asian Golf. Asian Golf accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, transparencies or other materials. Manuscripts, photographs and artwork will not be returned unless accompanied by appropriate postage.

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FROM THE PUBLISHER SHARED THOUGHTS

asiangolf asia as a siiiang sia s ngol n ngo gol go g ollf o

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The race to bulk up professional golf tour events in Asia is on and unlike any other region on the Planet, Asia seems to be the main theatre for the battle for sponsored events.

ne would expect that like America, where there is one main dominant professional tour, namely the all-powerful PGA Tour, home to the game’s greatest stars, the same would hold true for Asia. The situation also applies to Europe where the one dominant pan-European force is the European Tour. Elsewhere, like in Japan, South Korea, Canada and Australia, there are national bodies that are the guardians of their respective territories and maintain a tight control on foreign intrusions. Unfortunately, the history of the professional game in Asia, which is still in its infancy, relatively speaking, is an open-season, free-for-all hunt for all comers. All the major tours of the world have free access to Asia to organise and stage professional tournaments for their members and this includes even smaller tours that have started encroaching onto Asian soil – a point in case is the MENA Tour from the Middle East which has a special “Thailand Swing”. The Asian Tour, an organisation that is supposedly owned by the players themselves, is far from being able to offer its members sufﬁcient tournaments to play in, and to earn a decent living, especially those who have qualiﬁed for their tour card entitlements. Since the Asian Tour was launched, it has been beset with internal squabbling, power-struggles and a litany of other retardants that have suppressed the growth of the tour. Of late, efforts have been put in place to try and inject a sense of organisation, professionalism and direction and it is hoped that this will help bring about some lasting changes. While there are moves afoot to bring about change, there is a basic challenge that needs to be addressed by the Asian Tour and this relates to the

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development of a meaningful tournament schedule that can offer its members with a fair and equitable chance to make a decent living. This is only possible if the Tour can offer a good spread of events in a year where there are sufficient “home grown” tournaments which offer attractive prize monies for members to compete for. As this op-ed piece is being written, there seems to be only seven “home grown” tournaments that have been contracted for and that can be branded as fully fledged events of the Asian Tour. Aside from this small number of tournaments, the tour’s calendar is chock-a-block with co-sanctioned or tri-sanctioned tournaments. For the uninitiated, co-sanctioned events are those where the Asian Tour seeks affiliation with another tour like the European Tour to stage an event. This is fine as far as tournaments go but there is a catch in that a co-sanctioned tour limits the number of playing slots for Asian Tour members. One wonders if this is fair to qualified tour-card holding members of the Asian Tour? Looking at the current business strategy of the Asian Tour, it does not take too much smarts to figure out that the tour is trying to grow through affiliations with other tours instead of developing its own tournaments. While the Asian Tour’s calendar for the year may look full, the number of actual playing opportunities for its members is limited by virtue of the co-sanctioned events offering only a limited number of playing slots for Asian Tour members. One can’t help but conclude that perhaps the way forward for the Asian Tour’s expansion would be to take the “affiliation route” which will automatically lead to it becoming a “piggy-back” tour. Affiliations are good but if it is a short cut to show growth, then it is not going to help the Asian Tour realise its goal of being the region’s premier professional tour as it is currently bandied to be. As the

powers that be at the re-structured Asian Tour try to put their house together, let us hope that they do not lose sight of the fact that they need to get a sustainable tournament schedule put in place so that their card-holding members can live well. To give this statement a perspective, it would be interesting to compare the incomes drawn by professionals in some of the leading tours of the world with that of the Asian Tour. The current top earner on the Asian Tour’s 2017 schedule is an American, David Lipsky who is down for US$333,330 in earnings to date. Comparatively speaking, England’s Tommy Fleetwood has so far stashed away US$1.7 million on the European Tour for the 2017 season and the guy who blows away these pay-checks is the PGA Tour’s Dustin Johnson who has salted away US$5.3 million for the 2017 season. There’s no denying that the top guns make good moolah but what about the guys down the prize money totem pole? What sort of cash do they take home? Let’s start with the Asian Tour – the player who is at the 101st position on the money order for 2017 is China’s Zhang Hui-Lin who has earned US$2,700 so far in prize money. This looks absolutely paltry, deplorable

and demeaning when compared against the 100th positioned player (Oliver Fisher) on the European Tour who has earned US$66,000 for the 2017 season. What about the PGA Tour? This is going to ﬂoor you – the 100th positioned player, Matthew Fitzpatrick has made US$480,000 to date. The members of the Asian Tour are professionals and for them to be able to survive and for the professional game to grow in Asia, we need for the Asian Tour to get its act together. It needs to become a muscle-packed tour that has the power, strength and connections to secure tournaments on its own for its members (not limited playing slots). Asia does not need an “Afﬁliated Tour” – professional golfers in Asia need a full-blown Asian Tour that can stand on its own and provide a good living for all its tour-card carrying members.

AFFILIATION FOOTNOTE: In a blog, Josh Burack, CEO of the Asian Tour declared on April 10: “The Tour is back in China! I’m very pleased that after many months of negotiation, building trust and forging plans with the China Golf Association (CGA), we recently announced a strategic partnership where we plan to launch up to four new tournaments in China this year and hopefully more from 2018 and beyond.” Does The CGA really need the Asian Tour? We wonder! asiangolf as asi asia a s an ng ngol ngo gol go g of

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ore than most industries, the golf industry has had its fair share of doom and gloom stories. The golf business landscape has been inundated by news about golf course closures, declining incomes, equipment manufacturers shutting down and a litany of such dismal news. The time has come to put this all behind and look ahead. Asia has entered an exciting era of dynamic growth with most of the Continent’s economies reﬂecting good health. More Asian corporates are moving up the ladder of success on the For-

tune and Forbes list of billion-dollar conglomerates. This is an excellent measure of the powerhouse that Asia is. Populations are becoming better educated, more afﬂuent and ready for new and exciting experiences. While the Baby-Boomers may be on the decline, the younger population demographics including the much talked about Millennials have matured and moved up the consumer pyramid. There has never been a better time than NOW for the golf industry to take stock of all the positives and prepare itself to tap into new opportunities for improved business and greater earnings.

New technologies like Mobile Ap to be brought on board to improve t member experience. New and exciti of play need to be introduced that is consuming, more fun and more affo Service standards need to be stepp fold. New and improved ways of ren efﬁciently maintaining golf courses fast-tracked. It’s all about NEW DIRECTIONS b herein lies the future of golf and its g in Asia. There’s a NEW AGE of oppor awaiting the golf club industry in Asia

|1| ADAM HARRIS |2| ANDREW WOOD |3| ANDY STANGENBERG |4| PAUL STRINGER |5| STEVEN FREUND |6| GREGG PATT |8| ROBERT PARSONS |9| ZACH SHOR |10| BILL SANDERSON |11| TODD RHINEHART |12| DR. MILTON ENGELKE |13| DAVID D

ASIA PACIFIC GOLF

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adopters of the emerging changes will be set and ready to reap harvests brought about by the paradigm shifts. Be part of the ENLIGHTENED COMMUNITY and be at the 2017 Asia Paciﬁc Golf Summit (APGS 2017). No other golf business event in the world can offer you a road map to prepare for the exciting times ahead. Come and listen to the architects of change who will be piloting Asia’s thrust forward.

TERSON |7| TENNIEL CHU DOUGET |14| BRAD BURGESS

F GROUP (2014) PTE LTD.

