China Golf, 中国高尔夫

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

THE Asian Tour has banned four Australian golfers for playing on the rival OneAsia Tour at the Volvo China Open.

Jason King, Chris Gaunt, Brad Kennedy and Ashley Hall had appeals rejected and were banned for the rest of the season, in a decision in Singapore.

Jason King and Brad Kennedy who also played and made the cut in the Sofitel open in Nanjing china on the Omega China tour are two of the four players who have been banned for the rest of the year from the Asian Tour.

“The Tournament Players Committee (TPC) has turned down the appeals made by the four players in relation to the disciplinary action handed to them for their participation in the Volvo China Open,” Asian Tour chief Kyi Hla Han said.

They were also hit with a maximum $6377 fine.

Asian tour rejects Aussies who played OneAsia event

Kurt Barnes became the first Australian golfer to win on the China Tour on Sunday, closing with an even-par 72 for a one-stroke victory in the Sofitel Zhongshan IGC Open in Nanjing.

I had a chance to play in the practice round with Barnes and two of the other Aussies in the tourney. Barnes is one of the longest hitters I have played with in a while. I kept up with them thru the practice round despite some drives being 30-40 yards longer than mine. All of them were quality players and quality people.

Barnes finished with a four-under total of 284, one ahead of Thailand’s Wisut Arjanawat, who shot a 68, and two clear of Zhang Lianwei, who posted a 75 on the closing day of the 1.2 million yuan ($A246,000) event.

Liu Guojie (72) was fourth on one-over, Yuan Hao (74) was fifth on two-over, while 18-year-old South Korean Eom Jae-woong (72), Ye Xionghui (75) and Australian Craig Scott (76) shared sixth on three-over.

Barnes, who won 225,000 yuan in the Omega China Tour’s richest event, was congratulated by fellow Australian players, caddies and fans as he broke a four-year trophy drought and won his first title outside of Australia.

“This feels awesome. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders,” said the 27-year-old, whose previous victory was the 2005 Victorian Open.

Barnes paid tribute to crowd favourite Zhang, who held a one-stroke lead over the Australian going into the final day after the pair shared the lead in the first two rounds, but came unstuck early on.

“I was surprised to be in the lead so quickly and go three ahead after three holes,” said Barnes, who birdied the par-five second, which Zhang bogeyed before suffering a double bogey on the par-three third.

Like the last four years of his career, it was an up-and-down final round for Barnes, who bogeyed the sixth, eagled the par-five seventh and then four-putted the par-three eighth for a double-bogey.

“I dodged a lot of bullets today, especially after I four-putted eight and hit into the hazard with my tee-shot on 16,” said Barnes.

On the back nine he had two birdies and two bogeys, including at the 16th, where he was six-over for the week.

The back nine was tough for everyone especially during the first two rounds because of the high winds. Lots of balls from veteran players ended up in the water.

Wisut, who had three top-10 finishes on last year’s Asian Tour, was another happy debutant after an impressive final round. After bogeying the first two holes, the 27-year-old racked up a chip-in eagle on the par-five 11th, six birdies and two more bogeys for the joint low round of the day.

As Barnes celebrated, a gracious Zhang regretted another missed opportunity to win the Sofitel title, following two runner-up finishes in the past two years.

“I had a bad start in the first three holes and was never able to catch up after that,” said the 43-year-old, who has won six titles on the Tour and the 2006 Omega Order of Merit.

Not making the cut was disappointing, but I am looking forward to coming back to the tour to play in other events.

Special thanks to Golf Gift providers Birdieball who helped sponsor my trip. And my appreciation for Roland Catellier and The World Sports Group for making the event a reality for me. It was a beautiful course, a well organized tournament and a great chance to meet quality Chinese sportmen.

 It is impossible for the China Tour to expand to 10 events as expected because of the economic recesion. But the organizers  manage to keep 8 tournaments this year. In such hard time, it can be considered a success.Although Omega has cut the investment slightly, it still holds the title sponsorship deal.

“No part of society is insulated (from the economic downturn) and that includes sport,” said Mould who is the World Sport Group’s East Asia president.

However, China has produced high level golfers like Liang Wenchong ,a winner on the Asian and European Tours, and  Wu Ashun, who finished fourth at the Asia Tour’s Thai Open this month.

“We’ve said all along, ‘Guys, if we think we’re going to succeed tomorrow, we’re fooling ourselves,’” he said.

For more information, please Click Here.