HKG: Your last win—the Madeira Island Open in 2006—what did that mean to you? JVDV: I had come close so many times prior
to that. Not including the Open, which was just freaky, I missed out at the Open de France and lost a playoff in America. Winning is always nice. Because of an injury, I couldn’t walk in 2002 and 2003, and in 2004 I only played five times. You can’t be competitive like that. When I lost out at the French Open I was just trying to walk and play golf. It was disappointing, but it was also a good feeling to know that I could play again. HKG: You’ve played in the Ryder Cup. Will Faldo make a good captain? JVDV: How can Faldo not be a good captain?
Look at his experience. I mean—6 majors! Excuse me—6 majors! That’s more than Ernie Els, that’s more "At the end of the day, if golf is than anyone apart from Tiger. what defines you as a person Experience is important in Ryder He might be introverted, then you're a loser, because Cups. but he’ll find his way as long as you're always going to lose he can communicate with the more times that you win." players, which he will. Faldo will be fantastic in America. HKG: So Europe will win? JVDV: Yes, Europe will win. I don’t care about
the score—as long as they win. That’s what counts.
HKG: You didn’t qualify for the British Open at Carnoustie last year, but a lot of people were suggesting that you should have received an invite based on your performance the last time around. What did you make of that? JVDV: I was flattered. I play golf because I
love to play golf, and obviously there were a lot of people who watched me play in 1999. But the fact of the matter is that I was injured during qualifying and couldn’t compete. I don’t believe anyone has ever received an invitation to the British Open— you have to qualify, which I didn’t do. I don’t hold it against the R&A—that’s the way it is. What can you do? I was disappointed to miss out, but nevermind. If I win at Birkdale this year, no-one will care about last year. I’m cool with it. HKG: How cool were you with what happened in 1999? JVDV: Ha! The way that ball hit the
grandstand and came down, it’s a fluke…it’s freaky. You have to remember golf is a game—it involves luck. Whatever game you play, luck is involved. In golf, 2 plus 2 doesn’t equal 4. Yes, you could argue that I played the wrong shot, but I could have hit 8-iron back to the fairway and it could have hit a sprinkler head and gone out of bounds. If it’s not 36
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Beauty Beast More
meant to be, it’s not meant to be. I was sad, yes, but is it really important? Of course not. You’re in the golf business, who won the Open in 1992? HKG: Faldo. JVDV: Who won in 1985? HKG: Err, Lyle? JVDV: OK, who won in 1964? HKG: No idea. JVDV: See, we’re both in the golf business, but
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we still have to check. We don’t even know. In a hundred years, people won’t know what happened in 1999. They’ll look at the trophy and see the winner’s name. People die every day in conflicts all over the world. That day at Carnoustie, John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash. Here I am trying to hit a golf ball into a hole. It might be important for me, but not for anyone else. Let’s be realistic. HKG: How important is golf to you now? JVDV: At the end of the day, if golf is what
Public golf. It simply doesn’t get any better…
defines you as a person then you’re a loser, because you’re always going to lose more times than you win. Golf is a part of me, but it’s not me. The way I reacted in 1999 is an aspect of me.
Story by Alex Jenkins Photography by Robin Moyer
HKG: Did you watch the British Open last year? JVDV: I watched Garcia play [holes] 2,3,4 and
5, and then I switched off. I don’t watch golf. The only exception is the Ryder Cup—I’ll sit down and watch that all day. I love the confrontation of matchplay. A golf tournament is a golf tournament. I play in them every week. HKG: You didn’t see Harrington make double bogey on the eighteenth? JVDV: No. A friend of mine called me
on the final day and asked if I wanted a bet. I picked Harrington straight away. I knew he was going to win. My friend staked his money on Garcia. Padraig is an amazing player—and so is young Romero, and so is Garcia. It was just a feeling I had. Carnoustie is a good course for him. There’s only one blind shot, and that’s the second shot on the 14th, a par-five. The course suits his game. People don’t realize how tough a finish it is…15 to 18—it is the toughest finish of any course in the world by a mile. It’s brutal. It doesn’t take much [to mess up] 18—if you hit it in the water on the right you’re left with 215-yards to the front of the green. There’s Out of Bounds to the left. It’s brutal…brutal. HKG: But isn’t that what separates the men from the boys? JVDV: I don’t consider myself a man yet.
