Q&A with Dominique Boulet
You just know a Q&A with Hong Kong’s Dominique Boulet is going to be a great read. The popular and affable golfer played on the Asian Tour for over a decade; and he was an amateur star, earning a golf scholarship at the prestigious Northwestern University having also represented Hong Kong in the Eisenhower Trophy. Now a highly respected golf commentator and key figure on the Board of the Asian Tour, we spoke to Dom in Hong Kong and opened his treasure trove of stories.
1. It has been a difficult year. How has it been for you? What have you been up to?
Yes, like everybody it has been a difficult year. Certainly work wise: I have not worked since January, my last event was the SMBC Singapore Open. And my mother passed away very suddenly in February in the UK, so I was back there for a few weeks – which is why I missed the Bandar Malaysian Open.
But it’s also been nice because I have been at home most of the time – I can’t remember the last time I was at home for such an extended period, it must be 30 or 40 years since that happened. So I am spending time with my wife and son. We went to the UK for two months because my son turned 18 and he finished high school. He was starting university in London at Queen Mary University. So we went back to the UK at the beginning of August to get him ready but of course it’s all online now so he ended up flying back with us to Hong Kong and he is studying from here – which is a bit tragic for him.
I have also been playing a bit of golf with my mates at the Hong Kong Golf Club, so it’s all been a mixed blessing. I also went to Scotland for a week and we played Carnoustie, Western Gailes, Gleneagles and had a tee-time on the Old Course but we got rained off that day. And a couple of rounds at Blairgowrie. I just love Scotland.
2. You have enjoyed a highly-successful career in broadcast for nearly two decades. What do you enjoy about it the most?
I just feel I am really lucky. I watch golf and talk about it for a living, and I would be doing that anyway. I am lucky to have landed a job that is my passion. And the people I work with have been great. I have met a lot of guys I never thought I would get a chance to work with. Guys like Alan Wilkins, Julian Tutt, Dougie Donnelly, Tony Johnstone and Dale Hayes. These are people I used to listen to and enjoy listening to and now I get to work with so many of them. And I have enjoyed working with Richard Kaufman, Anthony Kang and many others. Also, I get to watch world class golf. It’s been great.
I have never been nervous about it; I was a lot more nervous playing golf than commentating. I know the game, I study it, I am passionate about it, I read about it all the time, so I am prepared in the sense that nothing will really surprise me.
Dominique Boulet (left) with fellow commentator Richard Kaufman.
3. How did you get into broadcast and what was the first event you commentated on?
It was back in 2005. Derek Fung was doing commentary but could not make it to one of them. It was the BMW Asian Open at Tomson Shanghai Pudong. I think that was the first one and I worked with Alan Wilkins who was an absolute delight to work with. He was the best guy I could have learned from. He was fantastic and did not take it too seriously. And then I just went on from there, I have done it for 15 years now. I haven’t counted how many events I have done but it must be 200 or 300.
4. Which have been the most memorable events you have commentated on? Any stand out moments in history?
Obviously the Hong Kong Open is close to my heart and there have been some fantastic moments there. The Rory McIlroy and Lin Wen-tang playoff in 2008 and when Rory won in 2011 I was actually on course following him. I love being on course, I don’t do it very often but for some reason I was on course that week and there’s Rory playing beautifully and I am calling the shots, up close and personal, that was a highlight. And I always love it when our Asian Tour players do well, like when Angelo Que and Scott Hend were in the play-off in 2014, and when Prom [Meesawat] played well in 2013.
And when Anthony [Kang] won in Malaysia [Malaysian Open] in 2009 that was so exciting. When our members from the Asian Tour are in contention, in the big tournaments, and playing great, they are the ones I enjoy the most.
5. You played on the Asian Tour for many years. Do you miss those days and what did you enjoy the most?
Playing on the Asian Tour was fantastic. The camaraderie was amazing – you hear that from so many players, and it’s true. The guys who have gone onto bigger Tours, in Europe or the PGA Tour, they all say their playing days in Asia were fantastic.
I remember those bus rides back from the course and you had 30 players on the bus, you had the Indians, the Americans, the Taiwanese, everyone was there and they were all chatting, all telling stories of their rounds
And sitting around a table at night in a remote place where everyone is staying, like Sunrise Golf & Country Club in Taiwan for instance. The stories that were flying around, the incidents that occurred, it was just a memorable time.
It was our career and we took it seriously, but we had our moments when we relaxed, like on Sunday nights and travel days on Monday, and even Tuesday’s sometimes …
I miss those days but I certainly don’t miss playing poorly. Those runs when you are playing poorly and you felt bad about yourself. You question yourself, even your self-esteem because you feel like your golf is defining you. I don’t miss those days but when you were playing well there was nothing better. And we really weren’t playing for that much money back then; we were just covering costs but it was a great way to live a life.
27 Sep 2001: Dominique Boulet of Hong Kong in action during the first day of the Davidoff Nations Cup held at the Royal Selangor Golf Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. DIGITAL IMAGE Mandatory Credit: Stanley Chou/ALLSPORT
6. Best ever funny story about life on Tour?
My funniest ever moment was actually in college. I was playing with an Italian-American guy called Marty Caifano. Marty was deaf, he had to wear hearing aids, he was pretty hearing impaired. We were playing a practice round, and this road was running beside the hole and there was an ambulance driving by with the siren on and Marty is standing on the green tapping his hearing aid – as he thinks the battery is out and it’s beeping. I said: “Marty it’s not your hearing aid, it’s the ambulance mate, it’s the siren”. Well he starts laughing so hard that he starts stumbling backwards and falls back into a bunker! Unbelievable. So many things have happened on the golf course but that was one of the funniest.