1 Yishun Industrial Street 1, Singapore 768160 xÊÈÎÓÎÊÓnÎnÊUÊ7iLÃ Ìi\ÊÜÜÜ°>Ã >«>V wV} v}À Õ«°V

asiangolf 200

COVER STORY

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

may 2017

No one in the developed world can den of UBER is an open admission to the stu most of us know, Uber has dramatically modern life. For example, Uber has orig apps which give consumers the ability ubiquitous smart-phone. As an example monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cover feature on ASIAN GOLF, demand services with the use of smart Food delivered to you in 15 minutes o Flowers delivered to any location yo Groceries delivered directly to your d Your laundry picke cleaned, and deliv Alcohol delivere

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ny knowledge of UBER. Denial ubborn refusal to change. As y changed some aspects of ginated a whole category of to get things on demand via the e to illustrate the lead-in to this the following are some on-phones: or less. u like within 90 minutes. door within 1 hour. ed up, laundered or dryered to you. ed to your door within 1 hour.

may 2017

his trend will continue to affect our lives as more and more industries get ‘Uberfied”. The golf club industry is no exception. It is not that the golf club industry needs to become cognizant of the “everything on demand” way of life but there is an urgent need for the industry to ramp up. There is no way that any industry can afford to avoid or ignore mobile applications - as an industry, golf clubs will soon face a lot of pressure that will be brought to bear upon the industry by golf club members and golfers who are already conducting a vast majority of their daily needs via the smart-phone. We live in a connected generation and the golf club industry is part of this generation. The Asia Pacific region is a massively connected community and growing exponentially by the day as evidenced by the penetration of smart-phones. The region is booming and the penetration of smart-phone usage and mobile applications have already eclipsed the penetration levels of developed regions like North America and Europe. While this surge in popularity and usage is taking place, the golf club industry is generally seen to be failing to capitalise on this. Given the fact that a 2016 study by Google and TNS (a market research firm) found that apps are the driving force of the mobile phone experience in Asia, this in

itself should be enough for any business savvy general

manager of a golf club to be actively seeking out a smar

app for his club. So what is stopping these smart genera managers? It is perhaps the fear of change, the uncertainty of

what to do and the fear of getting it wrong! This has always held back people from adopting new and more efﬁcient ways of doing things. However, a

smart app isn’t all about change; it’s about improvemen It is about how a golf club can beneﬁt its members and visitors, allowing them to do things quicker and easier.

Mobile technology is also about driving additiona revenues, communicating effectively and cut

ting costs. Change is not always easy to accept

as many in business view change as new

trends coming and going, hence a reluc tance to get on board and be a part of t change process. However, mobile techn

ogy is not the next “hot trend”. It is not a passing phase either and those club that fail to capitalise on this technolo

will be heavily penalised in the comin years because not only will they

be missing out on this powerful sales and marketing tool, but a growing number of golfers w

expect to be able to downloa a professional app. So, how does a golf clu

start to get involved with the change process? In order to create a successful golf club app there must be balance between the club and a golfer’s

interests because it is this exercise that will help create an app that blend

ﬂexibility with practicality, technology w

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simplicity and reliability with usability. In developing a mobile app, the targeted solution should be based on perfectly balancing the needs between the club, its members and its visitors. Thus allowing private members-only clubs to focus upon the app’s ability to engage golfers at a personal level right through to those clubs that wish to place more emphasis upon revenue generation and for attracting repeat play from visiting golfers. To help ASIAN GOLF explain and illustrate how a mobile app works in a golf club environment, we decided to collaborate with the London-based specialist company Advanced Digital LLC, the developer of what many consider to be the most advanced mobile app for golf clubs – CourseMate. The following is a step-by-step walk through on how a golf club should prepare itself to embark on its journey towards developing a mobile app.

This exportable data even includes a “My Account” section which allows clubs to view their player’s general data – age, gender and handicap - to give clubs greater insights to their players.

The Outdoor Challenge

Scorecards

Firstly we have to overcome the unique challenges that face clubs and their golfers. It has to be noted that a club’s app has to operate outside, often in bright daylight and in areas of no or patchy signals without any drop in performance. This means that CourseMate had to be a native app in order to fulﬁl these basic requirements because once downloaded, native apps can operate fully off-line and then simply update, if required, once they regain connection.

Clear large scorecards enable golfers to track their progress the smart way. With the choice of stroke play, Stableford and Match Play, CourseMate’s scoring system can calculate their results effortlessly using both the golfer’s handicap and the hole’s index. These results are stored on the smart-phone with a full scorecard sheet being available to share or send by e-mail. With an in-app leader-board, CourseMate’s 4-ball scorecard gets the whole ﬂight involved, injecting some fun and friendly competition.

Course Guides The most popular apps that are downloaded by golfers give “Google map” course guides, which can sometimes be hard to read. However, using assets that the club already owns (course guides and stroke savers), CourseMate gives golfers a clear, visual representation of the individual holes. For the GPS location, the app includes a ‘green keeper’ function that allows the club to set the new hole position directly from the app making CourseMate one of the most accurate apps out there on the market for hole precision setting.

Marketing Data

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One of the credos of modern marketing states that if you don’t capture your customer details, you’re missing out on future revenue. Smart data is of vital importance and beneﬁt for a club. This is achieved by CourseMate’s ingenious corporate design of having a one-time login screen that allows a smart club to capture both member and visitor information with every download ensuring up to date information for the entire club’s other marketing needs.

ma ma may ay y 2017 201 20 017 0 17 1 7

Live Scoring CourseMate offers free live scoring on the app and this allows everyone to watch a match in progress right from the clubhouse screens! This simple 3-step set up allows visiting societies, corporate days and junior matches to become involved with the excitement of live tournament scoring bringing greater club vibe, increased takings at the clubhouse and giving a club’s marketing efforts a big boost.

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CHANGE IS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO ACCEPT AS MANY IN BUSINESS VIEW CHANGE NEW TRENDS COMING AND GOING, HENCE A RELUCTANCE TO GET ON BOARD A PART OF THE CHANGE PROCESS. HOWEVER, MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IS NOT THE NEXT END”. IT IS NOT A PASSING PHASE EITHER AND THOSE CLUBS THAT FAIL TO CAPITALISE TECHNOLOGY WILL BE HEAVILY PENALISED IN THE COMING YEARS BECAUSE NOT ONLY

EY BE MISSING OUT ON THIS POWERFUL SALES AND MARKETING TOOL, BUT A GROWING

ER OF GOLFERS WILL EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD A PROFESSIONAL APP.

ons

Social Interaction

ising the way it is supposed to be done. Combining lity for the club and golfers’ own desire to be included, nd “get a deal”. This section is visually appealing, pdate and without the intrusion of a pop-up ad in s the freedom for a club to choose its own advertises and calls to action. CourseMate has even added a uch contact ensuring that the golfer can easily take whatever a club has on offer. the control is with the club, it can optimise this facility ts entire offerings plus have the ability to sell sections ising space thus generating even further revenue via

Social sharing and keeping golfers in a club’s mobile app is key to ensuring that the app is used time and time again. CourseMate is able to access the camera on a golfer’s smart phone, capturing his day and then allow him to post directly to his own social networks. This feature makes a club’s members perfect unpaid brand ambassadors!

Tee Bookings CourseMate allows golfers to link directly into a club’s on-line booking system. If a club operates a third party on-line supplier that gives its members more than just tee-time booking, CourseMate can also access these additional beneﬁts at the same time.

ixtures

Photos

members and visitors up to date with a club’s latest tures, this section features a rolling calendar that social sharing which allows non-member events (for ding fairs) to be shared amongst the golfer’s own netclub greater awareness than normal print or digital uld, not to mention the power of referral marketing!

CourseMate app is designed to allow clubs to showcase days, events and golﬁng moments, updating with new relevant images as often as possible. Clubs can also get golfers involved with photo contests. This on the surface may seem like a small thing, but we are all proud by nature and the pride of having your photo being displayed will generate goodwill and much social sharing by golfers themselves as they proudly show their photo to anyone that will

ations

look - on your app!

s right on trend with the 2016 Google study that shows se engagement with their apps by using targeted ts that reach users at relevant times. For golfers, s’ range from special offers to upcoming club events rseMate linking part of the push notification system app’s promotion and event sections, it delivers these rtisements in a timely manner to increase turnout/ CourseMate’s push notification system, clubs are end out general notifications and course updates on a

Menu From weekly specials to new seasonal menus, a club can tempt its golfers and increase food and beverage takings. And in keeping with the currency of the rest of the app, a club can have the freedom of ensuring that its menus are as fresh as the food it serves.

