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Esprit HK Ladies Amateur Open & Mid Amateur Championships Review

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE HONG KONG GOLF ASSOCIATION VOTED THE REGION’S NO 1 GOLF MAGAZINE

ISSUE 140

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| CONTENTS

HK Golfer Issue 140

October 2018

28 On the Cover:

Jason Hak, youngest golfer to make the cut on a European Tour event at the Hong Kong Open at just 14, returns to his hometown to compete for the Clearwater Bay Open as one of the local favourites.

Liu Zhuang/PGA TOUR China

Features

Plus…

24 | Esprit HK Ladies Amateur Open

10 | Divots

& Mid Amateur Champ Review Local elite golfer Chloe Chan beats a strong field of amateur lady golfers from Hong Kong and across the region to clinch the title at the Discovery Bay Golf Club.

By Louie Chan

28 | Clearwater Bay Open Preview HK pros Motin Yeung and Jason Hak will come back to their home course to compete for the record prize money at the third Clearwater Bay Open.

By Louie Chan

38 | Becoming a Wilson Staff The Kilted Caddie shares his club-fitting experience at Wilson Staff’s custom fit factory in Irvine, Scotland.

By The Kilted Caddie

44 | PGA TOUR’s October Asia Fest Three world-class golf tournaments, three exciting and yet diverse destinations and a whopping US$26.5 million in total prize money on offer

By Chuah Choo Chiang

Daniel Wong

66 | Great Golf on the Emerald Isle

34 6

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

With the Open Championship returning to Northern Ireland next year, the province enjoys a choice of courses entirely disproportionate to its size.

By Mike Wilson

News and events from Hong Kong and the region.

By The Editors

12 | In Focus

A pictorial review of the last 30 days from around the world.

By The Editors

19 | Tee Time The famed Sonnerie Souveraine perhaps is the most masterful watch that F.P. Journe has ever produced.

By The Editors

22 | Around the HKGA A r e c a p o f H K M e n ’s a n d Wo m e n ’s t e a m performances at the World Amateur Team Champ and 2018 Asian Games.

By The Editors

32 | Rolex & Golf It ’s Thomas Bjørn’s responsibilit y to inspire synergies among the European Ryder Cup Team and to bring out the best in each player.

By The Editors

56 | Tour Insider Thai golfer Jazz Janewattananond has emerged from an unsure talent into a national hero.

By Calvin Koh

HKGOLFER.COM

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HK Golfer

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE HONG KONG GOLF ASSOCIATION OCTOBER 2018 • Issue 140

Managing Editor: Louie Chan louie.chan@hkgolfer.com Contributing Editors: Dr Milton Wayne, Faye Glasgow, John Bruce, Nathan Goulding, Keith McLaren, Paul Jansen, Evan Rast, Mike Wilson, Robin Lynam.

Art Director: Derek Hannah Photo Editor: Daniel Wong Administration Manager Cindy Kwok Publisher: Charles McLaughlin Published by:

TIMES INTERNATIONAL CREATION

Royal Co. Down Golf Club and the town of Newcastle, Northern Ireland with the Mourne Mountains as the backdrop with the Slieve Donard Resort & Spa

Times International Creation Limited 10B Lockhart Centre 301-307 Lockhart Road Hong Kong Phone: +852 3590-4153 Fax: +852 3590-4533

D E PA R T M E N T S 10 Divots 12 Global Focus 14 Asia Focus 16 Local Focus 19 Clubhouse 22 Around the HKGA 38 The Kilted Caddie 44 Asian Angle 56 Tour Insider 60 Golf Instruction

Image courtesy of IAGTO

66 Golf Travel

In association with: thymedesign.hk Advertising: For advertising information, please contact: ads@hkgolfer.com For purchasing information contact: sales@hkgolfer.com For subscription information contact: subs@hkgolfer.com Hong Kong Golf Association Suite 2003, Olympic House 1 Stadium Path, So Kon Po Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Phone (General): +852 2504-8659 Fax: +852 2845-1553 Phone (Handicaps): +852 2504-8197 Fax: +852 2504-8198 Email: info@hkga.com handicaps@hkga.com

HK GOLFER is published by Times International Creation, 10B Lockhart Centre, 301-307 Lockhart Road, Hong Kong.

HK GOLFER is published monthly © 2018 by Times International Creation. Published in Hong Kong. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited. PRINTED IN HONG KONG. 8

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

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| DIVOTS

Playing through wind and rain, the Europe 1 team of Sakke Siltala and Caitlin Whitehead posted a 17-underpar four-round score of 263 to win the 2018 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation Ju n ior Cha mpion sh ip for t he Mitsubishi Corporation Cup 2018 held at The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club. The pair finished eight strokes ahead of the Korea 1 team of Oh Seunghyun and Hyun Selin, who combined for a score of 271.

Silta la ca rded a n ind ividua l round of 69 to win the Boys Overall Tournament, narrowly beating Pickin Jye of Australia 2 and Josh Greer of Australia 1, who finished tied for second at 70. Whitehead shot a six-under par 64 to claim the Girls Overall title, beating Hyun of Korea 1 and Jo Hyelim of Korea 2, both of whom shot 68.

By winning the Boys and Girls Overall championships, Sakke also qualified to play in the Asia-Pacific Open Golf Diamond Cup 2018 in Japan and Caitlin in the 2019 Korea Women's Open.

Hong Kong Golf Association

European Team Sweeps APGC Junior Championship

Yoshihiro Nishi, President of HKGA, presents trophies to the winners of the APGC Junior Championship and the Mitsubishi Corporation Cup Inclement weather conditions forced tournament organisers to reverse the format of this year’s tournament and hold stroke play on day 1. The stroke play competition featured a standard 18-hole round with a seeded draw where male and female players each produced individual scores toward their teams’ final four-round totals. Foursomes and fourball were played on days 2 and 3.

Six teams from host nation Hong Kong competed in this year’s tournament.

The Hong Kong team 1 of Cyrus Lee Yu-fung and Selina Li Yuen-yuet finished 15th with a score of 291, while the Hong Kong team 2 of Inara Diti Sharma and Yu Ka-jun finished 20th at 297.

Leon D’Souza, representing South Mo u n t a i n C o m mu n it y C o l l e g e , won the Ottawa University Arizona (OUAZ) Fall Invite at Eagle's Nest Golf Club, Arizona. D’Souza shot 14 -u nder 202 in t he t hree-rou nd tournament. He took the individual meda l ist honour a nd led Sout h Mountain to Team Event victory.

The two-day, three-round event was played at Eagle's Nest Golf Club and featured a field of six teams. South Mountain claimed the team champion title with 23-under-par, two ahead of the hosting Ottawa University. D’Souza was the only player able to score 60s in all three rounds. Joe Baldeck from the Benedictine University finished 2nd with 4 shots back.

D’Sou za was t he on ly a mateur golfer to make the weekend cut with 72-70 rounds in the 2017 UBS Hong Kong Open, which was only his first appearance in the showpiece event. But 10

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

Daniel Wong

D’Souza Wins Ottawa University Arizona Fall Invite Title

the highlight of his campaign was still to come as the local amateur star fired a superb five-under 65 in the third round to prove he belonged with the big boys.

He finished on even-par 280 for a tie for 41st place - but ahead of four-time European Tour winner Matteo Manassero of Italy, Thai veteran Thongchai Jaidee and Chinese star Liang Wenchong.

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Global Focus Who Said He’s Done?

Under the broiling southern sun at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, Tiger Woods was able to pull all the pieces of his game together, both physically and mentally, closing out a victory once again not with his best stuff on Sunday, but by working for everything in a final-round 71.

He was a champion again.