7. You had your chances to win. Which were the ones that got away?
My best finish was fourth; six or seven times I finished fourth. I had chances coming into the back nine on Sunday but did I feel I was right in it with a hole or two to play? Maybe in Dubai one year, when I was fourth. I had the 36-hole lead there. At Hong Kong Open I finished fourth in 1996 but I shot 65 on the last day. I had some good finishes in Taiwan and Korea. What I have really learned in commentary is how fragile and undisciplined I was on the golf course. I had no patience. I just didn’t have the mental capacity to play this game and it’s still the same to this day. We had a tournament at the Hong Kong Golf Club – a two-day event for some professionals and amateurs and juniors. And even then, the amount of shots I gave away through bad discipline and no patience. I am 55 years old and I still can’t control my emotions on the course!
I observe these top guys now and you can see their patience and discipline is at an extraordinary level. They don’t fire at the pins all the time. Tiger Woods for examples fires at the fewest pins and yet he has the most game. It takes something I don’t have, I don’t possess.
DOMINIQUE BOULET, HK GOLF PLAYER, AT THE TRAINING SESSION OF THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP. 10 JAN 96 (Photo by MARTIN CHAN/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)
8. What are the biggest changes you have seen on the Asian Tour over the years?
I think how disciplined the players are. They have taken it up another level professionally. Guys are working out and training really hard. I am talking about the Asian Tour in particular. They have very few off days when on the road. In general 98% of the players are doing everything they can to try and get to the next level.
From a tournament perspective, there is a lot more live television than when we played. We had highlight shows and a few live events but now we have 10 to 15 live events per year.
And tournaments are just better run, courses are in better shape.
9. You are on the Board of the Asian Tour. What are your hopes for the Tour in the future?
In the immediate future I hope we get back playing again. Hopefully at the start of next year. That is the plan. So much is out of our control. Cho [Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Asian Tour] and his team are doing a great job, working really hard to try and get the Tour up and running. Ours it probably the most international Tour, along with Europe, so it’s hard with the travel restrictions. It is a shame because before lockdown, we were getting a lot of momentum.
I would just like to see a healthy, 30 to 35 event schedule. I think that is ideal. Playing for minimum purses of at least US$500,000 – so guys have a good opportunity to make a living to develop their games. And we were not far away from 30 events before the pandemic.
10. You enjoyed a great amateur career and played at Northwestern University. What was that experience like?
It was fantastic. The first time I stepped foot on American soil was September 1985 when I was starting college. I went there with one suitcase and a set of golf clubs.
Before that, in Hong Kong, I had been working for a fella called Peter Stevenson – a very successful businessman, who also handled Ram Golf there. He went to Chicago on business and he passed my resume to Ram and Wally Goodwin, the coach at Northwestern at the time (Goodwin later became coach at Stanford when Tiger Woods was there). Wally called me, we had a one-hour chat on the phone in early 1985, and he asked me a bunch of questions. By then I had won the Hong Kong closed and open amateur titles. And he asked me how far I hit my three iron and I think I said about 190 yards, I still remember parts of that conversation. I had to send in my O and A Level results from England, and he wrote a few weeks later and said: “if you want to come, I have a scholarship for you”.
Dominique Boulet (middle) with his team mates at the Northwestern University back in the 1980s.
It was very exciting to be in America, I couldn’t believe how cold Chicago is. It’s brutal. I thought England was cold but it’s not even close. It was artic. So there was not much golf in the winter. But people mistakenly think all you do is play golf on a golf scholarship but you have to go and take classes and get your degree, like every other student there. There was a lot of work to be done and Northwestern is a very good school. I made a lot of good friends, Fran Quinn [two-time Asian Tour winner] being one of them. Fran was on the team with me. And I used to spend the summers with him and his family. It was great, it is an experience I cherish.
Thailand’s Prom Meesawat, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, says he is “happy to be alive” after having to endure a nightmare few weeks last month suffering from a ruptured appendix.
A video of him on social media a few days ago walking tentatively and gingerly in a swimming pool tells part of the story, fortunately the tail end of it.
CHACHOENGSAO -THAILAND – Prom Meesawat of Thailand pictured on Friday November 8, 2019 during round two of the Thailand Open at the Thai Country Club, Chachoengsao, Thailand. The USD$ 300.000 event is an Asian Tour event, November 7-10, 2019. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
On October 15, he had a surgery to fix the problem, but it was by no means routine.
“I was playing golf with all the boys last month. And in the afternoon I was going to the gym but my stomach started feeling uncomfortable,” says Prom – whose famous father Suthep was the first Thai to win the Thailand Open in 1991.
“And then I went to the hospital in the evening on Sunday, just to see the doctor and he gave me some medicine to try and help the pain. The next day I am still going to play golf but I could only play six holes because it was so painful and I lost my energy.
“I almost could not drive back. So I rested in the locker room. Then I drove to Synphaet Hospital in Bangkok. The same doctor gave me ultrasound and gave me a thorough check up. I was admitted for two days but they could not see anything unusual from the ultrasound result.”