Weather The app will be set to a speciﬁc club’s course location and this will include the all-important weekly weather forecast that golfers check before booking, or before they head out for the day.

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may 2017 may

We hope that this collaborative introduction to a mobile app for golf clubs has helped to create a better understanding of the revolution that is taking place in the digital world of business. What we have reviewed has been designed to be intuitive with everything instantly accessible to the golfer, easily. If a club is new to apps, don’t worry. The founder and managing director of Advanced Digital, Adam Harris will be a key speaker at the 2017 Asia Paciﬁc Golf Summit and he will serve as an expert guide to clubs in the region keen on joining the Mobile App revolution.

CHANGE FOOTNOTE: The first industrial revolution introduced the mechanization of production using water and steam power. A hundred years later electricity, petroleum, new materials and substances, including alloys and chemicals, and communication technologies gave rise to the second industrial revolution. The third one was digital, with electronics and IT further automating production. The FUTURE IS NOW! Don’t wait and be left behind!

If a club is new to apps, don’t worry. The founder and managing director of Advanced Digital, Adam Harris will be a key speaker at the 2017 Asia Pacific Golf Summit and together with co-founder Jenni Biggs, he will serve as an expert guide to clubs in the region keen on joining the Mobile App revolution

Petchakasem Rd, Hua Hin, Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan 77110, Thailand Tel: +66 32 618 666 | Email: proshop@bmghuahin.com | www.blackmountainhuahin.com

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PRESENTED BY:

GOLF IN DUBAI SPECIAL FEATURE

Trump International Golf Club, a world class golf facility has opened in the oil-rich Emirate State of Dubai. The 7,300-yard, par 71 course sits at the heart of the 42 million square foot Damac Hills master development and was designed by the architect who shot to fame after his work on the Rio 2016 Olympic golf course, Gil Hanse. The course was ofďŹ cially opened earlier this year and ASIAN GOLF sent its International Roving Editor, Al Campbell to check out the spectacular facility. This is his report:

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“I

t’s truly awe inspiring,” proclaimed Donald Trump Jr. “In

71 layout nicely complements a cluster of w

Dubai, if you can envision it you can build it.” With that Field

Arabian Ranches, Jumeirah Golf Estates an

of Dreams-like analogy from the oldest son of the president

But what makes Trump International D

of the United States in front of a 1,500-strong audience of

luxury of the facilities. “The course could h

invited guests comprised of the crème of Emirati society

a decision was made to wait until the clubh

and well-heeled expatriates, Trump International Golf Club Dubai was pro-

visitors with the full experience from day o

claimed ofﬁcially open on February 19, 2017, making it the ﬁrst Trump Golf

general manager Andrew Whitelaw. “The o

property in the Middle East.

to Dubai is fantastic and when you visit a Tr

And inspiring it is, indeed. With 18 holes designed by Gil Hanse, as well

world I’m sure you’ll appreciate the level o

as an adjoining nine-hole par-three course, the links-style 7,229-yard, par-

sonalisation at the club,” said the Scotsma

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world-class golf venues nearby –

nd the Els Club among them.

Dubai stand out is the sheer ave been opened last year but

house was ﬁnished to provide

ne,” according to the facility’s verall experience when you come

rump facility anywhere in the

f attention to detail and the pern. “You get that experience here

may 2017

GIL HANSE

at the Dubai venue and that level of attention to detail

ment, will be home to 4,000 luxury villas and 7,500

and the service and how we look after individuals is going

condominiums, none of which encroach on the course.

to separate us from everyone.” Driving up to the stylish airplane-hanger-like club-

In the tastefully designed, three-story clubhouse, surprisingly, there is little evidence of any connection

house, nearly 3,000-square-metres big and brimming

with the 45th US president, other than a glass-encased

with the type of amenities more often found in top-end

driver mounted in the bar that he used for a ceremonial

hotels, it’s clear that while the golf facilities are ready,

tee-off during a 2014 site visit. Instead the chic, minimal-

the nearly 400 hectare development surrounding it is a

ist décor sets the tone for a special golf experience with

work in progress. Construction is ongoing at the site lo-

its ﬁve restaurants and rooftop inﬁnity pool and gym

cated about 20 minutes inland from the Dubai waterfront

overlooking the dramatic undulating layout.

and when ﬁnished, the Damac Property-owned develop-

With Damac’s billionaire owner Hussain Sajwani

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giving Mr Trump a free hand to create the course, the move to bring in right-hand man Hanse has given the club added cache. The 53-year-old American has also redesigned three of the ﬁve courses at the Trump Doral Resort, including the famed Blue Monster, and restored such classic US layouts as Merion, Oakland Hills and the East and West courses at Winged Foot, Major championship host venues all. As a student of golf architecture, Hanse has incorporated elements of many of the game’s greatest courses into his Dubai design. The ﬁrst and ninth fairways run

may 2017

Damac’s billionaire owner Hussain Sajwani (centre) with Eric Trump (left) and Donald Trump Jr (right)

THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE WHEN YOU COME TO

DUBAI IS FANTASTIC AND WHEN YOU VISIT A

TRUMP FACILITY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

I’M SURE YOU’LL APPRECIATE THE LEVEL OF ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND THE PERSONALISATION AT THE CLUB. GET THAT EXPERIENCE HERE AT THE

YOU

DUBAI

VENUE AND THAT LEVEL OF ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND THE SERVICE AND HOW WE LOOK AFTER INDIVIDUALS IS GOING TO SEPARATE US FROM EVERYONE.

– ANDREW WHITELAW

adjacent to each other, similar to the Old Course at St Andrews, while the 287-yard, par-four 12th – featuring a tiny elevated green with severe run-off – is said to be an ode to the 10th hole at Riviera in Los Angeles. While the club has no signature hole, the obvious candidate is the 156-yard 17th. The visually stunning par three is akin to the ‘Postage Stamp’ 8th hole at Troon or the 12th at Augusta National. Sitting on a thin ﬁnger of land, surrounded by manicured desert landscape and bunkers on three sides, a conﬁdent blast is needed to make it stick on a green where it is wider at the back and

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sloping hard to a narrow lower area. Other great holes include the 611-yard, par-five second where water hugs the entire left side of the

pronounced throughout and the key feature is the runoffs and the way the ball reacts. Another is the unique grassing.

narrow fairway from tee to green with desert up the

“We have one species of grass that they don’t have

right side. The 343-yard 8th, the most elevated hole,

anywhere else in the region – it’s called TifGrand (Ber-

the presence of three greenside bunkers, which are not

muda) and that is in all our approaches and surrounds

visible on the approach, must be navigated to reach the

to the greens,” said Whitelaw. “It gives a very tight lie

elevated green.

around the greens so it allows the player to putt from a

In what was initially a ﬂat site, Hanse has given

long way off if they prefer, or they can chip. What it does

Trump International Dubai bite in fairways that are

is speeds up the ball from 20-30 yards out from the green

not totally level. The emphasis on subtle undulation is

so it allows it to run in.”

