PROFILE
The Captain
John Ball talks to Mathew Scott about combining his duties as Captain of the Hong Kong Golf Club with his job as a managing director at Deutsche Bank
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n his role as Captain of the Hong Kong Golf Club, John Ball had no finer seat in the house as Ian Poulter took the applause and the winner’s cheque following his magnificent win at the recent Hong Kong Open. But on meeting the 55-yearold you’re left certain that even without the formal duties to perform, he would have been pretty close to the final day’s action anyway. “[Golf is] truly a game for life and I'm every bit as motivated in playing and competing today as I was when starting out some 35 years ago,” says Ball, a threehandicapper, who, work permitting, is looking forward to playing in a number of senior amateur events around the region now that he’s age qualified. “I still love to practice and with technological improvements I can still just about compete with the youngsters. I don't know any other sport that provides that competitive longevity. My game is always work in progress and I still have regular lessons in the forlorn hope of improving my swing.’’ Ball’s game – like most – started with a little experimentation and with the sort of curiosity that can only come with youth. “My first swing was at around 12 years old at a family friend's house, hitting balls over the garden fence into an adjoining field,’’ says Ball, who was born and brought up in the southeastern English county of Kent. “I started playing regularly from my late teens when golf replaced cricket as my chosen sport. The cricket club I played for had a nine-hole pitch and putt course within its facilities and I soon found myself spending more time swinging a club than wielding a bat.” When work opportunities brought Ball to Hong Kong in 1986 he was happy to find that the game he loved was starting to flourish in the region. And these days, as a managing director at Deutsche Bank, is on a few occasions at least able to mix his business with his pleasure. “I wouldn't say [golf and business] go hand in hand but I do have the pleasure 36
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of playing two or three times per year with clients around the region,’’ says Ball. “Golf is such an expanding sport in Asia and many clients are new golfers, impressed when they learn that I have a low handicap. “I'm always amused and embarrassed when they say I should be a pro. Little do they know that the step up from my level to professional is immense.” Deutsche Bank has long-established links with the golfing community – internationally and locally – through such events as the annual Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston, which is part of the PGA Tour’s all-import FedEx Cup Playoffs, in September and the Swiss Open on the European Ladies Tour held each June. “Over the years we've hosted client events in Hong Kong and the region with players such as Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal and Cristie Kerr,’’ Ball explains. “Golf forms an important but not dominant role in the bank’s client relationship development programme.” On a more personal level, Ball says the connection he has made with the game during his time in Hong Kong has been crucial in the development of much more than what he does out on the course. “I'm very privileged to have been a member of one of the great golf clubs in the world for more than 20 years and to have been on the General Committee for nine of the past 11 years leading up to the captaincy in 2010-11,’’ he says. “I'm sure that if I hadn't become a member all those years ago I wouldn't have stayed in Hong Kong for as long as I have. HKGOLFER.COM
Ball in action during the 2009 Hong Kong Close Amateur Championship at Fanling Photo by Charles McLaughlin HKGOLFER.COM
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"I'm very privileged to have been a member of one of the great golf clubs in the world for more than 20 years... I'm sure that if I hadn't become a member all those years ago I wouldn't have stayed in Hong Kong for as long as I have."
Charles McLaughlin
Stellar short game (above): Ball's consistency around the greens will make him a serious contender when he starts playing senior amateur events around Asia. 38
“My social circle revolves around golf, my wife Pei Pei is on the Ladies Committee and my kids have grown up around the Club.’’ And it is from that position that Ball has witnessed the growth of the Hong Kong Open – and the development of the game both in Hong Kong and throughout China. The role the Open plays here should not be underestimated, he says. “I think I'm right in saying that the Open is the second-most important sports event in Hong Kong after the [Rugby] Sevens, especially now with the tournament's position as the penultimate event in the Race to Dubai,’’ says Ball. “Yet, I'm struck by how little connection is made in promoting Hong Kong as a destination for tourists. The event is televised throughout the world on The Golf Channel and surely there's an opportunity in their broadcasts to showcase all that Hong Kong has to offer.” All that time in Asia – and at the Hong Kong Golf Club – has brought plenty of fond memories for Ball but it is a family connection
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that first springs to mind when asked about the times that bring him the most pride. “There are probably too many memorable moments to list but my proudest moments have been in partnering my children in various competitions. Winning the Mixed Foursomes Championship with my daughter, Olivia, was very special, as was partnering my son, Andrew, when he had an albatross, the rarest of birds,’’ he says. Ball’s travels around the region have meant he has been able to enjoy some of Asia’s finest courses too. “As for courses in Asia, both the courses at Spring City in Kunming are my favorites,’’ he reveals. “The layouts, the conditioning, the slick bent grass greens and the climate stand out as better than anywhere else I've experienced in Asia. I'm due to play at Royal Melbourne early next year so maybe my course ranking for the region will change after that experience.” There has to be time found for working on his game each week and despite his impressive handicap Ball believes there is plenty of work left to do. “I play just about every weekend and I try to practice on one weekday evening if I'm in Hong Kong,’’ he says. “My strength is really my short game. I'm a good chipper and pitcher, and fairly solid on the greens. My weakness is my iron play. It's a never-ending quest to be a better ball striker.” And for inspiration, Ball looks to some of the greats – both for their play and for their poise. “Tom Watson for his standing within the game as a role model for his professionalism, integrity and continued competitiveness even at 61 years old,’’ says Ball, whose tenure as Fanling Captain comes to an end in May. “I don't know anybody who wasn't rooting for him at the 2009 Open Championship and yet in defeat the way he handled himself with such grace and humility was a great example to us all. “I also have great admiration for Padraig Harrington. He's a real gentleman and has climbed close to the pinnacle of golf as a threetime Major winner through constant hard work and determination.” In the end, while golf has brought Ball some of his life’s most cherished memories it has, he says, also helped him grow as a person – once again, both on and off the course. “Golf has taught me about determination, focus, dealing with bad breaks and never giving up,’’ says Ball. “Golf is a game built on trust and integrity, perhaps seen most recently in the professional game by the actions of Brian Davis [at the Verizon Heritage earlier this year] and Ian Poulter [at last month’s Dubai World Championship] in calling shots on themselves when in contention. Someone who cheats at golf is branded a cheat for life and there are parallels there with the reputational risks faced in business.” HKGOLFER.COM