He stayed for another two nights, went home for two days but it was still painful, so he went back to the hospital again on Thursday. The doctor suggested a CT scan which revealed a rupture appendix.
“Then I had surgery on that night on October 15. I haven’t touched the golf club in over a month now as I need to recover first. It has been a month and half and Tuesday was my first day walking in the pool. I am alright now, no pain. It’s just the core muscle where I felt a little bit of pinching on that spot,” he added.
PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND – JULY 16: Prom Meesawat of Thailand plays a shot during a practice round prior to the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 16, 2019 in Portrush, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
The 36-year-old explained it was very painful and after reading about it he didn’t realize it was life threatening because it was ruptured.
Next month he is going to start work on strength condition with his trainer but not work on the core area.
“What made this difficult was that it just felt uncomfortable in front of my stomach. It was not right at the spot where the appendix is. So that is why the doctor could not tell what happened with me. Even when they touched or pushed on the appendix spot there was no pain. It was a very difficult case.”
It took almost a week to find out it was appendicitis. And they did not know it was ruptured, which could have cost his life.
“I didn’t expect it was going to be an appendix problem. The doctor said we can do surgery tonight or tomorrow, I said no! Do it straight away. No, don’t wait! I am glad I am still alive,” added the Thai star.
He says the plan right now is to start walking in the pool and see if he can do some short game work.
“I have to get my body flexible to help the wound. We don’t know how the wound is inside. I am going to start slowly and not try to force it. I am a professional and I need to take care of my body really well. If the Tour starts in January, I might have to miss the first couple.”
Prom won the Singha Pattaya Open earlier in August for a record fourth time on the All Thailand Golf Tour and was in fine form before he fell ill.
“It all happened very quickly. We weren’t prepared for that. My wife took very good care of me despite having to take care of two kids. It is good that the hospital was close to my house – only five mins away. That was perfect,” Prom added.
Prom with his kids.
The Asian Development Tour is a strong and emerging secondary Tour, with its own identity and an impressive schedule, rich with events. It has also become a conveyor belt of stars-in-the-making, and of course it’s a circuit that the Tour’s membership cannot wait to play once the ‘new normal’ is resumed post COVID-19. We spoke to some of its best-known graduates about how important the Tour has been for their careers.
Joohyung Kim of Korea
When Korean Joohyung Kim earned a remarkable ‘battlefield promotion’ to the Asian Tour last year thanks to three brilliant victories on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) it meant the region was excited and proud to have discovered another young and prodigious talent.
But, perhaps, more important than that was the fact that the ADT had once again served its purpose and met its objectives.
Launched in 2010, the ADT is the region’s secondary circuit that runs parallel and in unison with the Asian Tour – providing opportunities for up-and-coming players, not just from Asia but from all over the world.
It is a feeder tour, a supporting tour, a stepping stone tour that gives even the most talented golfers the one thing they are not born with: that all important element called experience.
The top-seven players on the ADT Order of Merit at the end of the season earn their Asian Tour cards plus all events receive Official World Golf Ranking points – both magnet-like attractions for players just starting out.
And, last year the ADT boasted 19 events with a total purse of US$1.74 million while it was in 2015 that the Tour enjoyed its finest year-to-date with a record 28 tournaments boasting overall prizemoney of US$2.2 million.
Kim, now aged 18 but 17 when he completed his hat-trick, is the most recent high-profile graduate who this year went on to play in his maiden Major – the US PGA Championship – and his first PGA Tour event.
But there have been many players who have successfully emerged from the ADT and perhaps the best known is American John Catlin – who sensationally claimed two titles on the European Tour in September this year: the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters and the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.
John Catlin of USA
“The year I played [2016], I played 22 events, they were all four rounds, they are Official World Golf Ranking events, and you are playing against good golfers and you have to go out and shoot good numbers to win tournaments,” says Catlin.
The Californian did just that, winning the Combiphar Golf Invitational in Indonesia on the ADT in 2016 – his first Tour title. And, he also claimed the PGM EurAsia Perak Championship in Malaysia, on the same tour, the following year.
At that time the top-five on the ADT Order of Merit earned their Asian Tour card.
Says Catlin: “I think playing that many tournaments and having to finish top five, when I was playing, to earn my Asian Tour card, it was a great experience for me and gave me confidence. It was top-five on ADT, then top-60 on Asian Tour and then top-110 on the European Tour – it was all stepping stones. But to have accomplished that first stepping stone gave me a lot of confidence to accomplish the second one and so on and so forth.”
He says it also taught him how to win.
“Winning is not easy, any Tour you play on you have to play very good golf. Winning those two events on the ADT was a huge boost and gave me the confidence to win on the main Tour, especially that first win [on the Asian Tour] at the Asian Pacific Classic in China. I was able to draw on those previous wins,” added the American.
“The opportunity that the ADT gave me was very, very big.”
Catlin explains that it was his coach Noah Montgomery who first suggested he play in Asia.
“It wasn’t an avenue I had considered,” he explains.
“As I looked into it and saw the opportunities and saw some of the success stories and guys like Cameron Smith, Kiradech [Aphibarnrat], Anirban [Lahiri], the list goes on and on. There are so many success stories about Asian Tour players who have moved onto the European Tour and PGA Tour. I saw it as a great opportunity and I saw the cost effectiveness of it.”