LEARN MORE 39

may 2017

TIGER WOOD

Another place where balls tend to run in is the ‘barranca’ that dot the course. Many of these cavernous desert sand areas are not always visible on approach and tee shots and can severely drop off to areas of scrub land and vegetation. The ragged-edged barranca are most evident on the 462-yard 10th, a superb dog-leg right to open the back nine, on the par-three 17th, as well as in providing a separation area for the ﬁrst and ninth fairways. This memorable experience ﬁnishes with a 452-yard par four, where the fairway doglegs around a lake to the left. The approach requires carrying two bunkers right of the green to a hard-sloping bank where shots can roll down to the small putting surface. Whitelaw said the course had been created with the idea of eventually hosting a big tournament. The club has so far attracted about 100 members and is targeting 300. Trump Golf, which manages Trump International Dubai, is set to make a further splash on the UAE golf scene next year when another Damac Property development, Trump World Golf Club Dubai, comes on line next year with 18 holes designed by Tiger Wood. asiangolf 200

EQUIPMENT FOCUS

PING PUTTERS

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44 50 50

How do you view PING? Do you regard it as being a conservative company? Well, if you think PING is a conservative company, you may be correct. But does PING produce products that are conservative? Hell No! It is perhaps one of the most dynamic leaders of change in the golf equipment industry and everything that this illustrious manufacturer has done over the years in product design and innovation, has been backed by serious science. It is a company that has been built on solid bedrock of technology and it goes all the way back to its founder, Karsten Solheim. There are so many technological innovations that PING is renowned for and this is best reﬂected by the number of product and design patents that it owns. Of late, the G series driver was a classic testimony to revolutionary product design where the club’s design drew inspiration from dragonﬂies and 18-wheelers. Hard-core technology aside, what about the fun things that PING does with its products? A bold example will be the shocking pink limited edition drivers that brand ambassador Bubba Watson puts into play on PGA Tour events. PING is far from being conservative – in fact it is as bold as can be when it comes to pushing the envelope of change. LEARN MORE 45 5 51 1

march mar marc m may r 2017 h 2017 2 201 17 7

hange comes to PING again and this time, it is dramatic change to a product category that has helped build the company’s business – the ubiquitous putter. Its reputation is second to none in this highly competitive sector of the golf equipment market. With the launch of its latest line of putters, PING is taking an alternative approach with its Ketsch putter. Merging an innovative graphic application process with high-performance heads precision-milled at PING, the company has introduced two visually striking PLD2 putters - the Camo Ketsch Realtree Xtra, and the Camo Ketsch Muddy Girl. Both limitededition models are PING Putting Lab Design (PLD) originals and part of the lab’s efforts to advance new putter design, technology and engineering concepts. “The ﬁrst thing that grabs you is the incredible detail of the camo design that makes these putters distinctive in the marketplace,” said John A. Solheim, PING Chairman & CEO. “We chose the awardwinning Ketsch for this project

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WE CHOSE THE AWARD-WINNING KETSCH FOR THIS PROJECT BECAUSE OF ITS POPULARITY WITH GOLFERS AND ITS UNIQUE GEOMETRY.

USING A PROPRIETARY PERMODIZE

ANODIZED SEALING PROCESS, WE APPLY THE MULTI-COLOURED CAMO GRAPHIC TO THE MILLED

6061 ALUMINUM HEAD. THE

GRAPHIC PERMEATES THE MATERIAL WITH VIBRANT AND RICH DETAIL WHILE CREATING AN EXTREMELY HARD, DURABLE SHELL.

THE RESULTS ARE TWO PUTTERS THAT LOOK AMAZING, PERFORM GREAT, AND SHOWCASE OUR COMMITMENT TO MANUFACTURING INNOVATIONS.

because of its popularity with golfers and its unique geometry. Using a proprietary Permodize anodized sealing process, we apply the multi-coloured camo graphic to the milled 6061 aluminum head. The graphic permeates the material with vibrant and rich detail while creating an extremely hard, durable shell. The results are two putters that look amazing, perform great, and showcase our commitment to manufacturing innovations.” Contrasting sightlines help to make the Ketsch easy to aim, and 17-4 stainless steel sole weights yield a low centre of gravity, according to the company, for faster forward roll and stability. The patented TR face technology

may 2017

maintains speed control across the face. The stainless steel sole plate underwent a nitriding finishing process, commonly used in the aerospace industry, which diffuses nitrogen onto the surface of the metal to harden the surface. The stepless shaft has a brushed, non-glare finish that eliminates reflections and further distinguishes the look of both putters. “The complex geometry of the Ketsch model really challenged us to execute the process to its fullest extent,” Solheim said. “We achieved unmatched image quality that would be impossible to replicate with other manufacturing methods. This type of technology has functional and decorative applications that we look forward to utilizing in the future.” The PLD2 Camo Ketsch Realtree Xtra and Camo Ketsch Muddy Girl putters are available for pre-order immediately worldwide at PING Authorized golf shops.

hen golf returned to the modern Olympics after more than a century, nothing could be left to chance, especially the choice of grass for the new Olympic golf course in Brazil. The course was revolutionary and it needed a revolutionary turf grass and the variety that was hand-picked was Zeon

Zoysia America’s #1 selling Zoysia. Zeon Zoysia is very environmentally friendly, needing very little water, very low amounts of nitrogen fertilizer and is absolutely drought resistant - ideal for use on fairways, rough and tees. It’s so good that two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson exclaimed when he

first saw t

amazing. new golf To see it i

the best c year.” Avail grown an

STS SPORTS TURF SOLUTIONS CO., LTD

290 Jareonpattana Rd, Bangchan, Klongsamwa, Bangkok, Thailand, 10510 Tel: +66 2-540-3180 | Fax: +66 2-540-3181 | e-mail: Brad@sportsturfsolutions.com | www.sport

REPRESENTED BY STS:

the Olympic course: “The course is Not knowing what to expect, brand course, has not been open that long. in this condition, I mean, this is conditioned course we’ve played all

able now in Asia – Exclusively nd supplied by Sports Turf Solutions.

tsturfsolutions.com

Photo credit: Blue Jack Golf Course - Best New Private Course - 2016. Tiger Woods Design

PXG-X COLLECTION GOLF EQUIPMENT

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*A colloquial but most compelling way to describe the world’s sexiest, most forgiving golf clubs that launch higher, go farther, feel softer and have a sweet spot the size of Texas. The golf industry by and large is a very conservative industry. In many ways, it has not really kept pace with how the marketplace has changed especially with how it positions itself in a bolder, less conservative and straight-talking business environment. All that changed when Robert Parsons arrived on the golf equipment manufacturing scene. Parsons is a decorated Vietnam War veteran with an extraordinary entrepreneurial flair which he has parlayed into building a multi-billion dollar business empire. Although he is worth a lot of green-backs, he and his wife have joined Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates’ Giving Pledge in 2010 and accepted to donate half their wealth to charity. ASIAN GOLF highlights this fact because it makes Bob very special – a man that we are proud to call a true and great ambassador for the global golf industry. Since we came to know this extraordinary man in late 2014 and launched Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG) in Asia, the pace of change in this young com51 51

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pany has been like nothing we have ever seen. When ASIAN GOLF first interviewed him, Parsons said, “We cater to golfers who are not only passionate (maybe obsessed is a better word) about the sport, but who are willing to strike a check if they believe the equipment will improve their game.” The take-away from a statement like that points to the fact that the man is not about getting a whole bunch of clubs to fly off some store’s shelf. He is about quality and delivering the very BEST in golf equipment. “I told the PXG staff right from the outset that we would not go to market unless I wanted to play our clubs and felt they were better than anything else,” was his dictate in 2014. The man at the receiving end was Brad Schweigert, PXG’s managing director who recalled, “He established extremely high performance goals for our products, but also armed us with all the resources we needed, removed any arbitrary development time constraints and gave us the freedom and inspiration to make something truly unique and very special.” Schweigert and his team have never looked back since. They have done a bolt and they are on a winning streak. And that winning streak has just manifested itself in PXG’s newest family of top-tier golf clubs – the PXG-X Collection!

here’s only one man on Planet Earth who will describe his golf clubs with such colourful and descriptive language and that’s got to be PXG’s Founder, Bob Parsons. It’s our kind of speak – just close

your eyes for a moment and try to visualize through your mind’s eye what sort of golf club it is that goes like hell and sound like heaven! Can you see it? Well, we can and the PXG-X Collection awesomely bodacious! There’s absolutely no denying the fact that the new drivers, fairway woods and hybrids in the PXG-X Collection are all superior products engineered for extremely low spin, incredible distance, and unmatched sound and feel. Apparently these clubs were ready back in May of 2016 as prototypes. The PXG’s 0811X driver was put through its paces by PXG’s brand ambassador James Hahn who clinched a victory at the Wells Fargo Championship with this driver. Not long after, another PXG brand ambas-