When it’s windy and tough it can go against you. You have to find pleasure in that. If not, find another game to play. WWW.HKGA.COM
The view across Kau Sai Chau's new East Course WWW.HKGA.COM
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One shot wonder: the stunning par-3 13th
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W
ow! Beautiful! Awesome! You’d think a group of sports journalists would be able to come up with a few better adjectives to sum up their experience of playing the recently unveiled East Course at Kau Sai Chau, but this wasn’t to be the case. There was one guy, a high handicapper from a publication that will remain nameless, who came in to the clubhouse bemoaning his score; but then again he had elected, for reasons known only to himself, to play from the blue tees. This was a definite error of judgment. This speciallyarranged media outing did confirm one thing apart from the importance of selecting the right tee box however: that the Nelson & Haworthdesigned layout, which cost a cool HK$300
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million to come to life, is not only incredibly scenic, but it has helped raised the bar for all public golf facilities the world over. It is both beautiful and awesome. Wow! But don’t take the media’s word for it. The course has been open for almost a month now, and opinion emanating from the locker room has proved overwhelmingly positive. The consensus being that this is a hugely fun track, one that rewards those willing to take the occasional risk, but one where bad shots will almost certainly get punished. In terms of difficulty, those I’ve spoken to—low handicappers and higher markers alike—rate it somewhere between the original Gary Player-designed South and North courses. It’s hard not to agree with what’s been said, but it should also be noted that this is also a very different test of golf. WWW.HKGA.COM
For a start, there’s the elevation changes. While the North and South courses can be described as strongly undulating, the East is staggeringly so. Indeed, downright mountainous probably gives a better visual image. But when you consider the natural topography of this side of the island, the fact that they managed to squeeze in eighteen playable holes is already a commendable achievement. The fact that they managed to squeeze in eighteen highly memorable holes is a staggering feat of both design and engineering. The cart track—and this is most definitely a course that requires automotive power—comes in at a whopping 14 kilometers, which should give a clear indication of the kind of terrain we’re talking about here. No less than nine holes feature dramatic a lt it ude sh i f t s a nd t he cou rse benef it s WWW.HKGA.COM
strategically as a result. This is largely due to the width of the fairways. They might not always look it, but the landing areas, on the whole, are more than generous. Take the 4th, for instance. The back tee on this short par-4 sits high up in the clouds, a good two hundred feet above what appears to be just a sliver of fairway protruding out into the South China Sea. In actual fact, the mown grass measures nearly fifty yards wide, meaning club selection is far from restricted— you can have a crack with the driver, or you can play the percentages with a 4-iron. The thing about the East is that you always have options, which is always the sign of a well thought out golf course. This visual deception is a recurring theme on the East: holes that look mightily intimidating from the tee, but are really far more manageable. HK GOLFER・MAY/JUNE 2008
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charming feature for many—and fairly lengthy carries off the tee probably won’t get on with the East. While it is certainly more friendly than the North Course, this is no place for the rank amateur. The greens, many of which feature false fronts and run-off areas, not to mention ragged, minimalist-style bunkering, will more than likely make a fool of those lacking any short game prowess, but they are all undoubtedly fair. This seems to be the whole ethos of the East: play well, don’t be suckered into shots that your wiser self tells you won’t come off; be brave on the shots that might and you’ll be rewarded, even in the notoriously fickle winds at Kau Sai Chau. But come out all drivers-a-blazing, hell-bent for leather, and you can forget it. Be smart, be sensible and, above all, savour what is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating courses to have opened in recent years.
New Course, New Grass
Course with character (clockwise from top): dramatic ocean views on the back nine; strong greenside bunkering at the par-5 16th; the tee shot at the 14th, the signature hole; the 4th plays downhill all the way.