He went on to win four times on the Asian Tour, including three in 2018 – when he was voted the Asian Tour’s Players’ Player of the Year.
But he is quick to acknowledge that life was difficult in the early days, as it is for all rookies.
“The hardest part, if you don’t have unlimited funds, is to find a place to play where you can develop your game in order to become a better golfer and not break your budget.
“And that is what is great about the ADT, they make it affordable for guys, entry fees are US$50, caddie fees aren’t outrageous, you can find a reasonably priced hotel, food is reasonably cheap, and with the same amount of money you can play one year in America, you can play two or three on the ADT.”
Catlin, who based himself in Hua Hin, Thailand, while playing in Asia, finished second in the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship in January – which was the only ADT event played this year before the coronavirus pandemic.
The main who beat him was Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert – who, thanks to the victory, became the most successful player in ADT history with seven wins.
Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand
Pavit is a two-time winner on the Asian Tour but he mastered his craft on the ADT – particularly in 2014, when he triumphed four times and lifted the Order of Merit title.
“I respect the ADT very much, it is a Tour that is only getting stronger. I got into the Asian Tour through this tour and will always recognize that,” said Pavit.
“The ADT gave me an opportunity to develop my game to this level. I had so much experience during the journey and I appreciate being part of both the development tour and main tour. The experience of the development tour helps me to keep my game at a high level. It [the ADT] is an experience that everyone needs to try, it is a quality tour.”
Rising Indonesian star Danny Masrin was starting to play some of the finest golf of his career at the end last year and beginning of this season and says his time on the ADT has played a big part in his development.
“When I first came out I remember when the cut line was typically over par, but as I spent my time there it quickly became that if you weren’t under par you probably were not going to make the cut. I definitely think that the quality of players has significantly gotten better every year. I mean we are seeing ADT players winning AT events which is great and says a lot about the ADT,” says Masrin.
“I think also especially starting out as a professional the key is trying to get as many four round events as you can by playing the weekend. The ADT was a good developing ground to feel comfortable with four days of tournament golf. I would say a lot of the courses were very scoreable which gave us confidence when it was time to play Asian Tour events when we got the opportunity.”
Danny Masrin of Indonesia
Another crucial part of the success of the ADT is the relationships it has built with the domestic circuits that it jointly-sanctions events with, as well as local promoters.
The ADT hosts regular events with The PGM in Malaysia, the Professional Golf Tour of Indonesia, the All Thailand Golf Tour and Taiwan PGA and has also held events in Bangladesh, Brunei and Pakistan in the past.
It is a coming together of the major stakeholders of golf in Asia that will serve the ADT well long into the future.
Ends.
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond signed off with a three-over-par 75 to complete a memorable maiden appearance in The Masters at Augusta National on Sunday.
In an encouraging performance that bodes well for the future, he finished the tournament on two- over-par 290 in a tie for 51st place – in privileged company, alongside former champions Zach Johnson from the United States and Canadian Mike Weir.
Jazz impressively made the halfway cut with rounds of 69 and 71 to get to four under and at one point was just five off the lead.
My first @themasters ✅ https://t.co/N1W0JCw2Zf pic.twitter.com/7khQOPiMFH
— Jazz Janewattananond (@jazzjanegolf) November 15, 2020
World number one Dustin Johnson won his first Masters title by five strokes as he finished with a record-breaking low score of 20 under par.
The American posted a 68 to hold off Australian Cameron Smith and Korea’s Sungjae Im.
“It’s hard. I was nervous all day. I could feel it,” said Johnson, who will defend his title in five months’ time when The Masters returns to its usual spot in April.
“The Masters is for me the biggest tournament and the one I wanted to win the most. I am just very proud of the way I handled myself and finished off the tournament.
“It still feels like a dream. As a kid, I was dreaming about winning The Masters and having Tiger put the Green Jacket on you still feels like a dream.
“But I am here and what a great feeling it is. I could not feel more excited.”
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – NOVEMBER 15: Dustin Johnson of the United States poses with the Masters Trophy during the Green Jacket Ceremony after winning the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 15, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Johnson’s stunning performance saw him beat the record lowest winning score of 18-under-par set by American Tiger Woods in 1997 and his compatriot Jordan Spieth in 2015.
Woods, bidding to don a sixth Green Jacket, carded a 10 on the par-three 12th but recovered with five birdies to finish with a 76 on one under, in tie for 38th.
On 12 his tee shot rolled back off the green into Rae’s Creek, as did his third after taking a drop, and he then found the water again out of a bunker.
“This is unlike any other sport in which you’re so alone out there and you have to figure it out and you have to fight and no one is going to call in a sub and you just have to figure it out, and I did coming in,” said Woods.
“That’s part of our sport. That’s what makes this game so unique and so difficult mentally. We’ve all been there, unfortunately.”
Pre-tournament favourite Bryson DeChambeau from the United States, who won the US Open in September, ended with a 73 put him on two under par for the tournament in equal 34th.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – NOVEMBER 15: Tiger Woods of the United States reacts after putting on the 18th green during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 15, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Jazz Janewattananond joins an exclusive club of golfers today when he tees-off in The Masters for the first time but when he first turned professional, a decade ago, thoughts of competing in a Major championship were very far from his mind.