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IT’S OUR KIND OF SPEAK – JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES FOR A MOMENT AND TRY TO VISUALIZE THROUGH YOUR MIND’S EYE WHAT SORT OF GOLF CLUB IT IS THAT GOES LIKE HELL AND SOUND LIKE HEAVEN! CAN YOU SEE IT? WELL, WE CAN AND THE PXG-X COLLECTION – AWESOMELY BODACIOUS! – BOB PARSONS sador, Charles Howell III reached out to Parsons saying, “This driver is so fantastic you’ve got to release it now.” But PXG didn’t release the club. Why? “We didn’t release the driver at that point because we knew several ways to make it even better,” Parsons explained. “For me there are three things that go into the experience of hitting a club – performance, sound and feel. It doesn’t matter how much we spend. It doesn’t matter how long it takes or how many iterations. Each one of those things has to be right.” Makes a whole lot of sense to us at ASIAN GOLF! As a build-up to the launch, PXG continued to explore new materials and reﬁne processes in an effort to exhaust all possibilities for making a better golf club. As a result, the ultra-low spin PXG-X Collection features advanced technology that delivers exactly what Parsons insisted on – superior performance, sound, and feel. The PXG-X Collection that ﬁnally got released introduces a patented honeycomb TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) insert. A high-performance compound with vibration-dampening

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characteristics - TPE enhances sound and feel. The honeycomb structure increases efficiencies and helps to reduce the overall club head mass. Additionally, each club incorporates an ultra-strong, lightweight carbon fibre crown, instead of heavier titanium or steel. Reducing mass in the crown area allows the weight to be repositioned in the sole of each club for optimal launch conditions. The matte black crown also reduces reflections and helps to eliminate distractions. PXG’s Precision Weighting System leverages high-density tungsten and low-density titanium weights. The weights provide a significant amount of moveable mass in the club head that can be easily adjusted to influence spin and draw or fade bias. So, what does Parsons think of his spanking new PXG-X collection? “The clubs in the new PXG X Collection go like hell, and sound like heaven. They are simply in a class of their own,” he exclaimed. We rest our case and let consumers be amazed with the latest from the House Of Parsons.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS: The PXG X Collection complements the original PXG 0811, 0341, and 0317 series as a club option for players who desire ultra-low spin, without sacriﬁcing forgiveness. The PXG 0811X driver is available in 9, 10.5, and 12-degree loft options. For players who prefer a lighter weight driver, PXG has also released the PXG 0811LX. PXG 0341X fairway woods are available in 2, 3, 5, and 7-degree loft options, while the PXG 0317X hybrids are available in 17, 19, 22, 25, and 28-degree.

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may m ma ay y 2017 2017 20

VOKEY WEDGES EQUIPMENT FOCUS

What are we talking about? A good time? A party-animal? Satisfaction guaranteed? It’s actua Sounds like something that will turn you on? Well, we invite you to hop on board the “party ex really have some great fun. Just so that this does not end in a bum-rap for you, we would like this article has nothing to do with a foot-shufﬂing, hip-grinding and head-banging shindig. If y who you are, the grooves that we are referring to are the “happy cuts” on the face of your we club that helps you gulp down free ale at the 19th hole or quietly stuff away some winnings fro asiangolf asiangol asia ngolff

198 8

ally all of the aforementioned and more. xpress” as we show you how you can to qualify that the “groovy” part of you are a golfer, and we presume that’s edge – that sometimes under-rated om a wager into your wallet. 9

march 2017 2017

o produce this special feature on wedges, ASIAN GOLF embedded a special correspondent with a select number of ﬂights over a period of one week just to gauge how wedges were used by club golfers. One thing that emerged out of this sampling exercise proved to us that wedges are certainly not the “glamour” clubs in the golf bag like drivers are. Our embedded correspondent also discovered that wedges were almost always at the receiving end of a lot of abuses, both verbal (had to be redacted as it did not meet the decency standards of this publication) and physical, where the clubs were beaten against the ground or thrown with little or no regard to damage caused. Based on these ﬁndings, we have decided to produce a special FOCUS report on wedges and how important these clubs are to anyone’s game of golf. To get the job done, we have worked with the VOKEY brand of wedges which are arguably amongst the best in the world. What better way to start than to obtain an insight into the man behind the brand, the legendary Bob Vokey who produces his great clubs under the umbrella of Titleist. As he recalls, “Titleist wanted to get into high-performance wedges. I was asked to do them and I was given the resources and away I went.” Vokey has never looked back since and he has been producing award-winning and tournament-winning wedges ever since.

Now, back to the purpose of this special report which is to bring about a general understanding of the importance of wedges. To do so, we have elected to use VOKEY wedges as our reference point – to be more precise, we have opted for the VOKEY SM6 wedges. Right off the bat, we would like to establish a clear understanding of the ground-breaking technology that is central to the SM6 wedges and this is the Progressive Centre of Gravity. In a nutshell, this technology is a weighting strategy that positions each wedge’s centre of gravity in a distinct location on the club’s face, depending on loft. This is achieved by altering the shaping of the back of the wedges. For example in the low-lofted wedges (46, 50, 52), Vokey SM6 wedges have a CG that’s aligned with the desired impact area, which increases ball speed by an average of 1.5 mph for 3-5 yards more distance. For the high-lofted SM6 wedges (58, 60, 62 degrees), these clubs have a high-CG design. Since golfers tend to contact their high-lofted wedge shots higher on the face, the these models will create more consistent launch conditions, and a lower-launching, high-spinning trajectory that can lead to increased stopping power. According to VOKEY, this technology offers better feel and is said to improve wedge distance gapping. To experience this technology in action, watch the video on the right.

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OUR WEDGE FITTINGS HAVE TWO MAIN ASPECTS: BOUNCE FITTING AND YARDAGE GAPPING. IN THE BOUNCE FITTING PORTION, WE FIGURE OUT YOUR SWING TYPE. MOST PLAYERS FIT INTO ONE OF THREE TYPES: SLIDER/SWEEPER, NEUTRAL, OR DRIVER/DIGGER. THAT WILL HELP US RECOMMEND SOME BOUNCE OPTIONS TO TRY. I ALWAYS MAKE SURE WHEN I AM FITTING SOMEONE THAT THEY ALSO TAKE THE RECOMMENDED SAND WEDGE TO THE BUNKER.

YOU NEED ENOUGH BOUNCE TO GET OUT THE BUNKER EVERY TIME.

march 2017 17 7

With the concept of Progressive Centre of Gravity explained, next on deck is the topic of grooves. The SM6 wedges feature VOKEY’s special TX4 grooves and are rated as the best-in-class groove in terms of technology and durability. It is important that a golfer understands the function of a groove and we posed this question to Bob Vokey who said, “It is the relief and contour that is ground into the sole of the wedge. A grind can provide shotmaking opportunities around the greens and in the case of the TX4 grooves, it delivers more spin (up to 200rpm more spin on average) with more consistent spin control.” (Watch video 1 & 2) Now that you possess a good understanding of the built-in functions of a wedge, we would like to move on to the wear and tear that wedges are subjected to. More than most clubs in a golfer’s bag, a wedge comes into direct contact with turf, soil, mud and sand and over time, these elements are bound to affect a wedge’s performance. For professional players, they go through wedges very quickly and have them changed with great frequency. That said, how long is a wedge going to be useful to you? This is an excellent question and given the club’s importance in helping you score a good round of golf round after round,

having a wedge in pristine condition is imperative. You know when the grooves in your wedges are no longer working when you experience the following performance indicators: Lower Spin: Results in less control on shots into the green; Higher Flight: Less control of trajectory as a result of lower spin; Less Distance: Reduced carry yardage due to lower spin; This is best demonstrated in the video on the right. So, based on the following statistics, you should be pay careful attention to the state of your grooves if you want to be a hero with your wedges: Fresh Grooves: 33° launch angle | 8500 RPM Spin | 10’ (3m) of roll out. 75 Rounds: 34° launch angle | 7700 RPM Spin | 18’ (5.5m) of roll out. 125 Rounds: 35° launch angle | 6500 RPM Spin | 24’ (7.3m) of roll out.