Finally. His two-shot victory over Billy Horschel at East Lake Golf Club was Woods’ 80th on the PGA Tour, but his first in more than five years. The day was a byproduct of lots of pain, and doubts, and hard work and perseverance.

Just when you thought the anticipation for the 42nd Ryder Cup in Paris could not get any higher, Tiger Woods headed to France on top of the golf world for the first time in five years. If the U.S. is to win a Ryder Cup away from home for the first time in a quartercentury, Woods will be a major part of it.

Photo by AFP/Getty Images

Asia Focus Park Grabs Wire-To-Wire Victory on Home Soil Sanghyun Park of Korea stamped his authority as he shot a magnificent eight-under-par 63 to claim a wire-to-wire victory at the US$1 million 34th Shinhan Donghae Open on home soil. The 35-year-old Park won his second Asian Tour title following his dominant five-shot triumph at the Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club in Incheon, Korea.

Park started the final round with a slim one-shot lead, but he pulled away from the rest of the field after scoring six birdies on his front nine. Even with a fiveshot lead at the turn, Park continued to dictate proceedings as he marked another two birdies on his scorecard before signing for 22-under-par 262 total.

The Korean set a new tournament record for the lowest winning gross score. Jiman Kang and Gaganjeet Bhullar, champions in 2006 and 2016 respectively, jointly held the previous record of 269. Park also beat the record for lowest winning to-par score of 19-underpar, set by Kang.

Photo by Asian Tour

Local Focus Major Stars Set to Arrive at Honma HK Open The reigning Masters champion Patrick Reed and the 2017 Green Jacket winner Sergio Garcia will join World Number 11 Tommy Fleetwood and defending champion Wade Ormsby at the Honma Hong Kong Open presented by Amundi from November 22-25, 2018, in the opening event of the European Tour’s 2019 Race to Dubai.

The Honma Hong Kong Open is also one of the last few events remaining on the 2018 Asian Tour season and will play an important role in determining who tops the prestigious Habitat for Humanity standings.

“We’re excited to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Honma, as well as the Honma Hong Kong Open with some of the world’s best golfers. Masters Champions Patrick Reed and Sergio Garcia, along with Tommy Fleetwood and Wade Ormsby, all bring a unique quality to this event, and the atmosphere is certainly going to be electric in Hong Kong when these players battle it out in this prestigious tournament,” said Liu Jianguo, Chairman of Honma.

Photo by Daniel Wong; AFP/Getty Images

CLUB

Away from the Fairways | TEE TIME

TRANSLATE TIME INTO MUSIC

F.P.Journe Sonnerie Souveraine HKGOLFER.COM

SONNERIE SOUVERAINE IS PERHAPS THE MOST MASTERFUL WATCH THAT F.P.JOURNE HAS EVER PRODUCED. HE WATCH COMBINES A TRINITY OF MUSICAL COMPLICATIONS IN SONNERIE SOUVERAINE IS PERHAPS THE MOST MASTERFUL WATCH THAT F.P.JOURNE HAS EVER PRODUCED. HE WATCH COMBINES A TRINITY OF MUSICAL COMPLICATIONS IN AN INNOVATIVE MOVEMENT THAT FOCUSES ON BEAUTY AS MUCH AS IT DOES SIMPLICITY AND DURABILITY. HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

19

The Sonnerie Souveraine Caliber 1505 Movement

I

f there was ever a ‘beater minute repeater’, it is the Sonnerie Souveraine. Completed in around 2005, as of 2013, only about 30 of the watches have been produced. This particular piece is F.P. Journe’s personal model, and he wears it everywhere - even if he has a different model watch he is promoting that is worn on his opposite wrist.

The Grande Sonnerie watch with a minute repeater is the most complex of horological creations, one that demands the very utmost in both technical and artistic virtuosity for the watchmaker in charge of its assembly. In the past, it has always been risky to use a Grande Sonnerie watch. The slightest error – for example, adjusting the time while the watch is chiming – could severely damage the watch’s delicate mechanisms. Therefore, the first entry in F.P.Journe’s specification book for this watch was: make the watch so that an eight-year-old child can manipulate it safely without damaging it. To meet this challenge, he had to construct a movement based on new mechanical principles. Thus, according to the brand’s motto, ten patents testify to the ‘Invenit’ of this work of watchmaking art, while the ‘Fecit’ took six years of research and development”.

The privilege of a Grande Sonnerie watch is to translate time into music. The Maison Journe

20

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

who became an expert in the mastery of the resonance striking watch is aware of the importance of acoustic waves in the art of the time measurement. It demonstrates its mastery when it comes to retransmit time into sounds.

The sound signal emitted by the extra-flat gongs of 3/10 of a millimetre has been treated with as much importance as the function mode of this mechanism which requires a particular hammer strike. Indeed, the striking weight of the hammer of the Grande Sonnerie is of 0.3 grams. This force is, to give an estimate, between 10 and 15 times less than that used to strike a classical minute repeater.

However, because the acoustics work has been particularly meticulous and the technical solutions perfectly adapted to this type of complication, the Sonnerie Souveraine F.P.Journe produces a better sound than any equivalent

Sonnerie Souveraine’s 42mm steel case just has a12.55mm overall height

HKGOLFER.COM

striking timepiece. Also, a new selection mode by the 4-hour button allows you to choose between three options: Grande Sonnerie, Petite Sonnerie and Silence. The pusher at 2 o’clock activates the Minute Repeater on demand.

For such a beautiful watch, F.P.Journe has exceptionally abandoned precious metals for its cases, Gold and Platinum for a noble cause, to ensure the best possible striking tones that make optimal use of the crystalline structure of Steel.

T h e S o n n e r i e S o u v e r a i n e r e ce i v e d the Aiguille d’Or prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2006. It was also named Watch of the Year at the Grand Prize of Japan in 2006.

“The first entry in F.P.Journe’s specification book for this watch was: make the watch so that an eight-year-old child can manipulate it safely without damaging it.”

Sonnerie Souveraine Movement box

The back of Sonnerie Souveraine

Binaural is a recording technique performed to create a three-dimensional sound. For the binaural recording of the Sonnerie Souveraine, F.P.Journe used artificial ears with microphones. In the choice of components up to the shapes and proportions, everything is designed in this device to reproduce a sound as close as possible to human experience.

For this horological world Premiere, F.P.Journe invested the EPFL anechoic chamber in Lausanne. The EPFL is one of Switzerland’s two federal polytechnics school, and the most innovative and productive scientific institution in the world. All the walls (including the floor) of the 200 m2 anechoic chamber is entirely covered with 1-meter high glass wool dihedral, allowing an optimal absorption of sound.

To delve into the hear t of Sonnerie Souveraine mechanics, F.P.Journe’s approach was to reach the soul of this mar vel of technicality. You can discover the binaural sound of the Sonnerie Souveraine F.P.Journe on www.fpjourne.com. Remember to wear headphones to live this unique experience tr uly. It is a unique e xp erience which provides a total immersion in the heart of this exceptional striking watch’s movement.

HKGOLFER.COM

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

21

HK Men’s Team Finish in Top Half of World Amateur Team Championship A recap of Hong Kong Men’s and Women’s team performances at the World Amateur Team Championship and 2018 Asian Games.

Photography by Hong Kong Golf Association

Yoshihiro Nishi (middle), President of HKGA, accepts the transfer of the next World Amateur Team Championship tournament to Hong Kong in 2020 with Danny Lai (left) and Kenneth Lam (right), CEO and Vice President of HKGA

22

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS, IRELAND The Men’s team produced a Hong Kong Leon D’Sousa f ired 73-76 -72- 66 (-3 career-best finish at 32nd from 72 teams at total) over the two courses at Carton House, the World Amateur Team Championship in Dublin to be Hong Kong’s leading player. “It Ireland. It is the biggest amateur team event was a great experience in Ireland. I finished in the world and is held bi-annually, with with a career best 9-hole in an international players like Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm tournament with -6 for the back nine on and Jordan Spieth having played in recent day 4 to finish with a 66 on the tougher tournaments. Hong Kong will be hosting the Montgomerie course. I look for ward to event in 2 years’ time in 2020. coming back to A sia to play in t he A P

HKGOLFER.COM

championship in Singapore at the beginning of October,” said Leon.