In the latest My Time video in partnership with ROLEX, he reveals just how daunting it was at the start of his career and how he did not know what to expect.
“I turned professional the day before I turned 15. I remember it quite clearly,” says Jazz, now aged 24.
“We just decided to go for it. To try and improve myself. I was so young and I was really naïve.”
He made the cut that week he turned professional at the King’s Cup in 2010 and finished in a tie for 44th – to earn a first pay cheque for US$1,590.
“I was just star struck, like a deer in the head lights. I didn’t know what to do but I was there to take it all in and the rest is history,” added the Thai.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – NOVEMBER 11: Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand looks on from the 15th tee during a practice round prior to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 11, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Jazz played in a handful of Asian Tour events prior to joining the play for pay ranks and played all four rounds in the Asian Tour International in 2010 making him the youngest player to make the cut on Tour at the age of 14 years and 71 days.
He goes onto explain how difficult the road to the top has been despite his immense talent and gift for the game.
In 2016, he tried his hand on the Web.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour) but when he returned he had lost his playing rights on the Asian Tour.
As is well documented he went into Monkhood in Thailand in January of 2017 in search of focus and direction. And he most definitely found it.
“They [the Monks] just make you see things in a different perspective. Golf is not the biggest thing in your life,” he says.
“Not even a month after that, I won my first Asian Tour tournament. Everything was automatic and things just clicked. When you win that first tournament and get that weight off your shoulders you don’t have anything to prove anymore.”
That event was the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open – which proved to be the catalyst his career was looking for.
Says Jazz: “I didn’t really think I could win an Asian Tour event, I didn’t have the mind set to go and win”.
The following year he won the Queen’s Cup before his remarkable 2019 season when he won four times and claimed the Asian Tour Order of Merit title.
The first of those victories came at the SMBC Singapore Open at Sentosa Golf Club in January.
SINGAPORE- Jazz Janewattanananond of Thailand pictured with the winner’s trophy on Sunday January 19, 2019 after the final round of the SMBC Singapore Open at the Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore. The USD$ 1 Million event is co- sanctioned with the Asian Tour and Japan Tour. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Lagardére Sports.
“It [the SMBC Singapore Open win] is a rush that I never feel before in my life. [My] heart doesn’t beat faster but it beats louder,” says Jazz.
“The weight was lifted off my shoulder, you get through it and come out on top.”
“It was practically unheard of to win four tournaments in a year,” says Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and CEO of the Asian Tour.
“We thought he would bloom a lot earlier than he did. We thought he would be a super star by the time he was 18.”
Indeed, there was a slight delay in his progression but that is all a distant memory now as he prepares to play at Augusta – where his phenomenal power and feel for the game could see him challenge despite it being the first time he is playing there.
“I can’t tell my future. I just have to keep working hard,” says Jazz.
“I don’t know how far I can go, but my goal is to be top-three in the world.”
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – NOVEMBER 11: Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand looks on from the 15th tee during a practice round prior to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 11, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
With the Masters taking place next week, we caught up with India’s Jeev Milkha Singh to get his thoughts on the event that he, so memorably, played in on three successive occasions starting 2007. Singh is currently in Japan preparing for the Japan PGA tests, which will ultimately allow him to play on the Japan Seniors Tour when he turns 50 in December next year, but he had plenty of time to talk about his incredible memories of Augusta.
AUGUSTA, GA – APRIL 10: Jeev Milkha Singh (R) of India walks with caddie Janet Squire (L) during the first round of the 2008 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 10, 2008 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
At the peak of his powers, just over a decade ago, Jeev Milkha Singh, was winning tournaments all over the world but there was one tournament he played in, which although he did not win, that he loved the most: The Masters tournament.
“Talking about the US Masters. For me personally it is my favourite Major championship,” says the Indian star, the winner of six titles on the Asian Tour and two Order of Merit crowns.
“As a kid from the town of Chandigarh, in India, growing up I used to wait for the cassettes to come back. I was about 10 years old and the cassettes would come back after a month. And I used to do anything to get those tapes to watch the Masters. And I used to beg people and say ‘please when you are done, can I have a look at it’.”
He says he would beg his father – national hero and former athletics star Milkha Singh, also known as ‘The Flying Sikh’ – to buy a video recorder so he could watch at home.
“And after watching I used to go to the golf course and say to my caddie: ‘you know what, this is Amen Corner, and this putt is to win the Masters’, stuff like that. I was a kid and mentally playing the Masters. So that is the background to my love of the event.”
AUGUSTA, GA – APRIL 08: Jeev Milkha Singh of India sit by the clubhouse during the second day of practice prior to the start of the 2008 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 8, 2008 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
Fast forward some 30 years and the prince of golf in India, thanks to regularly finishing in the top-50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is driving up Magnolia Lane – the famous driveway that leads up to Augusta Golf Club – to play in the US Masters for the first time.
He says: “In 2007 I went into the tournament with a lot of confidence. I had been working hard on my game. And when I got there I got goose bumps. I still remember when I drove up Magnolia Lane, I was so excited and I had tears in my eyes.”
And, over a magical first few hours he birdied three, six and eight to take the lead in what is traditionally the first Major of the year.
“I had the same feeling I had when I won the Volvo Masters in Spain the year before. I got it done there and I thought I might as well keep it going here at Augusta. But I got ahead of myself and got really excited because of the history behind it. But I had a great week and enjoyed myself. Played a lot of practice rounds. I was just living the moment,” said Singh.