We are not advocating that you change wedges frequently but to really have control in your wedge play, your grooves have to be sharp and that’s why the professionals demand nothing less from their wedges. Check out these videos for afﬁrmation of what we have just shared with you:

Finally, we would like to discuss the importance of getting properly fitted for your wedges. Again, given the importance of these clubs, there are no short cuts or compromises. For consistent performance, fitting is the route to take and the master craftsman Vokey suggests: “Wedges are required to hit so many different shots - bunker shots, fairway shots, lob shots, little pitches. Wedges need to be versatile and every player is different. It’s never one size fits all for wedges. That’s why we have so many options.” He went on to add, “Our wedge fittings have two main aspects: bounce fitting and yardage gapping. In the bounce fitting portion, we figure out your swing type. Most players

ﬁt into one of three types: slider/sweeper, neutral, or driver/digger. That will help us recommend some bounce options to try. I always make sure when I am ﬁtting someone that they also take the recommended sand wedge to the bunker. You need enough bounce to get out the bunker every time.” So, if you are bent on playing a better game of golf especially when it comes to the scoring end of the game, we suggest that you start paying some serious attention to your wedges. By our reckoning, wedges are groovy clubs and when you can get them working, we guarantee you that you will be walking into the club-house after a round of golf with a huge grin smacked right across your face.

WEDGE FITTING NOTE: If you want to be fitted with wedges, check out the professional fitters at:

http://www.titleist.com.sg/golf-club-fitting/appointments

GOLF EQUIPMENT

ONCORE

ive years on and OnCore has again

venture and one thing that we have noticed is that they

emerged from its “Laboratory of Dreams”

have become tough and they have also polished up on

with a new product that is expected to set

their marketing spiel. They have learnt from the school

the hearts of golfers pumping and their

of hard knocks and they are oozing with conﬁdence as

pulses racing and the two guys behind

their latest product hits the world market.

the latest breakthrough are the original founders, Bret Blakely and Steve Coulton. ASIAN GOLF has had the opportunity of knowing both these young men from the very outset of their ad-

“We have spent the last year developing our ﬁrst tour ball which we believe is quite literally the best golf ball on the planet and I don’t say those words lightly,” is how Blakely describes the ELIXR. “We call it that

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SINCE DAY ONE, WE HAVE SOUGHT TO GROW THE GAME AND CAPTURE PEOPLE’S IMAGINATION BY BEING DIFFERENT. WE HAVE TRIED TO CREATE A BRAND THAT IS REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL AND PUSHING A MESSAGE THAT BEING DIFFERENT IS NOT ONLY GOOD, BUT IT’S WHAT MAKES LIFE INTERESTING.

WE ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE A

COMPANY THAT WANTS OUR FANS TO FEEL LIKE THEY ARE JUST AS MUCH A PART OF

ONCORE AS WE ARE. THE CULT-LIKE FOLLOWING IS SOMETHING WE ARE VERY PROUD OF AND THIS BIG FAMILY IS ABOUT TO GET A WHOLE LOT BIGGER. – KEITH BLAKELY 71

may 2017

THE ELIXR IS A TRIPHASE TECHNOLOGY THAT COMBINES ORIGINAL CHEMISTRY BLENDS USED IN PREVIOUS

ONCORE BALLS

WITH NEW ADVANCED MATERIAL ELEMENTS.

“IT IS TRULY A POTION

FOR PERFORMANCE AND THE INNOVATION IS HOW WE COMBINED THESE NEW ELEMENTS AND MATERIALS LIKE NEVER BEFORE.

– STEVE COULTON

because it is magic and the best of all our innovations to

extraordinary combination in a golf ball” Sounds like the

date.” he added.

ELIXR is the “total performance golf ball” – long off the tee

The ELIXR is a triphase technology that combines origi-

and soft around the greens. “You bet – the ELIXR is without

nal chemistry blends used in previous OnCore balls with

a doubt the most complete ball you will play and that’s why

new advanced material elements. “It is truly a potion for

we feel we have indeed set a new bar for performance in

performance and the innovation is how we combined these

golf balls.”

new elements and materials like never before,” explained

Supporting that claim, Blakely explained that the new

co-founder Coulton. “Having a Chairman who has spent

ball is also at the absolute ceiling of allowable velocity for

over 35 years in the advanced materials and nanotechnology

a golf ball (to deliver maximum distance), exceptionally

industry was a major advantage in designing the ELIXR.”

low driver spin (for optimal stability and trajectory), and

While the name ELIXR conjures up things magical,

offers a highly durable, soft urethane cover to maximize

what is it about the new ball that is magical? Blakely, who

backspin, control and feel for the short game. How so, we

is an ex-advertising executive, was quick to respond. “The

asked, and he said “This comes from our combination of

ELIXR is the holy grail of golf balls – it is a trampoline off

high energy rubber core and a proprietary polymer mantle

the tee yet extremely soft around the greens and this is an

infused with high density particles. We put a slight twist

NOW THAT WE HAVE THREE GOLF BALLS THAT SPEAK TO THE VARIANCES IN SKILLS AND NEEDS, ALL DEMOGRAPHICS WILL FIND SOMETHING FOR THEM.

IT IS PART OF

THE REASON WE ADDED A BALL FITTING SECTION TO OUR WEBSITE AND THIS ALLOWS A NEW CUSTOMER TO BE DIRECTED TOWARD THE BALL THAT IS BEST FOR THEM.

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BRET BLAKELY

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on the premium cast urethane cover that gives it the soft feel

Expanding on OnCore’s range of golf balls, Blakely added,

and bite around the greens that will impress even the tough-

“Now that we have three golf balls that speak to the variances

est of critics.” Given the special characteristics of the ELIXR,

in skills and needs, all demographics will ﬁnd something for

OnCore is bullish about the ball getting some serous play time

them. It is part of the reason we added a ball ﬁtting section

on the professional tours. “We don’t expect it – we know it!”

to our website and this allows a new customer to be directed

declared Blakely. In this regard, the company has brought on

toward the ball that is best for them.”

board ﬁfteen-year Nike PGA Tour representative Brian McGa-

There’s good reason for the team at OnCore to be proud

hey to drive ONCORE’s player development programme and

of their achievements to date. The company’s chairman Keith

he is charged with getting players from all four major tours

Blakely captures the vision and mission of OnCore very suc-

introduced to the ELIXR. And initial reaction is encouraging

cinctly with this statement: “Since day one, we have sought

– Blakely reports that “the players are completely infatuated

to grow the game and capture people’s imagination by being

with the ELIXR and how it performs at all turns.”

different. We have tried to create a brand that is representa-

With the introduction of ELIXR, OnCore has every reason

tive of all and pushing a message that being different is not

to be bullish about its business going forward. “The ELIXR

only good, but it’s what makes life interesting. We are always

rounds out our complete suite of golf balls for every player.

going to be a company that wants our fans to feel like they

We now have a ball that is the best in class for each of its

are just as much a part of OnCore as we are. The cult-like

respective categories – price point and low compression

following is something we are very proud of and this big family

(Avant), accuracy and innovative performance (Caliber) and

is about to get a whole lot bigger.”

ﬁnally, when it comes to premium tour balls, the ELIXR takes the cake,” Blakely pointed out.

COMPOSITE CORE DELIVERS EXCEPTIONAL COR FOR MAXIMUM VELOCITY AND DISTANCE

Way to go OnCore – offer something unmatched on the market and now is the time to go vertical!