Terrence Ng shot 73-75-70-72 (level par total). In this tournament, 2 scores from 3 of each team are used each day. A lso, Terrence’s score was used by the team for all four days. It is Terrence’s joint best total score (level par) in a 4-round international event, which capped off an excellent week for him. Matthew Cheung also made a valuable contribution to the team with scores of 75-7172-73 (+1 total). A great team performance and a perfect platform for Hong Kong to host this prestigious championship in 2020.

The Women’s team finished 34th from 57 teams - a good achievement to shoulder the loss of star player Tiffany Chan. Mimi Ho fared the best with rounds of 74-71-80-68 (+3 total). She was buzzing after her last round of 5 under par. Michelle Cheung had 7 birdies in her first round of 69 and followed this up with rounds of 78-79-73. After a great Asian Games week, Isabella Leung struggled in Ireland with scores of 78-78-83-75.

best golfers in Asia. The best individual result was from Isabella Leung who fired rounds of 74-76-71-67 (level par) to finish 15th in the individual event. “My first AG experience was unforgettable - the entire event was smooth and well run. To compete amongst the best golfers in Asia whilst representing HK was an honour I’ll always cherish. To be able to play some of my career best golf in this environment gives me a lot of confidence,” said Isabella. The Women’s team finished 10th with Michelle Cheung scoring 7975-75-72 and Mimi Ho 78-71-77-74.

The Men’s tea m f i n ished 11t h from 20 countries and consisted of four players: Ben Wong (73-72-72-74), Matthew Cheung (75-7776-76), Terrence Ng (77-73-76-77) and Jonathan Lai (77-73-71-74). Ben is a Hong Kong amateur based in the U.S. who has broken into the top 100 in the World Rankings - an outstanding achievement. The players were challenged by the thick rough around the greens but produced solid performances, especially from Jonathan Lai, who combines playing golf with a job as an insurance consultant.

2018 ASIAN GAMES, JAKARTA, INDONESIA For the first time, Hong Kong was able to field both Men’s and Women’s team in an Asian Games. It was a great honour for the players to be selected and compete with the

The HK Men’s and Women’s team at the 2018 Asian Games – from left to right: Captain Tim Tang, Matthew Cheung, Terrence Ng, Jonathan Lai, Ben Wong, Michelle Cheung, Mimi Ho, Isabella Leung and Jon Wallett

HKGOLFER.COM

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

23

Chloe Chan Crowned Esprit HK Ladies Amateur Open Champion Local elite golfer Chloe Chan beats a strong field of amateur lady golfers from Hong Kong and across the region to clinch the title at the Discovery Bay Golf Club, writes Louie Chan.

Photography by Daniel Wong

Yoshihiro Nishi, President of the HKGA, presents trophies to all Esprit HK Ladies Amateur Open and Mid Amateur Championships winners

C

han shot a three over 72 in the final round. Finishing on 214 for the three rounds, five ahead of New Zealand’s Rose Zheng and Jessica Huang, and also China’s Jieni Li, who won the HK Junior Open title in August. Hong Kong’s Selina Li finished 5th on 222 which was another highlight for the local golfers.

24

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

Chan topped an international field that included more than 67 amateur golfers from 6 different countries. By winning the national Ladies Amateur Open Championship, Chan receives an exemption from the Hong Kong Golf Club into next year’s EFG Hong Kong Ladies Open to take on the professionals.

Chan played an excellent first round to finish on 69 level par. Building a 4-stroke lead

HKGOLFER.COM

against her closest opponents, Chan never looked back.

“I started playing in this tournament since I was 11 and I have always wanted to win this title, as this is the biggest amateur event for lady golfers in HK. I am so glad that I can finally cope with the pressure.

Actually, I was playing with a hand injury.

I a m ver y proud of my per forma nce at this tournament. I would say the 14th was the most challenging hole throughout the week. The whole distance has been extended more than usual. I was a bit confused when I was standing on the tee box during the first round. I made a mistake again on the same hole in the final round. I pulled my drive to left and had to take a penalty shot.

Another memorable hole was the par-5 6th.

I hit over the green for my third shot, which left me a 60-foot downhill putt from the fringe. I could see there were a couple of double breaks. Without much expectation, I made the putt for a birdie! I was thrilled,” said Chan.

In the Open Mid-Amateur Championships for players aged over 25, China’s Zhang Qin and Hong Kong’s Helen Cheung took the Division 1 and 2 titles respectively.

Dr Raymond Or, Executive Chairman of

HKGOLFER.COM

Esprit Holdings (HK) Limited, commented during the prize presentation ceremony that Esprit were very pleased to sponsor the Hong Kong Ladies Open & Mid-Amateur Championships for the second consecutive year and was delighted that there was a Hong Kong winner in Chloe Chan.

For more information about the Esprit Hong Kong Ladies Amateur Open & Mid Amateur Championships 2018 result, please visit www.hkga.com/eng/events/20180912. aspx?p=l.

Leading final scores (Open): 214 – Chloe Chan (HKG) 69 73 72; 219 – Rose Zheng (NZ) 75 78 66, Jieni Li (CHI) 76 71 72, Jessica Huang (NZ) 75 68 76; 222 – Selina Li (HKG) 73 75 74; 235 – Stephanie Wong (HKG) 84 80 71, Tiffany Wu (HKG) 80 78 77.

Leading final scores (Mid Amateur Division I): 243 – Zhang Qin (CHI) 79 80 84; 246 – Huang Jo Chan (TPE) 86 80 80; 248 – Iveta Henderson (SGP) 80 85 83.

Leading final scores (Mid Amateur Division II): 235 – Cheung Siu Kam Helen (HKG) 81 77 77; 238 – Tsai Hsin Hui (TPE) 76 84 78; 240 – Jeong Young Hee Jennifer (HKG) 79 78 83.

Esprit HK Ladies Open Amateur 2018 Champion Chloe Chan

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

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THE 2018 CLEARWATER BAY OPEN PREVIEW

From Clearwater to the

Bay

PGA TOUR

Hong Kong pros Motin Yeung and Jason Hak will come back to their home course to compete for the record prize money at the third Clearwater Bay Open, writes Louie Chan.

Daniel Wong

Left to right: Motin Yeung, currently fifth on the Order of Merit; Jason Hak, youngest golfer to make the cut on a European Tour event at the Hong Kong Open at just 14 28

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

T

h e 2 018 C l e a r w a t e r B ay Open will offer prize money of about HK$2.36 million, which will be the biggestever purse at a PGA TOUR Series- China event a nd raise the Hong Kong event’s importance in determining the final Order of Merit and places on the 2019 Web.com Tour.

The third Clearwater Bay Open will be held at The Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club from October 11-14, following the Macau Championship (September 27-30) and

Zhuhai Championship (October 4-7), with the three-week swing in the Pearl River Delta concluding a Tour-record 14 events.

“The Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club is delighted to host the Clearwater Bay Open for a third time and this year’s event will be the biggest yet, with the record prize money providing a really exciting incentive for all the players as they finish their season,” said David Hui, Chairman of the Tournament Organising Committee.