He finished in tie for 37th after posting a costly seven-over-par 79 on Sunday, caused by a calamitous start,
He made an expensive eight on the first hole, playing with Vijay Singh from Fiji.
“I had never carried a lob wedge up until that point but you have to have a lob wedge playing the Masters. On that first hole, when I had the eight, I could not stop the ball on the green. I was two short of the green on the right and the pin was close to the right side and I tried to hit a flop shot, I missed it, it came back, then I went again. Then it was just ping pong from one side to the other. After that experience I put a lob wedge in my bag.”
He says Augusta played different every year he played it and it was the only Major that had done that. And even though it’s the only Major where you play the same course every year you never get bored playing because it is so exciting.
The difference in elevation on the course is also overwhelming when you arrive there for the first time, he says.
“The 10th hole really surprised me. It is at least 200 to 230 yards straight down! People don’t realize it. It is so hilly. And number eight, it is straight up the hill. And number two is straight down,” adds Singh.
He produced his best performance in 2008, finishing in a tie for 25th while he missed the cut the following year by a single stroke.
AUGUSTA, GA – APRIL 09: Tiger Woods (R) waits with Jeev Milkha Singh of India in the 18th fairway during the first round of the 2009 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 9, 2009 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
That third and final year of his participation was arguably the most exciting as he was paired with Americans Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink for the first two days.
Woods had already won the tournament four times up until that point and enormous crowds followed their group.
“I was nervous on the tee. But I was joking with Tiger and said there are going to be a lot of Indians with us today. He took it really well and when we walked down the first hole, he said: ‘you know what, I see a lot of Indians walking here man’. It was funny, it broke the ice. It was great,” added Singh.
Singh said Woods was really supportive over the two days, especially when he needed to make birdie on 18 to have a chance of making the cut.
AUGUSTA, GA – APRIL 10: (L-R) Caddie Janet Squire, Jeev Milkha Singh of India, Tiger Woods and caddie Steve Williams walk together down the 13th fairway during the second round of the 2009 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 10, 2009 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
“Tiger said to me: ‘Come on Jeev, get this done’. I hit a fabulous approach into 10 feet and made the putt but I just missed the cut by one, but overall the experience was priceless,” commented Singh.
That year, he also made an eagle on the 13th on the first day and was awarded a beer mug.
“I am not a beer drinker but I still have it, it is another wonderful memory. I remember the first year I went to the pro shop and picked up jumpers, wine glasses, whisky glasses, and when I have a drink at home I pour myself a drink in the Masters glass and I cherish it,” adds Singh.
Singh is eagerly anticipating next week’s event and says the beauty of Augusta is that the course requires a lot of imagination and feel, and that you have to be smart aggressive.
As for who he sees prevailing on the famous back nine on Sunday and overcoming Amen Corner.
He says: “Everybody is talking about Bryson Dechambeau, he is hitting it so far, but let’s see what happens. Hopefully Tiger does well, I will always pull for Tiger.”
AUGUSTA, GA – APRIL 04: Jeev Milkha Singh of India reacts to a shot on the 16th hole during the third practice day prior to the start of The Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club on April 4, 2007 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert – who added another prestigious feather to his cap last month by wrapping up the All Thailand Golf Tour Order of Merit for the first time in his career – says confidence is the key to being able to win at the top level.
“There is no secret to winning but I think the most important thing is you have to trust yourself that you can win – you will never win if you don’t think you can win,” said the 31-year-old.
He claimed the season-opening Boonchu Ruangkit Championship – an event jointly-sanctioned with the Asian Development Tour (ADT) – back in January and played consistently through the shortened season to secure top spot on the local circuit.
NAKHON RACHASIMA-THAILAND – Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand pictured on Sunday January 26, 2020, with the winner’s trophy during the final round of the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship at the Rancho Charnvee Resort & Country Club, Nakhon Rachasima, Thailand. The approximate USD$ 130.000 event is the 1st event on the 2020 Asian Development Tour. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Development Tour.
“I feel very excited and very happy to win the All Thailand Golf Tour Order of Merit. The reason I was able to do it was because I carried over my good form from last year (after winning the Sabah Masters) and then won the first event and that is my advantage for the whole season.”
Pavit would have been defending his Sabah Masters title this month on the Asian Tour if it wasn’t for the coronavirus pandemic but fortunately he has to prepare for another important event.
“My plan is I am getting married this December. I am really looking forward to it, I haven’t really play much golf, I am so busy right now,” added the Thai about his forthcoming marriage to fiancée Chorphaka.
Pavit with his fiancée Chorphaka at the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship in January.
Just prior to lockdown in March, Pavit also put together four excellent rounds to finish equal 11th in the New Zealand Open to suggest more success would follow on the Asian Tour – where he has won twice.
But his 2020 was abruptly cut short with the onset of COVID-19.
He says: “It [lockdown] was pretty boring I guess. I only stayed in the house because my parents did not allow me to go outside at all! All I could do was cardio at home from Youtube and stretching. I also practiced some chipping at my house in the garden. I didn’t play golf for almost three months.”
Pavit is a prolific winner on the ADT having claimed seven titles and the 2014 ADT Order of Merit. Once the Asian Tour is up and running he hopes to add more silverware to his trophy cabinet.
