Shanqin Bay/Abu
Dhabi Next Stops April 28-30, 2016
Shanqin Bay GC, April 28, 2016: Had breakfast at the hotel and Lisa came by
to bring me to SB. I hit a few balls,
wanting to make sure we finished with enough time for a shower, a nice lunch
and the drive to Haikou airport for my flight to Hong Kong. Those of you with trips to SB planned will be
pleased to hear that the new airport is completed and will be open for
commercial flights some time this summer…which should reduce the time driving
to the airport to about 15 minutes from today’s 90 minutes to Haikou.
The range was in superb shape, and I must be moving up in
the world as I was set up to hit off of the grass rather than mats. Did see several filled divots on the range
that were probably the result of a member-member event the previous
weekend…during which the club must have been virtually overrun given the field
was full with 32 members participating J.
Joey then drove me over to the clubhouse and first tee and
on the way pointed out that the open field to the left of the range would be
used to build some cabins for use by members and guests. He seemed very pleased by this decision made
after he had brought a group of members to Pine Valley where they experienced
PVGC’s cabins and unanimously agreed to go ahead with cabins at SB.
I had forgotten that SB collects all phones before people go
out on the course, so no pictures here, folks.
Yes I know I could have taken pics at Mission Hills and did not, but
frankly there really wasn’t a hole worthy of such memorialization.
When I arrived at the first tee, I received a round of
applause from the line up of staff. I
remembered receiving the same applause two years ago and then pulling my drive
and mulligan into the plant life left…clearly there has been 100% turnover of
the staff as no one who witnessed my start in 2014 would have applauded me
today.
This year I improved considerably with just a so-so opening
drive (hit right) but a perfectly hit mulligan.
I then hit #1 in regulation but proceeded to three putt from about 25
feet. That proved to be the start of
some fairly poor golf for holes 1-5 (I was 8 over at that point and getting
very frustrated). Finished the front
nine with a 10 over 45 but started playing somewhat better on the back with a 4
over 40 helped considerably by an eagle two on drivable downhill par 4 16th. Hit a good drive leaving me with about 74
yards to the pin, which was front right on the green’s lower tier. Choked down on a sand wedge and hit it great…right
on the backstop slope behind the pin and it spun back and went dead in. Joey saw it drop but I did not. That was fun.
Last eagle for me was on the par 5 18th at Mayacama in Napa,
CA in late August 2013 (please do not ask when my last eagle before Mayacama
was).
After finishing the round, had a quick shower and superb
lunch, with Joey, Lisa, and the new greenskeeper at Shanqin Bay, Roger Goettsch,
who previously has been at GC of Houston (venue for the Shell Houston Open on
the PGA Tour), then packed up my belongings and said goodbye to the staff. It was very special to return ot Shanqin
Bay. It is a great golf course but more
importantly, it is staffed by a wonderful group of people whose goal is simply
to ensure that you have the best time possible during your visit.
In terms of the golf course, it remains my #1 course in
Asia, and I still consider it the second best Coore Crenshaw design in the
world (behind Sandhills in NE). Its
rating positions are as follows:
--Golf
Magazine…moved up to #47 in 2015 (from #78 in 2013);
--Golf
Digest…debuted at #37 in 2016;
--Top100.co.uk…moved
up to #60 from #94;
--Planet
Golf…stayed unchanged at #46.
The course was simply in perfect condition and was firm
despite a good amount of rain over the previous 5-7 days.
The best part of the visit was still to come. Joey and Lisa accompanied me on the drive up
to Haikou airport and shortly after we arrived we were met there by Summer
Chen. The readers of this blog who have
been to SB will certainly remember Summer, who was a “shadow” at SB (shadows
would accompany you around the property, to and from the airport, etc. to
translate for you when necessary, answer questions you might have, etc. etc.). Several months after my first visit two years
ago, Summer announced that she was leaving SB to get married to a young man she
had recently met. Five months ago they
had their first child. Attached is a
photo of their family and me at the airport.
It was simply wonderful to see Summer so very happy. Her husband clearly is madly in love with her
(and vice versa), and their son is adorable.
It was great to catch up! In talking to Summer, she told me she had met
her husband at a wedding a few weeks before my visit in 2014 but at that point
she was not really interested in him.
Turns out that she ran into him at the airport shortly after dropping me
off at the airport…and that “chemistry” happened.
 |
| Lisa, Joey, moi, Summer with son and husband |
Additionally, Joey advised that my visit in 2014 was almost
cancelled at the last minute. China
Chairman Xi’s office called a few days before I was scheduled to arrive and
advised that President Putin of Russia would be visiting China to confer with
Chairman Xi and Chairman Xi wanted to hold the meeting at Shanqin Bay, and that
would have meant closing the club to everyone during the meeting. However, shortly after that call, Xi decided
he did not want the image of setting up a meeting at a golf course and the
venue was changed (Xi has been very anti-golf).