POLYMER MANTLE INFUSED WITH HIGH DENSITY PARTICLES FOR ENHANCED PERIMETER WEIGHTING PROVIDING ACCURACY AND CONTROL PREMIUM CAST URETHANE COVER DELIVERS A SOFT FEEL OFF THE CLUB FACE AND PROVIDES ULTIMATE GREENSIDE CONTROL AND DURABILITY

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PGA TOUR IN ASIA COLUMN

This is a new editorial column made possible through a collaboration between the Given the growing presence in Asia of the largest professional golf tour in the worl provide the PGA Tour with its own platform to talk about its activities throughout th what the PGA Tour is doing in Asia will go a long way to expose the highest level o country in the region. As of now, the PGA Tour has very high profile engagements i Japan and this role is expected to grow progressively in the years to come. The bot a huge beneficiary insofar as growing the game and uplifting the standard of play come out of the PGA’s stake in Asia. The following is the first editorial contribution

“Growing the game in Asia”

Early in the summer of 1935, just up the street from his family home in Hot Springs, Va., Sam Snead made the short drive to The Homestead Golf Club at the historic Homestead Resort. There he met a fellow Virginian, transplanted Scot Bobby Cruickshank, and four others from the Commonwealth – Graham Napier, Tommy Halloway, Nelson Long and Billy Howell. The sixsome was there to play an exhibition against Japanese golfers Tomekichi Miyamoto, Toichiro Toda, Seisui Chin, Jack Yusada, Rokuzo Asami and Kanekiohi Kakamura.

he experienced Americans dominated the proceedings, but it did give the talented but inexperienced Japanese players a

The following year, Toda, known by his nickname, Torchy, and Chin, who went by Chick, played in the Masters, with Chin tying for 20th and Toda tying for

glimpse of what high-level golf looked like. Toda, Yusada and Miyamoto already had an idea, playing in the U.S. Open a couple of weeks

29th. Toda put everybody on notice of his ability when he tied for second at the PGA Tour’s Hollywood Open in Florida, a month before the Masters, ﬁnishing a stroke

earlier in Oakmont, Pa. They all missed the cut.

behind winner Vic Ghezzi.

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PGA Tour of America and ASIAN GOLF. ld, we felt that it was incumbent upon us to his vast Continent. There is no denying that f professional tournament golf to every in the ASEAN bloc, China, South Korea and tom-line simply points to Asian golf being are concerned. Only good is going to to kick-start the collaboration:

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It took 20 years, but Snead ﬁnally returned the favor, playing in Japan in 1957. Kasumigaseki Golf Club, site of the 2020 Summer Olympics, hosted the World Cup of Golf, then known as the Canada Cup, and Japanese players Torakichi Nakamura and Koichi Ono defeated the U.S. team of Sam Snead and Jimmy Demaret – with Nakamura defeating Gary Player, Dave Thomas and Snead for the individual title.

IT’S AMAZING TO HEAR HOW MUCH IT’S GROWN. WE REALLY EXPERIENCED IT RIGHT IN THE BEGINNING. EVEN THE ROAD OUT THERE HAD JUST OPENED, AND THEN ALL OF A

While the Virginia exhibition in 1935 was viewed by few, thousands of curious Japanese golf fans gathered

SUDDEN THIS BIG CLUBHOUSE AND GOLF

at Kasumigaseki for the World Cup, and many observers have pointed to that four-day tournament in late-October as the modern start to professional golf in Asia.

BRAND NEW.

FACILITY POPPED UP.

THE COURSE WAS

– DAVIS LOVE III

Of course PGA Tour players were in the middle of things at that tournament and many subsequent events, and as professional golf in Asia has matured to its current

Davis Love III discounts the role he played in this growth, but he remembers well 1995, when the PGA Tour made its ﬁrst foray into China when the World Cup went

position, the PGA Tour continues to blaze a trail.

to Asia for the sixth time but the ﬁrst in China when the

1957 – The Canada Cup clash that got professional golf started in Asia.

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newly built Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen hosted the tournament. “I’d never been to China. It was exciting, my first time to fly into Hong Kong, my first time to be in China. It was all new. The club was new, the hotel was new. The fans had never seen anybody play out there before. So it was very exciting,” said Love, a World Golf Hall of Fame member and winner of 20 PGA Tour tournaments. “That’s what made it fun, you get to do something new in a new place, and you’re not on your own, you’re with a friend. It was a neat place.” Love’s “friend” that week was Fred Couples, not a bad friend to have since he was also his playing partner, the fourth consecutive time the duo had represented their

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country in the team tournament. They won all four World Cups they played as teammates. That 1995 World Cup, which the Americans won by 14 strokes over Australia (Brett Ogle and Robert Allenby) is also credited with being the tournament that opened the doors of professional golf in the largest country in the world. “It was a neat place,” Love continued, of Mission Hills, which has grown to 12 courses on its massive campus spread throughout Shenzhen and Dongguan. “It’s amazing to hear how much it’s grown. We really experienced it right in the beginning. Even the road out there had just opened,

Fred Couples (left) and Davis Love III won the last of their four consecutive World Cup titles at the 1995 World Cup in Shenzhen, China.

and then all of a sudden this big clubhouse and golf facility popped up. The course was brand new.” The World Cup has returned to China four times since, and PGA Tour-sanctioned golf has a strong foothold in the Middle Kingdom, with the World Golf Champion-

tal tours;

ships-HSBC Champions an annual affair in Shanghai. Since the HSBC Champions joined the Tour’s schedule in 2009, the Tour and its former commissioner, Tim Finchem, has overseen

the creation of the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur, the tournament’s eighth edition set for October;

the opening of Asian PGA Tour ofﬁces, ﬁrst in China, followed by local headquarters in Malaysia and, most recently, Japan;

the establishment of the PGA Tour China Series, one of the Tour’s three international developmen-

the announcement of The CJ Cup, a ﬁrst-year event on the 2017-18 PGA Tour schedule in South Korea;

the formation of a PGA Tour Champions event announced for Tokyo this September—the Japan Airlines Championship;

a strategic alliance with the Japan Golf Tour that he made public at an October 2016 Tokyo press conference just a couple of months before he retired as commissioner.

A decade ago, Finchem and his staff put Asia in clear focus and then seemingly changed the landscape of professional golf in the far-ﬂung continent. In just the

ONE OF THE REASONS THE INTERNA IN THE OLYMPICS IS BECAUSE IT’S A CONTINENT. IT DOESN’T KNOW ANY BOUND

PLAYERS IN THE WORLD HAVE COME FROM GOLF IS ALWAYS GROWING.

Isao Aoki, Japanese World Golf Of Famer with retired PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem

– TIM FINCH

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last 10 years since the World Cup returned to China, in 2007, fans have seen the Tour’s greatest players compete on the international stage, whether it was Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott or home-grown talent like India’s Anirban Lahiri, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama or South Korea’s Si Woo Kim. In 2013, Finchem succinctly talked about the Tour’s interest in China, and, not surprisingly, it had to do with golf’s return to the Summer Olympics in 2016. “One of the reasons the International Olympic Committee wanted golf in the Olympics is because it’s a universal sport. It’s growing on every continent. It doesn’t know any bounds based on culture. Some of the best players in the world have come from a variety of cultures historically and golf is always growing,” Finchem said. Four years later, Finchem’s comment has proved prescient. The sport is growing. Especially in Asia.

ATIONAL

OLYMPIC COMMITTEE WANTED GOLF

A UNIVERSAL SPORT. IT’S GROWING ON EVERY

DS BASED ON CULTURE.

SOME OF THE BEST

M A VARIETY OF CULTURES HISTORICALLY AND

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Rising Chinese super-star Li Hao-Tong of the China PGA Tour.

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Hideki Matsuyama after his victory at the PGA Tour’s WGC Championship in Shanghai.

Justin Thomas, winner of the PGA Tour’s CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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BLACK HAT GOLF TIPS GAME IMPROVEMENT

Golf is a game played with clubs and tennis, a game that is played with rack and never the twain shall meet. However, our regular columnist and Asia’s le golf guru Tony Meechai, happens to think otherwise. Noted for his unique st teaching golf where he takes the mystique out of what is normally perceived tough in golf, he’s back this month with yet another one of his Keep-It-Simpl Black Hat Golf Tips and this time around, he’s got this thing about:

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kets eading tyle of d to be e-Stupid

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TENNIS RACKET GOLF MAGIC! Take it away Coach Tony! Once again, my motto in teaching golf is to keep it simple! Sometimes this calls for some whacky methods of communications but please stay with me because the key consideration is to make students understand what is being taught to them. People learn in different ways and from my experience, the golf club is just a tool (like a hammer) and it needs to be used properly. For this coaching tip, I am going to use a tennis racket to demonstrate how you work on a proper backswing motion.