“I don’t really think about the winning number, but I really want to make it to double digits. So I have eight more to make it 10!”
Both his wins on the main Tour have been in sudden-death play-offs. He claimed the Venetian Macao Open in 2016 after overcoming Indian star Anirban Lahiri on the first extra hole and in last year’s Sabah Masters he sensationally chipped in on the second extra hole to win a four-man play-off.
“I think my putter was on fire that week [in Sabah]. I think that course is not that long, so it depends on putting. I had a very bad start that week, didn’t think about winning at all. I just tried to make the cut only but somehow I managed to come back and win!!”
Two weeks before that he lost to American John Catlin in extra-time at the Thailand Open.
Indeed, there aren’t many weeks in the year these days when Pavit Tangkamolprasert – a professional for 13 years – isn’t in the running.
Sentosa Golf Club has marked its most recent award of ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility’ by premiering a new environmental documentary film to raise awareness of the importance of climate change in golf.
The documentary forms part of the club’s GAME ON campaign, which has received backing from The R&A following its launch at the SMBC Singapore Open earlier this year.
Coinciding after it was named ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility’ at the 2020 World Golf Awards this week, the film shows viewers some of the key measures already implemented at the club, such as the creation of bee colonies, the installation of reservoir-lakes and the banning of single-use plastics.
The club, which became the first golf club in the world to sign the UN’s Sports for Climate Action Agreement back in July, hopes the film will serve as inspiration to golf’s response to climate change, as well as help clubs around the world to understand the importance of reducing their carbon footprint by implementing initiatives for the betterment of the environment.
Sentosa is also planning a free environmental toolkit to further help golf clubs deal with the real threat of climate change.
With over 61 million golfers and 39,000 golf courses worldwide, the club firmly believes golf has the ability to become one of the leading industries to help reverse climate change and make a considerable impact.
The wider GAME ON campaign aims to educate and inspire the global golfing community to create a more socially conscious industry and consumer, who will be better prepared to introduce new modern practices for the betterment of the environment, as well as improving the quality of facilities on offer throughout the world. It is closely aligned with The R&A’s 2030 Golf Course Initiative.
Speaking about the unveiling of the documentary, Andrew Johnston, General Manager and Director of Agronomy at Sentosa Golf Club, said: “Today is a very special day. The unveiling of the GAME ON documentary marks the day golf’s major stakeholders and global community unite to fight climate change. Sentosa Golf Club are proud to be at the forefront of this campaign and hope to create a legacy with golf’s leading organisations and community that will have a huge bearing on our future.”
On being awarded ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility’, Johnston added: “It is a tremendous achievement for Sentosa to be recognised by golf’s leading professionals as the ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Facility’ and once again as ‘Singapore’s Best Golf Course’ for the third year running. Being awarded these accolades is down to the hard work that is put in by all our staff and members to maintain the high standards that are set by the club 365 days of the year.
“Since 2018, we have worked hard to create a sustainable environment on-site at the club and are grateful for all the support we have received from our partners and stakeholders in our journey so far. Even with this recognition, the club will continue to improve and look to pioneer new sustainable initiatives as we look to lead the industry in tackling this critical issue.”
Sentosa fought off competition from other leaders in the environmental space to collect their latest eco accolade at the 7th annual World Golf Awards, recognised for the leadership and responsibility it has shown in planning, constructing and managing a resource efficient and ecologically rich golf environment, as well as playing an inspirational role in expanding environmental activity throughout the region.
The club also took home the title of ‘Singapore’s Best Golf Course’ for The Serapong course for the second year in a row. The course plays host to the SMBC Singapore Open every year, welcoming the world’s best players from all around the world.
Chris Gray, Head of Sustainability and Agronomy – Asia-Pacific at The R&A, added: “The R&A is delighted to be part of Sentosa Golf Club’s unveiling of their GAME ON documentary. It is great to be part of something so important and be able to work together on a global scale to fight the issues that really matter to golf and the world. GAME ON, which is closely aligned with our own Golf Course 2030 initiative, is not only a vital campaign in helping to reverse the impact of climate change, but it is also crucial to the overall survival of golf, a game that is so widely loved throughout the world.”
Commenting on the latest award for the club, Sentosa Development Corporation CEO, Thien Kwee Eng, said: “It is a great honour for Sentosa Golf Club to receive two awards at this year’s World Golf Awards. We are extremely proud of the work our team has put in throughout the year, not only expanding its environmental credentials, but also continuously maintaining the top-quality conditions of its two championship courses. By doing so, the club has attracted some of Asia’s most prestigious events and helped showcase Sentosa as one of the world’s top global tourist destinations.”
The newly crowned ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Facility’ also boosted its approach to environmental sustainability by forming a partnership with international sustainable golf non-profit, GEO Foundation. The collaboration will see the integration of GEO’s industry-leading OnCourse® program and GEO Certified label with Sentosa’s ‘green-culture’ to pioneer new innovative practices, as well as gather, verify, and report credible results to share with other clubs around the world.
A recent Golf Sustainability Fund Grant by The R&A made Sentosa the first club in Asia able to grind down food and horticultural waste to reuse as fertiliser on its golf courses.
Ends.