“There will be many people supporting Clearwater Bay ambassadors Jason Hak and HKGOLFER.COM

HKGOLFER.COM

David Hui, Chairman of the Clearwater Bay Open Tournament Organising Committee

Greg Carlson, Executive Director of PGA TOUR Series-China

PGA TOUR Series-China/Tony Leung

Motin Yeung as they look to finish their season strongly, along with other Hong Kong players who will compete through invitations or qualifying,” Hui continued. “We also welcome back James Marchesani to defend his title after his great win last year. We’ll put on a spectacular event to provide the perfect ending to the Tour as it grows from strength to strength.”

Greg Carlson, Executive Director of PGA TOUR Series-China, added: “The Clearwater Bay Open is a hugely popular event for the players, so it was only fitting that it became the season-ending event for the first time. The increase in prize money to RMB 2 million, a record purse for the PGA TOUR Series-China, increases its importance and profile, so we’re all excited about the third Clearwater Bay Open providing a sensational end to a great season.”

Hong Kong pros Motin Yeung and Jason Hak attended the press conference alongside Australia’s James Marchesani, who will defend the title that earned him a full card on this year’s PGA TOUR Series-China.

Yeung, 24, is currently fifth on the Order of Merit with RMB 518,125 and is bidding to become the first Hong Kong player to earn a card on the Web.com Tour, ‘The Path to the PGA TOUR’.

“It has been an amazing season for me.

W i n n i ng t he Ku n m i ng Cha mpion sh ip changed my life because I gained a full card on the Tour, which really boosted my confidence and gave me a chance to move to the next level,” said Yeung, who has three other top-10 finishes this year.

“I’ve played really consistently this season to stay quite high on the Order of Merit, so I want to play well in the final three events and obviously finish really strongly at the Clearwater Bay Open,” Yeung continued. “It will be a special event for me as a Clearwater Bay ambassador and after representing Hong Kong so many times in international events, so I hope myself, Jason and all the other Hong Kong players can do well.”

The top-five on the Order of Merit will automatically earn status on next year’s Web. com Tour, the top-10 will be eligible for the Final Stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying To u r n a m e nt f r o m D e c e mb e r 6 -9 a n d players 11-25 will be exempt to the Second Qualifying Stage.

The PGA TOUR established PGA TOUR Series-China in 2014 as its third international developmental tour, following in the footsteps of PG A TOU R Lat i noa merica a nd t he Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. Since its inception, PGA TOUR Series-China players have received Official World Golf Ranking points for top finishes at official tournaments.

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©Rolex/Chris Turvey

Rolex Testimonee Paul McGinley with the 2014 Ryder Cup Trophy HKGOLFER.COM

ROLEX & GOLF

Leader of our

Time The Great Dane - as Thomas Bjørn is known throughout the golf world - will take on the responsibility of leading Team Europe to success in the 2018 Ryder Cup, inspiring synergies among teammates and bringing out the best in each player.

A

few days before striking his first ball in competitive team golf something happened that allowed Thomas Bjørn to f u l ly appreciate t he scale, depth and meaning of The Ryder Cup. Just hours before the start of play, the late Severiano Ballesteros, the European Team Captain for the 1997 edition of the biennial trans-Atlantic golf tournament, handed Bjørn a commemorative Rolex watch.

Looking back, of all the special memories he enjoyed as he became the first ever Dane to play in the competition, it was the limited-edition timepiece, with his name engraved on the back, that came to mean the most. Given solely to those selected to play by the team captain, for him it was a defining moment, a sign he had arrived at the very pinnacle of golf.

“That moment, when Ballesteros presented me with a Rolex watch, symbolises what makes

HKGOLFER.COM

The 2018 European Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn

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Rolex Testimonee Jon Rahm

The Ryder Cup so special,” Bjørn recalls. “The captain usually gives them to the players on the Tuesday night of the tournament week. It’s a unique moment for the entire team, very symbolic considering the scale and nature of the event and what Rolex has done for the game of golf.”

©Rolex/Chris Turvey

THE GREAT DANE Bjørn joins an elite group of Rolex Testimonees who have been selected to captain Europe in The Ryder Cup over the 50-year relationship between Rolex and golf. These include German Bernhard Langer (2008), Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie (2010), Spain’s José María Olazábal (2012) and Paul McGinley, from Ireland, in 2014. Like his predecessors, in 2018, it will be the Dane’s turn to present the watches.

The ceremony will mark Bjørn’s crossing from player to captaincy. “There’s nothing better as a professional golfer than walking down the 16th, 17th and 18th holes in a Major championship if you have a chance to win - The Ryder Cup brings that same feeling and pressure from the very first morning; it’s a really unique atmosphere,” he says. “In terms of how all-consuming the captaincy is, it’s on my mind 24/7.”

As one would expect from the contemplative Bjørn, who as a player won 21 tournaments and was runner-up three times in Majors, he has thought long and hard about what it means to be the European Ryder Cup captain. Still months before the competition will get underway in September at Le Golf National Club south of Paris, he has already defined his approach and the style of leadership he will bring.

“It’s not my role to tell them how to play, but rather to support and manage them, not by getting in their way, but by helping them make the right decisions.”

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Bjørn’s analysis is shrewd. While the position may share some of the requirements of being at the helm of a racing yacht in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, taking the captaincy at the Ryder Cup is a role unique in world sport.

Unlike a coach in a team sport who will tell a player whether he wants him to pass short or long, where to run and even where to position himself on the field of play, it would be a rash Ryder Cup captain who tried to tell those under his charge how to address the ball and play each stroke. Each member of the 12-man team will arrive in Paris with a tried and tested system in place of what works for his game.

“These golfers play for themselves all of the time, so you don’t have to instruct them in how to play the course,” says Bjørn. The true task of the Ryder Cup captain is to foster and develop team spirit, to help players performing in the most mentally intimidating arena in their sport feel comfortable and relaxed, ready for action. Everything in his control – from the style of the uniforms through the standard of the accommodation to the speech made at the ceremonial dinner the night before the competition begins – can make a difference.

“I think that confidence is everything in

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Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley with the victorious 2014 European Team

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strengths as best you can. Hindsight is 20/20, and people will always say what might have happened if you had chosen differently. You just have to go on what feels right at the moment.”

Looking back at his own contribution to Ryder Cup history (he was on the winning side in all three of his appearances in 1997, 2002 and 2014) he is well aware of the significance of the captain’s contribution. “Sam Torrance was a fantastic captain [in 2002]. He had a different captaincy than in previous years, unfortunately because of September 11th [when tragic events in New York delayed the match for 12 months]. But it did give him an extra year to prepare.

He got to spend so much time with us that he influenced us a lot and that put a completely different perspective on the captaincy. He was a motivator, and he had the ability to make all 12 players feel like they were the best in the world.

He probably didn’t have the greatest team, but he still managed to win against an American team that was extremely strong. I thought that his way of talking to people was amazing.”

It is an approach Bjørn will seek to emulate in his one-on-one conversations with the players. Though he says, he won’t even try to match Torrance’s inspirational locker room speeches, ever grand and moving.

“I won’t try to be something that I’m not,” he insists. “I want to try to create an uplifting environment for the players. I have some different responsibilities as captain because I have to listen to everybody and then make decisions and I understand that. But I still want to create an environment that all of these guys enjoy being in and playing in. Whether we win or lose, I want all 12 guys to walk away from The Ryder Cup thinking that it was a good experience – that is my main goal.”

And that experience will indeed begin the moment Bjørn presents the ceremonial Rolex watches to each of the twelve representatives of Team Europe.

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©Rolex/Chris Turvey

this game,” Bjørn says. Moreover, ensuring his team’s self-assurance is not compromised will be at the heart of his approach. “The younger players sometimes need guidance, and I’m not afraid to tell them that they might be making some strange decisions. In my experience, the best thing to do is have a quiet conversation with them and point out a potentially different choice they might make.”

“My main concern is to have 12 guys there who are in form and ready to play,” Bjørn says.

