China Golf, 中国高尔夫

Y. E. Yang beats Tiger in PGA Championship! This could be the greatest thing to happen to golf in Asia. Ever since golf exploded in Asia, Asian players have tried and tried to get the respect from the rest of the golfing world. This could be the win they have been waiting for. For the last several years Asian women have been almost dominating the LPGA Tour but the men have had a tougher time doing so. Don’t believe for one minute that Asia has not produced great players. Players like Jumbo Ozaki, Isao Aoki and K.J. Choi are proven winners on the PGA Tour and around the world. But the major championships have eluded them but no more. Will this open up the gates for many more? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure , this will light the fire for the continued growth of the game in all of the Asian countries.

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Yang takes down Tiger to win PGA Championship.

The wounded warrior program has been growing over the last few years, both in numbers and popularity. More and more soldiers are coming home and learning the game. Because of injuries suffered in the field some have not been able to return to other sports. Golf provides the opportunity for them to get back to competition and the enjoyment of being outdoors. PGA Professionals around the country are helping these men and women learn and enjoy the great game of golf.  Paul Surniak the Colorado Golf School the Cheyenne Shadows golf club and the A.R.T. Golf Academy will be working with the organization to help all soldiers. Also check out Birdieball for the best in golf gifts. Birdieball also is bringing golf to the soldiers in Afghanistan.

Colorado Golf School to work with wounded warrior program – Culturefish Media – pitchengine.com.

Age is less and less an issue for golfers all around the world. From Tom Watson making his run for the British open this year to Greg Norman’s run Last year to Zhang Lianwei on the Asian tour. With the training methods of all golfers today players are staying competitive thru their 50′s and into their 60′s as with Hale Irwin. “It does not matter how old you are because if you are 20 and do not enjoy coming out to compete, you will not be successful. I’m still hitting the ball nicely,” said Zhang Lianwei the Chinese star. “At the end of the day, it all boils down to how determined you are to win. 51 year old Paul Surniak recently playing on the Omega china tour says “players today are just staying in better shape, I am a big believer in fitness” Paul Surniak was sponsored by Birdieball and culturefish media. Paul is a PGA Professional, six time long drive champion and has recently opened a golf academy in the Colorado springs area.

Lianwei: The desire to win is more important than your age.

After 112 year absence the international Olympic Committee will vote on the possibility that golf will come back to the Olympic stage. Golfs only appearance at the Olympics was in 1904 during the summer games in St. Louis. Canadian George Lyon took home the gold medal defeating American Chandler Egan 3 and 2. Back then, only the U.S. and Canada competed. But in 2016, the sport would draw competitors from a host of nations, renewing interest in the game in mature golf markets and engaging new fans and participants in emerging ones. Most everyone agrees that having golf in the Olympics would grow the game but some question if there would be considering that the game already has several major championships and the tournaments called the World Golf Championships. For more information visit www.china-golf.us

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Olympics: Golf’s big shot | Golf Business.

Mission Hills

Shenzhen is home to hundreds of factories, one of China’s two mainland stock exchanges, a theme park called Window on the World that features more than 100 miniature versions of monuments like the Taj Mahal, a Soviet aircraft carrier, and, of course, the world’s largest golf resort: Mission Hills.

But this has not stopped the Mission Hills team from achieving another world record.

Last month, they opened the world’s largest practice putting green, a beautiful 17-acre spread of 18 rolling greens and tiny sand bunkers.

Already, the resort boasts 12 world-class golf courses designed by some of the most famous names in the game – Greg Norman, Vijay Singh, and Nick Faldo – and hosts major world tournaments.

Mission Hills is a curious mix of extreme luxury and developing world. It has three spas, 3,000 caddies (all of them women – to seem less intimidating to novice golfers – and all wearing red jumpsuits and plastic helmets). Some 2,000 rounds of golf are played here each day.

The resort abuts the city’s industrial outskirts, and to drive from one end of the resort to the other requires passing a vacuum sealing plant, an electronics factory, and acre upon acre of actively tilled peasant farmland.

Even the staff works to keep up.

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Jeev Mikha

NEW DELHI: Jeev Milkha Singh’s world ranking of 42 has earned India a rare direct entry into the Mission Hills World Cup to be played at Mission Hills Golf Club in China on Nov 26-29.

The field is selected through each nation’s leading player on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) as of June 22.

Jyoti Randhawa, who played with Jeev last year in the same event, is likely to be his partner once again. Currently Randhawa at 154th is the next best Indian and Arjun Atwal is ranked 296th.

The leading player may select any player of his choice from the same country provided such player was ranked within the top 100 on the Official World Golf Ranking as of either June 22, 2009, or August 17, 2009.

If there was no other available player from that country within the top 100 on the OWGR on either of the dates, the exempt player’s partner shall be the next highest ranked available player from the same country outside of the top 100 as of August 17.

Besides India, 17 exempt nations have now been confirmed for the 2009 World Cup.

The final field of 28 nations will be completed following three qualifying tournaments to be played in Asia (Kuala Lumpur), Europe (Estonia) and South America (Venezuela), with three countries going through from each regional qualifier to join the 18 exempt nations and hosts, China, at Mission Hills.