In the first of our new monthly Player Q&A series, we talk to Australian Terry Pilkadaris – not only the winner of three titles on Tour but also runner-up on nine occasions. It was a good time to speak to him as he had just come out of lockdown in Melbourne and has recently been nominated into the Asian Tour Tournament Players’ Committee.
This week the lockdown was lifted in Victoria – for the second time this year. You must be relieved. How difficult was the experience for you?
It was kind of hard. We got through it. You can’t do anything. We had a lot of restrictions: we could only travel 5km, that was the maximum we could travel, and we could only get out for an hour of exercise a day. So it was quite strict. We were locked down 23 hours a day so you look forward to your one hour of exercise.
What did you spend your time doing?
I got engaged in late August! In lockdown, Victoria and I were spending all this time together and we were getting along really well so I thought we should do the right thing. She has been great to me, we have travelled the last couple of years together out on Tour and she has been an absolute delight to be with. We have had an absolute ball.
And, I have been doing my PGA of Australia accreditation. So I was doing assignments and things like that. It is called a bridging course, so I get qualified to teach, be a club professional, and manage a pro shop.
I was teaching online as well, so people would send some stuff in and I would do some work with them.
When was the last time you played golf?
I think I played a game in June. I have basically played 18 holes since the Bandar Malaysian Open in March. I played a team event with Peter Wilson and we lost on the 19th hole and I thought, right that’s me done for now. I have been a Touring professional for 21 years and when you have no tournaments in sight there is no interest in practicing. The big thing is the thrill of the competition and we haven’t had that for a while.
But I needed a break as I was burnt out. We didn’t really stop from the end of last year. A six-week break would have been fantastic but unfortunately it’s been a lot longer, everyone has been struggling and locking down, so I have had a longer break.
Difficult to say but what are your plans?
We have just got to wait and see what happens with events. I think I would have got a start this week on the European Tour in Cyprus. There are a couple of events there. The problem we have though is I have not picked up a golf club since June, and haven’t been able to step foot on a golf course for 12 weeks. And then I would have to quarantine when I got back home – sit in a hotel for two weeks. It wasn’t a viable option to fly all the way to Europe and back. The problem with that is they also limit the number of people flying back into Australia – so it could take longer to get back.
How were you playing before lockdown in March?
I was playing pretty good. I had a top-10 in Hong Kong in January. I finished middle of the pack in New Zealand in March but I was running out of gas: I think I only had 10 days off between the Australian PGA at the end of last year and then Hong Kong this year. I was looking forward to a break but now it is frustrating, I wanna get out and play again. I will do some teaching and when we get a definite idea of when the tournaments come I will start prepping.
HONG KONG, CHINA – JANUARY 11: Terry Pilkadaris of Australia tees off the first hole during the third round of the Hong Kong Open at the Hong Kong Golf Club on January 11, 2020 in Hong Kong. (Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Have you been working on your fitness?
Yes. I am four to five weeks into a 12-week programme. It is a club head speed programme, so I am working with Paul Mews, who is a long-drive guy ranked in the top-five in Australia and also a personal trainer. He has written up some programmes for me. So I have increased my driver head speed by six miles an hour and we want to get it up to 10 miles an hour quicker – so we are on our way. It is a 45-mnute programme, five days-a-week. There is a lot of body weight stuff and band work. When I get back on Tour this will help me get some extra distance which will be a huge bonus. I need an extra 10 metres. But doing all these burpees I realize I am not 25 anymore. I don’t know what happened, I remember being 31 and now I am nearly 47!
This weekend will be the 16th anniversary of your win at the Sanya Open – which came a week after you won the Crowne Plaza Open in Shanghai. You must still remember those amazing two weeks well?
Absolutely. The first one, Crowne Plaza at Tomson Golf Club. We had played the BMW Asian Open there in May and as soon as I found out it was on I thought I can win this one because I liked the course and it just suited my eye. Leading up to it I was playing well and should have won the Korean Open but finished fourth and finished second in the Taiwan Open a few weeks later. I just played nicely and didn’t make too many mistakes. It helped the course was set up like a Sandbelt course in Australia – the greens were fast and firm.
Sanya was a different type of golf course, it was windy, but I was shooting the lights out and playing well. I ended up in a play-off with Clay Devers and I remember his caddie looked as if he had 10 Red Bulls, he was just bouncing off the walls and was really pumped up, more than Clay. I won it on the second play-off hole after hitting my second to a foot. Clay had a 40 footer for birdie and after he missed he picked up my marker and congratulated me but the ref stepped in and said no no I had to putt out. But I tapped it in and all of a sudden it’s back-to-back wins. Wow! It was bizarre.
The Korean Open was a big influence. I had the lead and I was playing with Ernie Els – who was number three in the world at that time. I was going toe-to-toe with him. I was leading by four at one point and had a one-shot lead going into Sunday but I made triple on 14. But I was talking to Ernie afterwards and I asked him what do you think of my game and he was full of praise and that gave me the confidence to go on.
This week you were elected to the Tournament Players’ Committee of the Asian Tour. What are some of the things you are hoping to achieve?
I have been out here long enough and feel like I can contribute. It’s going to be a lot of work and I am looking forward to it. I want to go more on the players perspective and I have some ideas on what I would like to see happen. Having been out here 21 years I have seen how some things have worked and how some things haven’t worked. But I am really looking forward to getting going once the Tour is up and running. I definitely feel revived and ready to go!
Ends.
Recent Comments