“My message to players is that it’s not about making The Ryder Cup Team, it’s about playing in The Ryder Cup. Looking back over the years, people are so keen to make the team that they forget that from the day they qualify they have to play in it as well. It’s a fantastic stage to play on, but only when you are ready to play.”

When the first tee shot is made on the morning of 28 September, the captain will have decided who plays with whom, and in what order. That is often a critical, match-winning decision. It is one Bjørn knows he will need to get right.

“You must put your trust in your team and believe that your 12 guys can deliver,” says the Dane. “You’ve got to try to play to your team’s

35

World's Golf Course Designer of the Year

World's Best New Golf Course

IMAGINE THE

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THE KILTED CADDIE

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HKGOLFER.COM

AFP/Getty Images

Becoming a Wilson Staff

The Kilted Caddie shares his club-fitting experience at Wilson Staff ’s custom fit factory in Irvine, Scotland.

HKGOLFER.COM

HK

Englishman Paul Waring celebrates winning the Nordea Masters at Hills Golf Club in Molndal, Sweden - Waring joined Wilson Golf in 2015 GOLFER・OCT 2018 39

Image Courtesy of Amer Sports

I Wilson Staff’s custom fit factory in Irvine, Scotland

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needed new golf clubs t hat was for su re. My Ben Hoga n A p ex irons were well and truly shot. I had broken the 5-iron against a tree long ago, my pitching wedge had gone missing and, my 3-iron was i n ver y terrible shape. I n fact, my irons greatly resembled my post mid-life physical demeanour.

Luckily, I have a friend who works at Wilson Sports in Chicago, and he lined me up for a visit to their custom fit factory in Irvine. There I met the technical golf guru Andy Cliff who dazzled me with the new science of golf swing analysis and showed off the most impressive Wilson Golf range and operation.

A ndy is the present Captain of Irvine Golf Club which seems to be a jewel of a course on the west coast of Scotland and at seventy quid a round I’m heading there

soon. He has been following the European Tour in the Wilson van for years now, is a good golfer and knows his stuff.

So, in the swing centre, Andy started off by letting me hit a few balls to loosen off and critically watched me. The good news was that he wasn’t giving me the advice that he had to proffer to some people. I didn’t immediately have to go and seek golf instruction to set right issues which a new set of Wilson clubs could not.

Then came the in-depth analysis with the aid of numerous graphs and a minefield of data on an overhead screen. Average swing speeds, smash factors, spin rates, degrees of t his a nd t hat, added to a somewhat encouraging graphic which showed a good deal of striking accuracy. A ndy slightly enthused about my inside attack line, and I was beginning to feel rather buoyant. He changed shafts and heads and grips, hmm’d HKGOLFER.COM

HKGOLFER.COM

victory and lots of bucks but a truly handsome trophy I must say. Added to this I’ve recorded to net handicap 66’s in my last two medals.

Yes, t he K ilted Caddie is now well, and indeed a Wilson Staff clubs man.

Please go to thekiltedcaddie.com to find out more about The Kilted Caddie.

Padraig Harrington, a 3-time Major champion, has signed another multiyear deal with Wilson Golf in 2016 that sees him with the brand for 22 consecutive seasons until now

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

AFP/Getty Images

and hawwed a bit and then, low and behold, we had a completed order for a beautiful set of extra stiff shafted, V6 Tour Irons. I must say they are stunning, with a great feel and that blade look which reminds me of my Ben Hogan blades. I have since been showing them off around St Andrews to many favourable comments.

I wa s t h e n show n a r ou n d t h e ve r y impressive workshop factory. It is indeed a slick operation and the staff all busy and in tremendous spirit. They serve the whole of Europe from here and customise about a thousand clubs a month. Of course, they attend to their stable of tour pros. Padraig Harrington, Paul Lawrie, Branden Steele and recent first-time winner Paul Waring, who recently captured the Nordea Masters, his first European Tour win.

I am just wondering if they will take the Kilted Caddie into their illustrious stable as a somewhat long shot bet? It could do wonders for their exposure in the Home of Golf, and I would be well up for it (even if my golf isn’t quite). I suppose it could be seen as a token gesture for a hopelessly addicted and struggling 10-handicapper with delusional issues.

Wilson is now owned by Amer, a Finnish company, who started off in tobacco but saw that the future lay more in sports, health and fitness. They now own the Atomic and Salomon ski brands and the gym equipment maker Precor. Now I would say that was a canny strategic move in this day and age.

Indeed, right up my street as an ex-sk i teacher. Of more interest, however, is the fact that Anta, the leading Chinese brand, and HK based private equity firm FountainVest, have just made an offer for Amer.

The Wilson Staff clubs man still have the highest number of Majors under their belt, and I do think they are the underrated brand in the marketplace. They have a new driver coming out in early October which is top secret at the moment, and which Andy enthuses wildly about. They conducted a competition and invited entries from all driver design kids around the world. The process can be seen in the Wilson promo film and is exciting and enlightening.

So, they seem to be a winning team at the moment and indeed hot property with the huge Anta takeover bid. On a more prosaic level they now nominally have the Kilted Caddie on board. An unlikely and somewhat remarkable winner of the Willie Lamond Trophy at the weekend at the St Andrews Golf Club. No, not quite a European Tour

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AFP/Getty Images

ASIAN ANGLE

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PGA TOUR’s October Asia Fest Three world-class golf tournaments, three exciting and yet diverse destinations and a whopping US$26.5 million in total prize money on offer - welcome to the PGA TOUR’s annual October fest, writes Chuah Choo Chiang.

Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, two of the biggest names on the PGA Tour

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AFP/Getty Images

I

India’s Anirban Lahiri is now a regular on the PGA TOUR 46

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t is becoming a wonderful tradition for the game in the Far East when fa ns ca n prepa re to welcome and celebrate the best golfers on the planet, thanks largely to the PGA TOUR bandwagon which rolls into town in successive weeks with the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in South Korea and World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in China.

Mega-events attract the biggest stars of the game who deliver the glitz, glam and fireworks on the fairways and it promises to be a glorious run of tournaments in a region widely acknowledged as the game’s most significant growth opportunity.

From Dustin Johnson to Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka to Justin Thomas, Francesco Molinari to Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Reed to Rory McIlroy, many of these superstars have punched their tickets to Asia in chase of top dollar, earlyseason FedExCup points and ultimately be a part of a TOUR which is helping to grow the game around the world.

“The PGA TOUR is a global organisation, we’ve got a global membership and we are an important part of a global sport,” said Jay Monahan, PGA TOUR Commissioner.

The US$7 million CIMB Classic kick-starts

the festivities at TPC Kuala Lumpur from October 11 to 14, with veteran star Pat Perez defending his title against a stellar cast which includes world No. 4 Justin Thomas, himself a double CIMB Classic champion in 2015/16.

The US$9.5 million CJ CUP, the newest addition to t he PGA TOUR’s Schedule last season, will see Thomas, the 2016-17 FedExCup winner, returning to Jeju Island in search of a fourth win in the region. The WGCHSBC Champions will conclude the festivities with new world No. 1 Justin Rose and the title holder headlining the starry field in Sheshan International Golf Club.

When Monahan visited the inaugural CJ CUP last year, he told the Korean media that the TOUR hopes to inspire more golfers into the sport, which reportedly now has more than 80 million people playing the game globally and Asia’s growing middle-class segment expected to raise the figures in the years to come.

“It’s an honour to be in this golf crazedmarket (Sout h Korea) and it really is a remarkable marketplace for golf. I think as you look to today and look to the future and in fact if you look to the past, 10 years from now and beyond, we hope we are inspiring a new generation of fans and new generation of players

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Additionally, the PGA TOUR’s collaboration with other golf bodies including the Asian Tour, Korean PGA and China Golf Association have provided positive influences as well, as explained by India’s Anirban Lahiri.

