Posts Tagged China
Review – The Vintage Course (#3) @ Mission Hills Resort, Haikou, China
120306 Mission Hills Haikou, Vintage - Hole #1 (Par 4)
This was the course used for the World Ladies Championship the last three days. We played the Pro-Am on Thursday, but it was in Texas Scramble format so we didn’t really play the course in its entirety. So we thought we’d might as well give it a go.
Birdie @ Mission Hills Haikou, Hainan, China
120305 Mission Hills Haikou, Stone Quarry 17 (Par 3)
We almost couldn’t make it to the Stone Quarry Course at Mission Hills Resort in Haikou (Hainan, China). We were here to be the official starter for the inaugural World Ladies Championship (won by Feng Shan Shan). Last night was the Players’ Party hosted by Mission Hills and R was totally wasted. He could hardly get out of bed.
Anyway, we managed to take the 20 minute bus ride to the Stone Quarry Course (Number 7) and started playing. At least tried to…triple bogey on the first hole! So we didn’t expect anything. We played on our own but was backed up on almost every hole on the back nine. Then on the Par 3 17th, another single player suggested we play our last two holes together to speed things up. Don’t know if it was the presence of someone that got us more focused, or whether the alcohol was finally wearing off, but our 8-iron went straight at the flag. I landed 12 feet below the hole for a right to left breaker for Birdie. The greens were really slow, so R gave me a good whack. Bang, right in the center of the cup. And we parred the last hole too. The guy must have thought we were really good 
Review – Stone Quarry Course (#7) @ Mission Hills Resort, Haikou, China
120305 Mission Hills Haikou, Stone Quarry - Hole #1 (Par 5)
We weren’t very sober teeing it up on the Stone Quarry Course (course #7) at Mission Hills Resort in Haikou, China, but the 20 minute ride out (for courses 5 to 10) from the clubhouse made it a bit better. Note that the bus schedule is fixed and not very frequent so make sure you allow ample time before teeing off, especially on busy weekends.
Weekend of Birdies @ Lotus Hill, China
We were in China this weekend for the Reunification Cup tournament between four of Hong Kong’s private clubs – Country Club (which we were playing for), American Club, Football Club and the Chinese Recreation Club.
We went up to prepare with a practice round on Friday and managed one Birdie. This happened on the Par 4 seventh. A blistering drive left us only 100 yards to the pin, but a pushed approach shot was 21 feet from the hole. At least I was pin high. A right to left break did not stop us from jamming into the hole. Birdie #1.
On the next day, the first day of the competition, we had a blistering start. A par on the first followed by a Birdie on the Par 3 second. A severe downhill tee shot got us three feet past the hole for an uphill putt. We also won the Nearest-to-pin prize for this! Then on the Par 4 that followed, our 5-wood just missed the right fairway bunkers and our approach landed pin high with 12 feet to go. The tricky downhill putt had a severe right to left break, so we just hoped to get close. But I was tracking perfectly and pleasantly ended up at the bottom of the cup. Then on the back-9, R’s back was starting to ache. At this age, he should refrain from playing too many consecutive rounds! Shots were starting to land 10-15 yards short, so on the Par 5 18th, we took an extremely conservative route. The strategy worked out, as we were on the green in regulation. A delicate downhill putt was left for Birdie and we made it. A good bonus considering R’s back.
On the final day, R’s back was worse and he couldn’t follow through. So we were taking one to two clubs more for shots. Our scores were not good but at least we managed a Birdie on the Par 5 fourth. A good drive hugged the right side of the fairway and our second shot left us with 100 yards to the green. Taking more club (a pitching wedge) we landed left of the flag with a 15 foot downhill putt for the Bird.
Note to R: Next year, please don’t play the practice round. Your back will thank you. I will too 
111104 Lotus Hill, Hole 7 (Par 4)
111105 Lotus Hill, Hole 2 (Par 3)
111105 Lotus Hill, Hole 3 (Par 4)
111105 Lotus Hill, Hole 18 (Par 5)
111106 Lotus Hill, Hole 4 (Par 5)
Roller Coaster Round @ Palm Island, China
We were playing at the annual JWNV tournament celebrating our dear friend Johnny Wong’s 60th Birthday. We were blessed with cloudy skies and managed to avert the thunderstorms and heavy rain that were in the forecast. On the Lychee and Lake courses at Palm Island, China, we started from the Lychee’s 6th hole and after pars, bogeys, double bogeys and even triple bogeys, it wasn’t until our 12th hole until our first Birdie arrived. The Lake course’s 8th hole, a 150 yard Par 3, called for a 6-iron with the wind and boy were we close. Headed straight for the flag and looked real good. Hit the ground, scraped by the pin and landed just a foot past the hole! Another brush with a hole-in-one. This was also the Nearest to Pin hole, but someone was even closer…at four inches. Nevertheless, a tap-in Birdie.
Three holes later, on the Par 4 2nd hole of the Lychee course, we hit a huge slice on our drive but luckily avoided the huge waste bunker surrounding the green. With about 155 yards to the pin, we took a 6-iron and I hopped just off the edge of the uphill green and rolled onto the green to be pin high 10 feet from the hole. A subtle downhill putt was tricky but managed to get Birdie #2.
Then we blew the next hole and for consolation on our last hole, the Par 5 Lychee 5, we played a textbook Birdie. A perfect drive and a 7-iron left us with 100 yards to the pin. With wind against us, a ¾ pitching wedge got me just under 10 feet below the hole. The slight right to left breaker uphill was Birdie #3.
The competition used New New Peoria to calculate the handicap and the format was Stableford; therefore, we must have been lucky and the blown holes were used to calculate our handicap as despite our roller coaster round, we won the Men’s Net Champion. Yippee and Happy Birthday Johnny…thanks.
110715 Palm Island, Lake #8 (Par 3)
110715 Palm Island, Lychee #2 (Par 4)
110715 Palm Island, Lychee #5 (Par 5)
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