Jeev likely to have Jyoti as partner for World Cup

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As Tom Watson walked to the first tee on Sunday the world watched, hoping for the fairytale ending to one of the greatest golf championships in the world. Could he do the impossible? Could the oldest player in the field  win the oldest championship in golf? Just a couple of months shy of his 60th birthday, Tom Watson arguably the greatest links player of modern times was making history again. Going for his 6th open title and 9th major of his career.

But it was not to be, as difficult a day as it was and as well as he played, Stewart Cink comes out on top. Stewart won the championship, no one gave it to him. This open will be remembered for what might have been. One of the greatest performances by one of the games greatest gentleman.

Thanks for the memories Tom and looking forward to many more.

Check out www.china-golf.us and www.birdieball.com for more.

Stewart Cinks the Good Ship Watson — china.org.cn.

The 2009 China Female Professional Golf Tour has been held recently in Shanghai with fierce competition. Teenager players including Minting Shi, Jiaxin Yong, Xiyu Lin, Yu Liu, Xin Wong catch most of the attention from the media.

In the qualifying tournament on Monday, the 14-year-old Xin Wong and 11-year-old Minting Shi entered the elite tournament as No.1 and 2. Minting Shi participated the tournament with the recommendation from China Golf Association. She entered the final with a ranking of 45 which gained her a name of “child prodigy” given by the media. Even the champion of the tour station Shanghai, Ping Huang, admired her skills, saying “her putter is very precise.”

The three little pretty girls, Jiaxin Yong, Yu Liu, Xiyu Lin, have been the heated topic in the competition. Jiaxin Yong and Yu Liu had experience in Oriental Female Tour; they straightly entered the elite tournament. Xiyu Lin’s achievement also surprised the audience. Finally, Jiaxin Yong won the Award of Best Amateur Player with a ranking of 12. Yu Liu ranked 29 with a steady performance. It is reported that Jiaxin Yong and Xiyu Lin will attend the France Evian Teenager Masters Golf Cup on July 18th and 19th. This elite tournament played the role of warming up for them before France.

These teenager players are not to be ignored, for their marvelous achievements and adept skills. However, being young and short results in serving balls in a short distance. The 6399 yard in Shanghai Oriental Field is still too long for these young players. Critics say their lack of strength explains their disadvantages. Though these young competitors cannot match the adult professional players, their courage and perseverance make us believe that golf will have a bright future as a sport in China.

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Australia will be represented by Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby at this years world cup. The World Cup will be played at the world renowned Mission Hills Golf Resort in Shenzhen China. The World Cup was first played in 1953, it is made up of 28 two man teams. Allenby and Appleby have been life long friends since their jr. golf days back in Australia. For More be sure to visit www.china-golf.us and www.birdieball.com

Mission Hills Norman Course

Allenby and Appleby to play at World Cup.

June 9, 2009: Former martial arts champion Wu Weihuang will be at the forefront of the mainland challenge at this week’s Luxehills Golf Championship in Chengdu following the withdrawal of Alex Wu Ashun from the Omega China Tour event.

Wu Ashun, the 23-year-old Asian Tour star, pulled out on Tuesday with a lower-back problem, a similar injury to the one that had earlier forced Zhang Lianwei out of the Luxehills event, which will feature live television coverage on Saturday and Sunday.

Wu Weihuang, who held off Wu Ashun to win his first career title at the season-opening Dell Championship in Xiamen , believes the local players will rise to the occasion at the Luxehills International Country Club despite the withdrawal of arguably the two leading mainland pros in the field.

“We have a good number of Chinese players who can win, not just Zhang Lianwei and Wu Ashun, and I would count myself among those players. It really just depends who has a good week,” said Wu, who finished joint-seventh at Luxehills last September and eighth in last year’s Omega Order of Merit.

Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Chi-huang is among the pre-tournament favourites after winning last year’s event with an 18-under total of 270, an Omega China Tour record. Many eyes will also be on the PGA Tour of Australasia contingent headed by Kurt Barnes, who won April’s Sofitel Zhongshan IGC Open in Nanjing .

Wu sized up another couple of pre-tournament favourites on Monday when he played a practice round with Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wen-teh, the five-time Asian Tour winner, and American C.J. Gatto, 24, winner of this year’s Qualifying School and joint-fourth in Xiamen .

“I have a lot more belief in my game since winning in Xiamen . It has opened the door for me for more success,” Wu said. “I waited a long time for that first win, but having done it once, I think it will be easier to win a second time.”

Wu is a former Fujian champion in the martial art of Nanquan, a contemporary form of Wushu. Now 41, he only took up golf in his late 20s after being introduced to the sport by a business colleague, but his athletic background has propelled him to become one of China ’s top players.

“I’ve become a lot physically stronger after working out in the gym more regularly since the winter and this has helped me stay strong on the course,” Wu said. “I’m hitting my driver between 20-30 yards longer than before, which is giving me more chances to attack pins.”

Liao Guiming and Yuan Hao, second and third at Luxehills last year, Li Chao, the eight-time Omega China Tour winner, Zhou Jun and Wu Kangchun are also among the leading mainland pros competing at Luxehills.

The CCTV Golf and Tennis Channel, Shanghai Sports Channel and Shenzhen Sports Channel will air live coverage of the Luxehills Golf Championship on Saturday and Sunday from 1.00-3.00pm.

Live television marks a significant step for the Omega China Tour, which this year has featured record purses and invited pros from the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Mercedes-Benz Tour of Sou the ast Asia.

www.omegachinatour.com