“I think this is a great, great platform. A lot of players, of the 10 guys who qualified (from the Asian Tour for CIMB Classic), I think there's a whole bunch who could contend. I learned so much from my first two or three times that I played this event. It also got me a chance to gauge what the level of golf is and where I needed to take my golf and elevate to that level so that I could be full time on the PGA TOUR. For a lot of the young players, it will be the first step. But you never know where that path leads, so it's great,” said Lahiri, now a regular on the PGA TOUR. Monahan is convinced the PGA TOUR’s footprint in Asia can further contribute towards the game’s growing popularity. “One of the six tenets to our mission statement is to grow the game, and any time we are actively growing, diversifying, developing the game, opening new markets, hopefully everybody that's involved in the game is benefitting,” he said.

Chuah Choo Chiang is Senior Director, Communications of the PGA TOUR and is based in TPC Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

AFP/Getty Images

by having the best players of the world here in South Korea for the CJ CUP,” said Monahan.

The stars too have embraced the TOUR’s vision with both hands. Not only do they enjoy the opportunity to perform in front of new fans, the diverse cultures from one city to the next has been a strong pull in their decisions to venture abroad.

“The game is so global now,” said Perez, who won the CIMB Classic by four shots last year. “I think it's awesome that the TOUR’s expanded outside the United States. I think it's important for the game. When I was coming up, the game wasn't that global. But I think there're so many great new, young players worldwide that it's important to get all these kids or players together because you can see there's so much competition going on.”

Xander Schauffele, the 2016-17 Rookie of the Year, epitomises the game’s facet best. “I have a very international background… my dad's half French, half German. My mom's Taiwanese, grew up in Japan. So, it's cool that golf has allowed me to start here in Malaysia, then Korea, then China. If you want to be one of the best players in the world, you have to be a global player. You have to collect fans in different countries and play well in different countries.”

Justin Thomas will return to Jeju Island in search of his fourth win in the region HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

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FEATURE

Livewire

The New Pat Perez AFP/Glyn Kirk

When guys of his generation - 48-year-old Phil Mickelson and 42-year-old Tiger Woods - have done so much more, Pat Perez, the reigning CIMB Classic champion, is on this late roll of success, writes Jim McCabe.

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Pat Perez plays from the 9th tee during his third round of The 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie

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©Rolex/Chris Turve AFP/Getty Images y

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Perez with Mike Hartford, best friend forever and his caddie since 2000 52

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o k n o w Pa t Pe r e z i s t o understand the dynamics of his f lavorful persona. That there can be two diverse sides to his PGA TOUR saga - one win in his first 378 starts; two triumphs in the last 85 tournaments - is in synch with the contrasting takes on his temperament.

Raw, volatile, rock ‘n roll, borderline crude, and a modern-day Rat Pack wannabe.

That’s the image Perez has been assigned by some journalists who gravitate only to those storylines that have sex appeal. And the side of Perez that his friends and family know best - that he’s loyal and hard-working, determined and sensitive - well, it lacks sex appeal, accurate though it may be.

Which is OK with Mike Hartford, who happens to be the starting point whenever you get around to discussing Patrick Peter Perez. No one knows Perez better, and no one treats the man with greater respect, no one

rushes faster to his defence on those times when it is needed.

“It should be obvious to people that if I’ve been working for him all these years, he’s got to be a good dude,” said Hartford, who has been Perez’s best friend forever and his caddie since 2000.

True, Perez doesn’t deflect the hard-living, rough-around-the-edges spotlight that so many are quick to shine on him - hey, it’s sort of cool to be portrayed that way - but he points out that Hartford indeed should be your go-to guy on all things about Perez.

“This guy has been with me… every step of the way. He’s loyal beyond belief. He’d be with me whether I won 25 times or just the (three times),” said Perez.

No one can judge the Perez-Hartford relationship quite like Jon Robertson, who coached both boys as members of his golf team back at Torrey Pines High School in the 1990s. Raised in the laid-back confines of San Diego deep in Southern California, Perez and Hartford were the definitions of yin and yang, HKGOLFER.COM

HKGOLFER.COM

Perez reacts to his putt on the 15th green during his second round of The 147th Open golf Championship at Carnoustie - further proof that the rejuvenation of his career is one of golf’s nice stories, one that is rooted in a maturation process that he doesn’t deny “took a lot longer to develop” than with most people.

“I just have a new perspective on life,” said Perez, who recently played well in Carnoustie (tie for 17th) in just his fifth chance at The Open Championship. That is one of the new perks to this new-found success, the opportunity to play in the Majors, and Perez doesn’t take it lightly. Not after a big chunk of time (seven seasons, 2010-16) when he teed it up in just three of 28 Major championships, not when guys of his generation - 48-year-old Phil Mickelson and 42-year-old Tiger Woods - have done so much more.

No, sir. The “new” Pat Perez remembers very well how the “old” Pat Perez made things so much more difficult than they needed to be. And the “new” Pat Perez, who along with his wife, Ashley, recently welcomed the birth of their first child, Piper, in September, recalls how the “old” Pat Perez was less enthusiastic about embracing responsibilities.

It is all a part of who he is on this late roll of success. The arrival of his child might very well alter his schedule for early in 2018-19, but Perez is committed to enjoying the ride and maintaining perspective.

“I’m just a 42-year-old guy who had a great year for once (2016-17) and I’m just hoping to continue and see how much better I can get,” he said.

HK GOLFER・OCT 2018

AFP/Andy Buchanan

Robertson told a reporter a few years ago.

“One of the most hilarious kids ever,” he opined of Perez, while he portrayed Hartford glowingly. “There isn’t a better human being than that guy.”

Perez was high energy, a “live wire,” as they say, a kid who loved to push the envelope. Hartford was methodical and more l ikely to t hin k t hings out before acting, always staying within the boundaries.

No surprise, it was Hartford who ran a landscaping company as a teenager. Even less of a surprise, Perez was his best employee.

“He used to practical job behind the mower,” said Hartford, who was one year ahead of his friend in high school.

Howe ver, Pere z ’s t h i r st for a rapid pace to his life didn’t quite translate into overwhelming success for his professional golf career. There were two years on the Web. com Tour (accompanied by Hartford, his trusty friend/caddie, of course) before Perez qualified for the PGA TOUR in 2002 at the age of 26.

That it took until his eighth season to win for the first time was surprising enough, given that he was such a standout as a junior and amateur; that it took another eight years before win No. 2 arrived - the OHL Mayakoba Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico in the fall of 2016 - was something even Perez had a tough time explaining.

So, to rea l ise he wa ited for ju st 23 tournaments to win for the third time - at the 2017 CIMB Classic to kick off his 2017-18 campaign - cements a level of pride that Perez doesn’t even try to hide. In his 16th season, Perez had qualif ied for the 2017 TOUR Championship for the first time, a 41-yearold trying to keep up with the mega-powerful generation nearly half his age.

“My game’s a lot harder to play than Dustin Johnson’s or Jason Day’s or Justin Thomas’s - guys who fly it 320,” said Perez.

“If you look at some of the players I beat, I’ll take that as hell of a compliment.”

His win at TPC Kuala Lumpur in October of 2017 was followed by a stretch of stellar work - a fifth in South Korea at the CJ CUP @ NI NE BR I DGES, a share of fourt h in Hawaii at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and later in April a second-place finish in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event.

Thus, after having played 15 years without a TOUR Championship berth, Perez just missed making it a second straight appearance

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TOUR INSIDER

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The

Ordinary

Heroes Calvin Koh talks to Jazz Janewattananond about how the Thai golfer emerges from an unsure talent into a national hero.

