| HONG KONG AT THE MAJORS
A Week
to Remember Hong Kong Golf Club member Doug Williams became only the second local golfer in history* to play in a major championship last month when he teed it up at the US Senior Open after coming through the rigours of qualifying. This is his story.
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Courtesy of the USGA
any friends and family who were kind enough to wish me luck in the tournament were probably disappointed with my results – rounds of 84 and 92 to miss the cut. Of course I was too, but despite some major setbacks that prevented me from playing my normal game, this has been a fantastic experience. It was difficult enough to adapt to new golf clubs after my baggage went missing on a flight from Honolulu (still no trace of it!), but what really undermined me were terrible blisters on my feet and a muscle strain. As the week went on, my feet became more and more painful from the new shoes I had to get to replace the lost ones. It got to the point where I could barely walk. To make matters worse, on Friday I had an acute pain around my kidney area which is probably a muscle strain which made it painful simply to swing the club. In any other round of golf or tournament, I would have stopped playing, but this was the biggest tournament of my life, so that wasn’t an option. This golf course – Oak Tree National, a Pete Dye design in Oklahoma – was by far the most difficult I have ever played. With a par of 71 at 7,200 yards, the rating from the tournament tees is an incredible 79.3! Each hole was very tight; trees everywhere. The rough was so thick that you could be standing over your ball and not even see it. Greens were elevated with severe drop-offs and there were water hazards on almost every hole. Add to that swirling, gusty winds and it makes even the best players who are only slightly off 56
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In any other round of golf, I would have stopped playing, but this was the biggest tournament of my life, so that wasn’t an option. their game look bad. Any shot missing the narrow fairways was likely to lead to bogey or worse. Likewise for any shot missing the green. Plus the greens had multiple levels and were very tricky to putt. Colin Montgomerie defeated Gene Sauers in a play-off after the pair tied at five-under-par. I cannot tell you how good that is on this course. Unfortunately for me, my highlights were the practice rounds, where I actually shot some good scores. I also managed to play with some notable players, including four former winners of this event (Hale Irwin, Olin Browne, HKGOLFER.COM
Kenny Perry and Roger Chapman), multiple PGA tour winners (Steve Pate, Scott Hoch, David Frost), and Ryder Cup players (Barry Lane). On Wednesday, Irwin asked me I wanted to play a “mini Ryder Cup” match against the Englishmen Lane and Chapman for fun, so Hale and I took them on. Thanks to a couple of birdies that I made, we went one up with three to play in our nine-hole match, but Roger birdied the last three meaning we ended up losing. My friends from Honolulu in the gallery started chanting “USA-USA” after I made a birdie to go one up, so Roger pointed back at them when he birdied the seventh to square the match. It was fun and all of these players were very nice and enjoyable to play with. Probably the biggest disappointment was to have my 84-year-old mother fly out to watch me play (she was able to get an electric wheel chair, so she could follow around every hole), and have her see me struggling on the course during the tournament. But on the whole, this has been an amazing experience. My playing partners in the tournament, Bill Harvey and John DiMarco, both PGA club pros, could not have been nicer to play with. They are very good players but also struggled with the course and conditions. The treatment the players get is amazing – everything is first class. We had standard bearers with our names accompanying our group, even in the practice rounds. It is also remarkable how good these players are. Kenny Perry still hits the ball as far as most PGA tour players (he was 60 yards past my good ones). By the way, I asked Kenny how many holes in one he has had, and his response was “I stopped counting after 40”! Then Scott Hoch said he didn’t know if he had over 30 holes in one, and wasn’t aware that Kenny had more than him. Yes, these guys are good! Plus they like to have fun on the course. It was hilarious listening to Kenny and Scott kid each other: Kenny: “Scott is tighter than skin on a hot dog!” Scott: “If you have as much money as Kenny, everyone looks tight!” Kenny: “Scott, you’ve got eight houses!”
This has been an amazing experience ... it is remarkable how good these players are. Kenny Perry was hitting it 60 yards past me!
Williams in action during day one of the Senior US Open (top and bottom); with caddie Dick Sieradzki, a former Hawaii state amateur champion and retired pilot (middle)
Scott: “Well I just sold one, so now I only got seven!” This went on and on and these guys had me laughing. What a week this has been! *The only other Hong Kong golfer to compete in a major championship is Jock Mackie, who played in the 1959 Open Championship at Muirfield. HKGOLFER.COM
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