– This Thursday the Hainan Classic, the first tournament of the Asian Swing on the DP World Tour gets under way. It is played in China. Seven hours ahead of peninsular Spain.
– It is an unusual tournament. Very unusual. It is played over four days, 72 holes, so far so good, but it is contested on two courses, in a Pro Am format and the players will use buggies.
– The first two days are played on the Blackstone course and the Vintage course. On those two days, Thursday and Friday, the Pro Am takes place. A professional and an amateur play. On Saturday and Sunday only the professionals play on the Blackstone course.
– The Blackstone is a familiar venue on the DP World Tour. Four regular-season events have been played here, with victories by Westwood, Rumford (both in LIV, curiously), Wiesberger and Marco Penge. It is a long course, whose main feature is that the rough is replaced in many areas by volcanic lava, black rocks that give the course its name.
– The course is so long that it has a par-5 of 681 yards, the third longest hole in the history of the DP World Tour. Niklas Norgaard, the biggest hitter on the circuit according to the statistics, hit two practice drives and still ended up 70 metres from the hole.
– Marco Penge changed his life here. He arrived ranked 344th in the world and 45th in the Race to Dubai. Today he is a member of the PGA Tour and in three weeks he will play his first Masters at Augusta.
– The Vintage course is a strange, strange, strange course. Like a resort. There are greens that are a fantasy, with a bunker in the middle or ‘pianos’ that verge on comedy. Patience will be needed.
– The greens are slow and very receptive. Beware of the backspin. Wind is also expected; however, barring surprises scores should be low. They will not make the decision until tomorrow, but in principle the idea is to play by placing the ball.
– Another curiosity is that there is no television coverage. It is not the first time this has happened. In fact, it always happens in Hainan. Transporting the DP World Tour’s production trucks to the Chinese island is virtually impossible. It will be a tournament in the dark. The only one of the year on the European Tour.
– So, in this curious setting the big battle to get into the PGA Championship begins. Remember that the top three of the Asian Swing (completed by the Hero Indian Open, Volvo China Open and Turkish Airlines Open) will obtain a place for the second Major of the season to be played at Aronimink. A tasty and very interesting objective. Eugenio Chacarra secured his ticket to the PGA by this route last year after winning in India.
– Francesco Molinari is taking part. With his brother Edoardo he won the World Cup in 2009 at this Mission Hills resort, although on a different course to those used this week