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C

M

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ery often in golf, a hero will emerge.

He rises from near obl ivion to become t he nex t g re at hop e i n t he sport wit h his name moving beyond just a byword to a feature in the headlines.

However, before enjoying their sweet taste of success, it is always a crazy and insecure journey to finding where their unsure talent would eventually take them.

Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond is one of them.

He lost his A sia n Tour card in 2016 and saw his playing opportunities further diminished when he missed the grade at Qualifying School the following year.

However, he was not ready to say goodbye to the sport.

The young Thai told me back then he ‘was not going to give up’ and will play his way again to the upper echelons of the game.

I n a surprising t urnarou nd af ter Qualifying school the following month, Jazz would capture his first Asian Tour title at the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open, having ‘made peace with pressure’.

He said, “You got to learn to handle the

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CM

pressure somehow. I guess those setbacks helped in my game. The win came sooner than I thought.”

Jazz dared to believe he can turn things around and sometimes it takes failure to bring out success.

With his second Asian Tour title won at the Queen’s Cup on home soil in July and earning his divine right to tee up for his Major at The Open this year, Jazz has been celebrated by many for his heroics on the golf course.

Despite having fans of his own now, he wants to be an everyday guy, who ‘turned his dreams into reality’ on the Asian Tour.

Jazz was just 14 when he played his way into the history books by becoming the youngest ever player to make the halfway cut at an Asian Tour event in 2010.

I n t h e To u r ’s l a t e s t # w h e r e i t s A T promotional campaign, Jazz used to watch decorated Thai legend Thongchai Jaidee win on television.

However, with the changing of guards, Jazz is ready to pick up the baton while continuing to sing the right tune.

Calvin Koh heads the press operations and media partnerships for the Asian Tour.

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CY

CMY

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HONG KONG GOLF ASSOCIATION

AFP/Getty Images

GOLF INSTRUCTION

The Englishman takes dead aim during the US PGA Championship 60

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How to

Practice Lee Westwood explains how working on the basics in practice will help you develop a more consistent and repeatable golf swing.

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W

ithout a doubt, the most common fault I see among amateur golfers comes at address. They don't pay enough attention to stance, posture or alignment and this has a knock-on effect on the golf swing itself. Other than that, the main fault would be not knowing how far you hit the ball. These two are actually related because it is difficult to know how far you hit each club when you have inconsistencies at set-up. I strike the ball pretty consistently every time, so I know within two or three yards how far a 7-iron is going to go, for instance. But if you're not consistent at set-up, it's going to be more difficult, so this is what you should work on in practice ...

Setting Your Stance

When I set up on the range I'm working first of all on my balance, feeling where it is in my feet at address. Most of your weight should go down through your laces as your stand over the ball. The best way to set your posture and find the right balance is to stand upright with your feet just less than shoulder width apart. Now place your shaft of your wedge across your hips. Then lean your upper body forward so your weight moves over your toes, before flexing your knees. This brings your weight back over the balls of your feet. From here, let your arms hang under your shoulders. That's the ideal set-up with good balance. You should feel like a goalkeeper ready to save a penalty. The golf swing is such a fast movement, you need to be both balanced and alive. As the clubs get longer, I tend to make my stance a bit wider, but wouldn't try to hit the ball any harder.

Checking Your Alignment

Obviously, it is important to aim in the right direction, yet strangely, most people don't!

Generally I will lay a club or alignment stick on the ground. However, I don't place it on either the ball-to-target line or the line of my feet, but rather parallel to those two lines halfway between them. The alignment stick will then be beneath my shoulders and I can set my body and clubface parallel to that. Remember it is everything – feet, hips, knees, elbows – that needs to be parallel, and that's why it is so important to check. If you have any kinks in your set-up (your shoulders might be closed or your hips might be open), you'll have to make compensations in your swing to strike the ball.

My hips can get slightly open every now and again, and that's why I need to check.

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"You should feel like a goalkeeper ready to save a penalty. You need to be both balanced and alive" Fine-Tuning Your Swing

I try to make sure that the clubhead is the first thing that moves away from the ball in my takeaway. This is a simple move but one that people will often get wrong. If the clubhead moves first, it should start the club working on a good path. Then, as I turn to the top of the backswing, I resist my upper body rotation with my legs. From the top of the backswing I'm then looking to simply rotate through the ball and on into a smooth followthrough, with your right shoulder aiming towards the target in the finish.

Judging Distances Coming up short or hitting the ball long – these are the things that really wreck your scoring. If you start missing greens, you've got to get it up and down. So it really is worth getting a real understanding for how far you hit the ball. When you get to a certain level where your ball-striking is consistent, you should head to the range and hit ten balls with your 7-iron. Measure the five middle ones and you'll get a good idea as to how far you hit that club.

Shot-Making

You can move the ball in your stance to change the directory of your flight. So to hit a punch, for example, you should move the ball back in your stance. Importantly, when you do this you'll not only be reducing the loft but also striking the ball more from the inside of your swing arc (imagine the arc of your swing going around you). So you have to expect the ball to draw a bit, and I always aim a fraction right to allow for that. But from there I make exactly the same swing.

Driver Set-Up

With a driver, I widen my stance and move the ball forward because I'm trying to hit it on the up.

That's about all that changes really. I tee it up quite high with my driver because of the launch characteristics I'm after. It goes further when I launch it at about 10.5°. That's the optimum launch angle for me with regards to carry and roll. My driver carries about 290 yards and rolls out to 315.

The other thing I try to do it keep moving at address. It's a good idea not to stand there too long before starting the swing as this can create tension in your arms.

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AFP/Getty Images

Westwood, arguably the best current player without a major championship title to his name, with caddie Billy Foster during the 2014 Open at Royal Liverpool

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GOLF TRAVEL

Great Golf on the

Emerald Isle

With the Open Championship returning to Northern Ireland next year for only the second time in its 159-year history, the province enjoys a choice of courses entirely disproportionate to its size. Anyone who believes that Royal Portrush is the total of the island’s offer is sure to be very pleasantly surprised, writes Mike Wilson.

Images Courtesy of Northern Ireland Tourist Board

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When it comes to Northern Ireland, the most obvious place to start must be Royal Portrush HK GOLFERăƒťOCT 2018

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The prestigious Irish Open has top quality field to tee it up year after year

2015 Iris Open was hosted at Royal County Down

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W

hen it comes to reviewing golf in Northern Ireland, it is essential to distinguish the territory to the north of the ‘Emerald Isle’, the part which, for the time being notwithstanding the vagaries of Brexit, at least – is part of the UK. However, it would be remiss in producing such a review not to allude to the Republic of Ireland and its vast array of truly magnificent golf courses. They come in all shapes and sizes, links, parkland, friendly, small-town layouts, nine holes and 18. From towering, luxurious resort-style courses such as the K Club, host to the 2006 Ryder Cup, to spectacular links layouts such as Portmarnock, Royal Dublin, Druid’s Glen and Mount Juliet, all past hosts of the prestigious Irish Open.

It would also do something of a disservice to Northern Ireland were any in-depth review attempt to embrace golf in the Republic. Both sides of the border fully justify scrutiny in their own right. When it comes to Northern Ireland, the most obvious – but far from only – the place to start must be Royal Portrush. In July 1951, Englishman Max Faulkner lifted the Claret Jug on the only occasion to date golf’s oldest HKGOLFER.COM

Giant’s Causeway, one of the great geological phenomena in the world

and most prestigious Major championship, The Open, was played away from the United Kingdom’s mainland at Royal Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Tourism Board and the people of the province made an unarguable case for the Open to return following a hiatus of 68 years. The 2012 and 2015 Irish Open championships, at Royal County Down and Royal Portrush - fourth and 15th respectively in the Top-100 golf courses in the world - sold out within weeks of tickets going on sale.