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With the exception of the par-3s, that is. The East’s strength, according to Brett Mogg of Nelson & Haworth, lead designer on the project, is its short holes—or as the case may be, its not so short, short holes. Played from the tips—which, sensibly, is only an option currently available to single figure handicappers—these could arguably be the strongest collection of par-3s in the region. With the exception of the 147-yard 15th, the one-shotters here are both long and fraught with danger. The fun starts at the 3rd, a mid-range hole that has trouble
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written all over it. A fiendishly grassy bank left of the green and total mayhem right makes this par-3 require the most precise of longish irons. Although, quite frankly, this is nothing compared to the 5th, a stunning, yet ferocious hole from the backs, where it measures in excess of 200-yards. The smart option here is to trundle your cart 70-yards forward to the white tees where a nice simple 9-iron shot over a vegetation-filled gorge awaits. The 8th is another brute, but I’ll reserve judgment on this one until the next time I play it. (If you play it from its full 232 yards and hit the green in regulation, write in and let us know—you might be the only one so far). Any number of holes could have been designated the East’s signature hole, but this particular honour has been given to the 14th, another shortish par-4 that plays to a peninsula fairway that, once again, juts out into the ocean. It’s a very decent, not to mention dramatic, hole but it’s the views here that certainly earned it this tag. The Tanah Lot temple at the 14th at Nirwana Bali aside, there can’t be a more spectacular view in all of Asian golf. The scene, looking out towards the craggy outcrops to the south, is more reminiscent of the isles of the Andaman Sea than Hong Kong. To say it’s breathtaking is simply understating the matter. People who don’t like blind shots—a WWW.HKGA.COM
Unlike the North and the South courses, the East hasn’t been laid out in Bermuda grass, the hardy strain of warm season grass that is used on the vast majority of courses across the region. Instead, the layout is covered entirely with Paspalum, a new-fangled variety that is becoming increasingly popular with new projects the world over. Paspalum evolved naturally on the coastal dunes of the eastern seaboard of the United States. Its genetically enhanced strains are famous within the golf industry for being saline tolerant, making it ideal for seaside courses that lack a quality water supply. The East uses Seashore (Salam) Paspalum for the tees, fairways and roughs, while Supreme Paspalum, a more delicate breed, is used on the greens. Christine Chan, superintendent at Kau Sai Chau, believes the new grass will be a hit with Hong Kong golfers. “Paspalum requires different maintenance methods to Bermuda grass, but it has coped very well with the high volume of golfers we’ve had so far,” she says. “And unlike the Bermuda grass, Paspalum stays green for a longer time. It doesn’t go dormant as early as Bermuda.” Rick Hamilton, managing director of Asia Turf Solutions and the man responsible for taking care of the SkyCity Nine Eagles Course at Chek Lap Kok, which also uses Paspalum, is in full agreement. “It retains its colour and stripes up very nicely,” says Hamilton. Striping, as its name implies, is the practice used by greenkeepers to add stripes to the greens, fairways and tees, which give courses a fancy PGA Tour-type look about them. “And because Paspalum has a broader leaf, the ball sits up very high on the
WWW.HKGA.COM
fairways—you don’t get too many ‘skinny’ lies with it, which golfers like, Hamilton continued. But what of the greens? Because of Hong Kong’s notoriously extreme climate of high humidity, heavy rainfall and long periods of cloud cover, maintaining quality putting surfaces has never been easy— indeed, there’s a much-used phrase among greenkeepers the region over that goes something along the lines of: if you can grow grass in southern China, you can grow grass anywhere in the world. “The big plus with Paspalum is that is handles the lack of sunlight very well, which makes it suitable for Hong Kong,” says Hamilton. “Also, Paspalum greens don’t seem to suffer as much grain as Bermuda. They give a very true and consistent role, but it’s a little harder to get them up to the speeds of, say, the Bermuda TifEagle grass. That’s not to say they can’t run fast; it just requires more work. A course laid out entirely of Paspalum is perfectly capable of holding a major professional event.”
Other local courses that use Paspalum include: SkyCity Nine Eagles (Salam fairways; Sea Isle 2000 greens), The Hong Kong Golf Club, Old Course (Salam fairways), Shek O Golf Club (Salam fairways), Zhuhai Golden Gulf Golf Club (Salam fairways).
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