[Matt_Sullivan]

Living in Beijing, I had the opportunity to attend the Johnnie Walker Classic pretty much all day Friday and Saturday. Not only was it a great field, but it was pretty sparsely attended, so it was a great opportunity to see some of the stars up close. At various times over the two days, I followed Els, Goosen, Garcia, Scott, Choi, Donald, Casey, Jimenez, Montgomerie,Bjorn, and Immelman, as well as seeing a good sprinkling of second tier players like Randhawa, Jaidee, Rumford, Wiratchant and so on. All in all a great couple of days and a great opportunity to see how the pros play the game.

So here were my observations:

The course

Pine Valley is a pretty good Jack Nicklaus layout. As the scores indicate, it is a bit too “resorty” to really test the pros: water mostly ornamental and out of play; par 5s too short; rough down; a collection of solid holes but not too many standouts. But the course is redeemed by elevation changes, interesting fairway undulation, some very good green complexes and a good collection of par threes. Note if you are watching it on television be aware that the TV cameras are doing a pretty poor job of capturing most of these redeeming features!

Would be a fun members course and is one of the better JN layouts in Asia (I have played a few with a lot less interest). But I think Jack missed an opportunity here. Beijing is a very dry, almost desert-like, climate, and, with ongoing water shortages, golf courses here are of the firm and fast variety. It is also generally a very windy place. But the design of this course is resolutely American/resort style, encouraging the better player to play it almost exclusively in the air: elevated greens, encircled by bunkers, abound; and there is limited opportunity to move the ball around on the ground.

No doubt the overall tenor of the club contributed to the design choices: at US$200k to join it is incredibly expensive and exclusive by Beijing standards, four times the cost of the next most expensive club, the Graham Marsh designed Hua Tang. I am sure the owners wanted a “green” and “international” looking layout to match the opulent (well, garish) approach taken with other parts of the club/resort. But I can’t help feeling that a windswept links-type design might have been more appropriate and fun.

How the pros play it

Well, they all hit the ball a long way; some of them hit it a really long way. At over 7,200 yards the course is not short on the card, but it was pretty much all short irons, except on the par 5s, which could all be reached in two. Some of the younger pros are scary long – Casey was hitting it 40 yards past Donald, Immelman was 50 and 60 yards past Monty at times (Monty thought this was quite funny, particularly since Monty was outscoring him easily!). I watched Casey warm up with his driver on the range and he was killing it – even some of the other seasoned pros were watching and laughing at how far it was going. But even average hitters like Monty were getting it out there. On the slihgtly uphill 420 yard closing 18th (on a relatively calm Friday afternoon) Monty flicked a wedge up there for his second.

But the short game is still a huge factor. Immelman will never be a real star, despite his length, because he chips and putts like the average five handicapper. Donald, on the other hand, putts sublimely – his stroke looks even better in real life – and hits his irons well enough that I would put money on a two major career for him. It’s the usual story: all the pros hit the ball pretty well, but there are remarkable differences in the quality of putting and short game.

The pros are all very consistent (and generally conservative) in their decision making when it comes to strategic choices. For example on the shortish par 4 11th, every pro took an iron that would carry the first bunker and land short of the second, aiming at the right side of the fairway as far as possible from the water hazard on the left. Nobody took on the second bunker with a driver, which would leave an easier approach to the green. Everyone goes for the par fives in two, unless it is physically impossible to do so (because you have to chip out from behind a tree or something). Seeing them shortsided is unusual (and it most often happens when they hit long to a back flag). They tend to err on the safe side.

Some other comments:

When the pros miss badly off the tee they always seem to miss left. Saw some ugly hooks from Els, Goosen, Donald etc. Didn’t see anyone miss badly to the right, which makes me wonder what is going on with Tiger.

No one works the ball much any more. They all hit it pretty straight.

Sergio is still a tough guy to caddy for. I would want to be paid a lot of money to do that

I wonder about Ernie’s mental toughness – despite his somewhat implacable exterior, he seems to get on and off mini emotional rollercoasters

Adam Scott makes golf look easy

Luke Donald’s girlfriend is not that good looking in real life; nor is Paul Casey’s

[ForkaB]

Superb post, Matt_

If much of the future of golf is in China, what might this mean to GCA and the game in general?

Cheers

[Matt_Sullivan]

Golf is very under-developed here (ie, in the north of the country, including Beijing). The game is growing in popularity amongst the Beijingers but as much for its social or business significance than for interest in the game itself. Generally, the standard of golf on a Saturday morning at the club is quite weak, as the vast majority of golfers are middle aged beginners.

There is a high barrier to entry here for the locals. A moderately skilled junior manager in his late 20's early 30's working for a foreign company would earn maybe US$20-25k a year and the initiation at middle of the road club is probably twice that. It is a hard game to pick up and play here. By the time you have enough money to join a club (say, mid to late 30s and up) you are probably too old to take up the game and become good at it.

In the southern provinces, the game is further along, primarily because of a spillover effect from HK (lots of day tripping golfers heading across the border to Shenzhen), better weather and more available land.

Impact on architecture? There will be lots of work here for architects (particularly if the land use restrictions are lifted), so just like China sucks in half the world's concrete and steel, it may soon suck in half the world's architects. Brand names are important here -- I expect to see lots of "signature" courses (for eg, see Mission Hills) and oppulent country club set ups. There is limited local expertise (the game is very young) so most of the talent and ideas will be imported into China over the next 10 years. Not sure, what if anything will be exported to the world in this time.

One unknown factor is the extent to which golf can move from being a game for rich locals and expats, into a game for all levels of society. To be honest, I think this is unlikely to happen in the short to medium term.

[Jason Topp]

Matt:

I didn't watch much but that 6th hole looks like a great par three.  It's a bit tough to tell on television.  What is your view?

[Matt_Sullivan]

The sixth is only 175 yards or so, but plays uphill to a raised green. The green looks like a lot of fun, with a fair amount of undulation. The green is raised a fair way above the surrounds -- far enough that spectators can't see much. The green looks wider than it is deep, but not by a huge amount. Although it is uphill, you can see a good portion of the green from the tee. I saw a good mixture of birdies and bogies there. There was a bit of a bail out area right; long, left or a combination of both was not good.

As I said above, I thought the par threes were generally good and a strong point of the design. I preferred the 3rd and the 12lth, although that may be because I prefer a downhill shot to an uphill one!!

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()