The biggest challenge of the 2019 Open Championship, the 148th staging of world golf’s most venerable and prestigious event will be getting tickets. Already, nine-months from the first stroke being struck on the morning of Thursday 18th July 2019, almost all 200,000 available tickets have been sold out, leaving secondary ticketing sites, corporate hospitality passes or volunteering as the sole means of catching the action. Although some tickets, costing as little as £15.00 (approx. HK$155.00) and up to £40.00 (approx. HK$410.00) are available for the practice days.

Remarkably for a small country with a population of under two-million, Northern Ireland boasts a glittering array of world-class professional talent. Major winners Rory McIlroy, HKGOLFER.COM

Major winner Rory McIlroy is hailed from Holywood, County Down

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The Lough Erne Resort hosted the G8 Summit in 2013

Exceptional food and beverage options from the Lough Erne Resort 70

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who hails from Holywood, County Down, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke, who both hail from Portrush, And, such is the accessibility for visitors, there is not a golf course or club where those seeking to follow in the footsteps of these, Major champions will be anything less than welcoming, and with open arms.

Despite the question of the Irish border being regularly mentioned in Brexit dispatches, indeed, one can crisscross the frontier several times in the one day without even knowing it.

With the passing of time and generations, the so-called ‘Troubles,’ which afflicted Ireland over many years are very much a thing of the past.

Locals on both sides of the border as friendly and welcoming as it is possible to get.

Arguably the most exciting and challenging is Northern Ireland’s North and West Coast Links, featuring an array of great golf courses suitable for visitors from scratch and low-handicap players to those playing purely for fun. A range of golf courses ideally suited for all members of family and friends.

Connemara Championship Golf Links, Enniscrone Golf Club and Co. Sligo Golf Club are founding members of the destination marketing group. Followed by Rosapenna Golf Links, Ballyliffin Golf Club, where Scotsman Russell Knox won the 2018 Irish Open. Portstewart Golf Club, where Spaniard John Rahm won the Irish Open in 2017 and, ultimately, Royal Portrush Golf Club, the jewel in the area’s crown.

In the south-west of Northern Ireland lies what, for this commentator at least, the crown jewels, the spectacular, five-star Lough Erne Resort. It hosted the G8 Summit in 2013. Close to the town of Enniskillen, on the southern shores of Lough Erne, with 120 luxurious rooms in Northern Ireland’s first and to date only AA hotel. Configured as traditional rooms, suites and loughside lodges, there is also a self-contained, bespoke Golf Village, a selection of three-andfour-bedroom houses, overlooking the 18-hole championship Faldo Course, designed by the sixtime Major champion himself.

The 7,000-yard-plus, Par-72 layout parkland course is dominated by Lough Erne and sits cheek-by-jowl with a second, less demanding but enjoyable Castle Hume Course. There is a golf academy and driving range to warm-up, learn to play under the watchful eye of the most attentive team of teaching professionals.

During the autumn time, when the colour of the extensive foliage is every bit as inspiring as New England in the fall. Midweek rooms are on offer at £110.00 (approx. HK$1,132.00), including a £70.00 (approx. HK$720.00)

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voucher for breakfast and access to the extensive Thai Spa facilities, with exceptional food and beverage options from the fine dining in the Catalina Restaurant to the authenticity of the Blaney Bar and the Loughside Bar & Grill.

If there is a better autumnal golf resort package on offer, anywhere in the world, I’d like to experience it as Lough Erne is, without exception, second-to-none.

Other exceptional golf experiences in Northern Ireland include the Belvoir Park Golf Club, in County Antrim. Established in 1927 and set in some 163 acres of delightful parkland and was designed by one of the greatest architects of all time, Harry S Colt, voted ‘Best Parkland Course in Ulster’ in 2016. Given the quality of many of the country’s inland layouts, that’s quite an accolade.

Castlerock Golf Club is an exceptionally family-friendly club comprising the 18-hole Mussenden Course – at 7,000-plus-yards a genuine challenge and the nine-hole Bann Course, Castlerock earning the title of ‘Northern Ireland’s Hidden Gem.’ With the clock counting down to the 148th Open Championship returning to Northern Ireland, the focus of attention will inevitably be on the Province. However, let there be no doubt, there is more than enough class and a warm enough welcome to ensure that, all things being equal, it won’t be another 68 years before the world’s greatest championship crosses the Irish Sea once more.

SIX TO MIX

Golf breaks may be good for the soul, especially in such a relaxed and welcoming environment as offered-up by Northern Ireland. However, with fine food and drink on offer at the end of a day’s play, with family or friends, it’s well worth spending some time in what a cornucopia of offcourse experiences is, especially given that travel distances in the Province are not off the scale.

1. Giant’s Causeway. One of the great geological phenomena in the world; located almost at the most northerly point of the island of Ireland, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is truly breathtaking.

Jutting out into the frequently-stormy North Atlantic, the Giant’s Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption.

Located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmill, legend has it that Irish giant Fionn Mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) created the causeway to travel to Scotland and fight his rival Benandonner but came back somewhat smartish when he saw how big he was.

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2. Titanic Belfast. One of Northern Ireland’s most popular visitor attractions, Titanic Belfast opened in 2012, a monument to the city’s maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard in the city’s Titanic Quarter where the RMS Titanic was built.

Designed by American-born British architect based Eric Robert Kuhne and built at the cost of £100m (approx. US$130m / HK$1billion) this award-winning visitor attraction, exploring the Titanic story in a fresh and insightful way.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early hours of 15 April 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.

An estimated 2,224 passengers and crew were aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history. RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat at the time it entered service and was the second of three Olympic-class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line.

3. Old Bushmills Distillery. The Old Bushmills Distillery is a distillery in Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with all of the whiskey bottled under the Bushmills whiskey brand produced there.

It uses water drawn from Saint Columb’s Rill, which is a tributary of the River Bush. The distillery is a popular tourist attraction, with around 120,000 visitors per year.

The company that initially built the distillery was formed in 1784, although the date 1608 is printed on the label of the brand – referring to an earlier date when a royal license was granted to a local landowner to distil whiskey in the area.

The distillery has been in continuous operation since it was rebuilt after a fire in 1885.

4. Dunluce Castle. A now-ruined medieval castle in Northern Ireland, it is located on the edge of a basalt outcrop in County Antrim and is accessible via a bridge connecting it to the mainland.

The dramatic history of Dunluce is matched by tales of a banshee and how the castle kitchens fell into the sea one stormy night in 1639.

The castle is surrounded by extremely steep drops on either side, which may have been an essential factor to the early Christians and Vikings who were drawn to this place where an old Irish fort once stood.

The Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club will next host the Open Championship in 2019 and takes its name from the historic castle located nearby.

5. Slieve Donard is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland and the larger province of Ulster, with a height of 850 metres. One of the Mourne Mountains, it is near the town of Newcastle on the eastern coast of County Down, overlooking the Irish Sea. Today, a five-star golf resort, the Slieve Donard Resort sits at the foot of the mountain, from where one can pretty much step out of your comfortable King Koil ‘cloud bed’ and onto the world famous, a firm favourite with champion golfers like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

6. Lough Neagh. Lough Neagh is a large freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake by area in the British Isles, with a surface area of 151 square miles and at its deepest is 80 feet (24 m).

It supplies 40% of Northern Ireland’s water. Its main inflows are the Upper River Bann and River Blackwater, and its central outflow is the Lower River Bann.

The lough has shores on five of the six counties of Northern Ireland, County Fermanagh being the exception, and is a significant attraction for sailors, birdwatchers and anglers, and is owned by is owned by the Earl of Shaftesbury.

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Award Winning Wentworth mansion.

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