Fascinating stuff! Looked this
one up on the web. Xi and Putin did meet
(in Shanghai) on May 20, 2014…and my round was May 16, 2014…could certainly
have been!!
My flight back to Hong Kong went smoothly and then I had an eight-hour
layover before flying to Dubai…finally arriving in Dubai at around 7am on Friday
April 29.
Abu Dhabi Golf Club, April 29, 2016: I still had one
more course added by the eighth World Top 200 source (Golf Week UK) to play and
ADGC was virtually right on the way back from Hainan Island, so that became my
next stop. Flight schedules made it
easier to arrive in Dubai, and Abu Dhabi is only about 90 minutes south of the
Dubai airport. ADGC had a driver meet my
flight and take me directly to the course.
We arrived by 9:15am and I met the Director of Golf Collum Nicoll,
originally from Troon, Scotland. Collum
had paired me with two members at 10:20, which worked well.
I had started to
check the weather reports online over the prior two days and it was clear that
it would be hot for this round. Our
threesome whipped around the front nine in about 1:40 but caught up with the
groups in front of us around #9, resulting in a 2:20 back nine in 95° degree
heat. By the 15th hole I
began to wilt, and my game fell apart, flubbing one chip and three putting
twice over the final four holes. I ended
up shooting 39-41=80 but it could have been much better.
ADGC hosts the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Tour
Championship each January and from the tips plays to over 7600 yards (note…this
is at sea level). They apparently grow
the rough to ridiculous heights, and Ricky Fowler, the winner this year shot 16
under par. Quite frankly, how this track
ever made a World 100 list is simply astounding. Zero charm, subtlety, or design
attributes. Just a long slog as we say. Anyhow, Golf Week UK had it as #100 in 2010,
and I am most pleased to say that it is now in my rear view mirror.
I found Collum and thanked him for the round and headed for
my hotel some 15 minutes away. I was
exhausted and quickly showered, had something to eat (first food since breakfast
on the plane at 6am) and was back in the room asleep by 4:30pm. I awoke from my extended nap at 8:30, and
immediately went to work on the blog for a couple of hours and then returned to
bed…such a faithful correspondent!!
YAS Links, April 30, 2016: When I played YAS links in January of this
year, I loved the course. It is a Kyle
Phillips links style course in the middle of the desert, and is a brilliant
design. Unfortunately, I got held up by
foursomes big time on the back nine, and was faced with running too late to
catch my next flight. On the par 3 17th,
I played it in about 3 minutes after the group ahead putted out (just about
“hockey sticking” the ball to the hole near and on the green) and then
explained my situation and they allowed me to play in, alternately hitting a
shot when there was room and playing hockey when there was not. I did finish 18 and I did catch my plane…but
since then have wanted to really play these last 2-3 holes. Additionally, I wanted to talk with the
managers or owners of the club to tell them how much I loved this creation (I
think it is the best desert course I have played) and get a sense of how it
came about.
I emailed the club a month ago and very quickly heard back
from Martyn Hamer, Head Pro. After
noting each others’ schedule we quickly agree that I would play #16-18 at
6:45am on Saturday and then join him for breakfast to discuss the course and
its plans.
Martyn picked me up at my hotel (about a mile from YAS
Links) and we proceeded with that plan, including breakfast with Martyn. I bogeyed all three holes (which was fine, I
really did want to play them at least “semi-normally”), showered and had a
delightful breakfast with Martyn and his chief groundkeeper, Michael ??,
originally from New Zealand). Then
Martyn drove me up to the Dubai airport and here I am on a flight to Heathrow,
for connections to arrive in Edinburgh late tonight, and drive to Gleneagles
for a round Sunday morning. I shall
hopefully post this during my layover at Heathrow, or worst case on Sunday.
OK, so where do I stand?
Major progress made these past three weeks…left with:
Top 100 Ever: 5 of 286 left to play (Canada-2, Barbados-1,
France-1, England-1)
MacWood Spoof: 7 left to play (England-6, Canada-1)
US Open Venues: 2 left to play (IL-1, MA-1)
Total: 13 (one course on both Top 100 Ever and MacWood):
England: 6
Canada: 3
(Quebec and Nova Scotia)
Barbados: 1
France: 1
USA: 2
Other possible bucket list?
How about “Cup Ever”, playing all venues of Walker Cup, Ryder Cup,
Presidents Cup, Curtis Cup, and Solheim Cup.
You might have noticed me sneaking some of these in over the past year
or so, for example:
National,
Paris, April 2015 (Ryder Cup 2018)
Marco
Simone GC, Rome, April 2016 (Ryder Cup 2022)
K Club,
Ireland, May 2015 (Ryder Cup 2006)
Jack W.
Nicklaus Golf Club, S Korea, October 2015 (Presidents Cup 2015)
St
Leon-Rot, Germany, April 2016 (Solheim Cup 2015)
More about what’s left and next plans on my next post.
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