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The start of the backswing is what dictates whether the swing is going to come out right. Keep in mind that from the gitgo, the backswing must be on track and if this happens, it will lead to the swinging motion to be natural and effective! Now, in this latest tip, this is where I bring the tennis racket into focus. If you play tennis, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll understand it even better. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I mean: In order to really swing the golf club properly, you must think about creating a continuous motion. There is no need to think of the swing in parts or steps. The initial start of the backswing, if done right, will make the entire swinging motion simple! So, let me show you how NOT to mess it up!

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TRUST ME! IF YOU CAN GET THE BACKSWING STARTING ON THE RIGHT TRACK, THEN THE SWINGING MOTION TO THE FOLLOW-THROUGH WILL BE NATURAL AND VERY EFFECTIVE! Let me demonstrate using a tennis racket so you can relate it to your swinging motion. 1. Imagine setting up to the golf ball with a tennis racket. 2. Now take the tennis racket back halfway. 3. Notice the face of the tennis racket and how it is open-faced. 4. Continue to swing the tennis racket back and forth to the follow-through position. 5. Now, with a golf club, begin taking the golf club back and at the ‘halfway’ mark, check and notice if the clubface is open. 6. If the club is similar to the tennis racket position at the half-way mark, then continue to swing it back and forth to the follow through. Remember, to keep the SWINGING MOTION continuous! Trust me! If you can get the backswing starting on the right track, then the swinging motion to the follow-through will be natural and very effective! Heck, if you can get this to hang together as I have explained it to you, you’re going to end up having one killer of a backhand stroke in tennis and a great game of golf! Have fun!

ABOUT TONY MEECHAI Born and brought up in the United States, Tony Meechai won his first golf tournament at the age of nine. He began working in the golf industry when aged 15 and competed in various Mini-Tour and PGA Tour qualifiers after turning professional in 1994. Armed with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from New Mexico State University and a degree in Marketing and Professional Golf Management, he has made a name for himself in Asia over the past decade, during which time he has served as Director of Instruction at Thailand’s Heartland Golf Schools and Springfield Royal Country Club as well as presenting tips on numerous region-wide golf television shows. His signature Black Hat Golf Camps and Schools offered at various clubs in Thailand, including Lotus Valley Golf Resort, portrays the unique curriculum and teaching philosophy. Recently, he co-founded the International Preparatory Golf Academy at The American School of Bangkok, which combines an academic and golf education program for junior golfers. Voted 2015 Top 3 Best Professional Golf Coach in Asia Pacific, he continues to strive to grow the game of golf in Asia. For further information, please visit www.tmggroupasia.com or email to tony@tmggroupasia.com.

PRO TOUR GOLF COLLEGE GAME IMPROVEMENT

In the current series of golďŹ ng tips, ASIAN GOLF has decided to work with its resident golf coaches, the joint principals of the Pro Tour College, David Milne and Lawrie Montague on preparing junior golfers in Asia to reach world class levels in playing the game. In the third article in the series, our gurus explore and explain the importance of understanding the importance of mental skills and the difference this makes.

hy is it that most junior golfers fail to receive mental skills coaching at the very same time they receive golf swing instruction? In our experience this is a fatal mistake because as the junior develops their technical skills, they are doing it without developing the crucial mental skills at the same time, which, further down the path, will present problems. In our junior development programme at the National Golf Institute (NGI) in Jakarta, all junior golfers in our

programme receive mental skills training whilst they are developing their techniques. As they are developing their skill competency they are developing their mental skill competency at the same time. So, what does a typical mental skills session look like at NGI? Well, to begin with, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a clinical session thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performed in a room away from the golf range, or the golf course. We train our junior golfers whilst they are going through their daily practice routines on the practice fairway, around, and on the green, and on the golf course. The critical junior success factor here is that juniors asiangolf

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should be trained to perform under pressure all the time because they will be able relate to, and manage pressure situations more easily when they compete. Our five Mental Behaviour Management Principles that we use with every junior in our programme are as follows: SELF-TALK AWARENESS The first level of our mental skills programme is self-talk management. At this level, we constantly monitor and modify our students self-talk by making them aware of it directly after they play a shot. We have found that most are unaware of their negative language patterns, so making them aware right after they play the shot is the first step to modifying it. POSTURE AWARENESS The second level is getting our students to take full responsibility for performing their practice routines as correctly as possible. For example, when they hit putts, or in fact any shot, we encourage them to ‘stay in the shot’ for longer, rather than coming out of their posture early because of reacting to the result. We make micro adjustments to their techniques constantly, always moving them into the ideal position for hitting and maintaining their shot posture. The key is for them to learn that they are in control of their body, and that if they don’t perform their routine to the level we expect, then it falls directly on their shoulders. No blame, just take responsibility for doing it right, every time. This is a critical aspect of our behaviour management

THIS IS A CRITICAL ASPECT OF OUR BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT STRATEGY, BECAUSE IF A JUNIOR GOLFER CAN REACT POORLY IN A PRACTICE ENVIRONMENT, AND DOESN’T LEARN TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT THEY DO, THEN THEY WILL DO THE SAME WHEN COMPETING ON THE GOLF COURSE. strategy, because if a junior golfer can react poorly in a practice environment, and doesn’t learn to take responsibility for what they do, then they will do the same when competing on the golf course. RE-FRAMING AWARENESS The third level is the re-framing level where junior golfers are taught to re-frame their golﬁng experiences using positive constructive language so they describe events speciﬁcally, without the use of vague, ambiguous and emotional language. This level helps juniors to debrief their practice and playing experiences constructively which helps them manage how they feel about their results in tournaments.

CONSISTENT PERSISTENCE AWARENESS We teach our students to understand that competitive golf is a mental marathon and not a sprint, which means, that it’s a long-term focus with short term intervals. A junior golfer could be on the golf course for 5 or more hours, but they are executing very short and highly speciﬁc routines, many times, over 18 holes. So, junior golfers need to learn what we call consistent persistence, which means that they need to learn how to control what they are focusing on whilst they play. We do this by ﬁrst by measuring their duration of their preshot routine (P.S.R) over sets of 10 golf shots, with various clubs, to see how ‘tight’ their P.S.R is.

We are aiming for the P.S.R to fall within a 10 to 15 second window, and that each shot varies by no more than 1 second, from shot to shot. LEVEL 10 PRESSURE PROOF PRACTICE PROCESS The ﬁnal level in our mental training programme is the toughness training factor which we call Level 10 Focus. Our goal with training juniors is to teach them how to play their best under pressure, which means to play their best in their chosen major tournaments during the year. We do this is with the Pressure Proof Practice Process which is a speciﬁc practice routine where students hit 10 golf shots with the ideal physiology--that is the ideal body and mind relationship and hit 10 shots at a time with a routine that must not be affected by outside distractions. The second they get distracted, they must start the process over again. So, to graduate level 1, they will hit 10 golf shots 10 times or 100 golf shots with their full P.S.R and no distraction. Level 2 is 10 times 20 golf shots without distraction. The key to this process is that the junior understands that if they break concentration-even one time, they must start that level again.

To pass level 10 they will have hit more than 1000 golf shots without distraction with their full P.S.R. This routine will take anywhere from a few months to complete, to more than a year. However, by the time itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s completed, they will understand, and can demonstrate complete focus when playing shots in practice, or, on the golf course in a tournament. Mental training is an essential part of junior golf development, and something we value highly in our training curriculum do that few other academies and golf schools focus on. It will be advisable that when you enrol your son or daughter in a junior golf programme that you ask the teachers to start mental training with your child right from the start of their programme.

IT WILL BE ADVISABLE THAT WHEN YOU ENROL YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER IN A JUNIOR GOLF PROGRAMME THAT YOU ASK THE TEACHERS TO START MENTAL TRAINING WITH YOUR CHILD RIGHT FROM THE START OF THEIR PROGRAM.

LAWRIE MONTAGUE AND DAVID MILNE are the joint principals of Pro Tour Golf College, Jakarta