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Bumped into this article and found it interesting.
Will be nice to have an opportunity to play there some time in future. BTW, the event will be held in Shangghai this week between Nov. 4-7.
................
Asia's WGC a Putting Paradise
created on : 12th Oct 2010
Shanghai's WGC-HSBC Champions is rapidly being recognized by the world's best golfers as providing the finest putting surfaces anywhere on the planet. World number three Lee Westwood, PGA Tour member Martin Laird of Scotland and Sweden's Ryder Cup candidate Peter Hanson are the latest to add their voices to the growing legion of players who have described the greens at Shanghai's Sheshan International Golf Course each November as "probably the best we see all year".
"They're immaculate! If you don't hole a putt on those greens it's your fault," says Westwood.
"It's always nice to turn up to a golf course you know is going to be in immaculate condition. You know what you're going to get. It eradicates a bit of luck on the greens. It's nice to go out there first thing in the morning and you know they're going to be pure and you've got every chance. It's now right up there with any golf course in the world."
Westwood's fellow Englishman Ian Poulter was another to hail the WGC-HSBC Champions' greens when, earlier this year he told the Wall Street Journal that "the green texture they have there is probably the best surface we putt on all year."
Several months later Poulter is still raving about putting at Sheshan.
"The greens are fantastic! The putting surfaces have always been good every year I've been there. They're big greens and they're nice to putt on because they are so consistent. There are a number of tournaments in the U.S. you look forward to playing because you know if you've hit a good putt on the right line it'll go in. It takes the luck factor out. It's obviously a testament to how much hard work they put into their golf course. They obviously spend a lot of money on it, it's a good golf course, and therefore they get their rewards by their course being in great condition."
Laird, who made his first trip to the HSBC Champions when his Justin Timberlake Classic win qualified him for the 2009 tournament, says the mere mention of Shanghai conjures up images of perfect putting conditions.
"As soon as I think of the HSBC Champions I think about just how good the greens were. They were perfect," says Laird, who points out that it is no faint praise given that the PGA Tour players are used to playing on some of the world's finest surfaces.
"In general our greens are pretty much the best you can get. I forget just how good the greens are we play on and I'll go back to Scotland and go and play my Dad's club or the club I grew up at and I look at the greens and think 'I can't believe I used to putt on these!'. You lose touch with the reality of what greens are like. I'll go and play with friends back in Arizona and get on the greens and ask 'how do you make a putt on these?' because we're spoiled playing on absolutely flawless greens. You can see it nowadays on HD TV when they zoom in and there is hardly a mark on them and they roll absolutely perfectly."
Sweden's Peter Hanson says one of the keys is the way that the Nelson and Haworth-designed course was constructed from the very start with the aim of being home to an event of the stature of Asia's first World Golf Championships.
"They did it the real way when they built it with all the drainage systems and the water and everything. It feels very modern. It feels like it has the highest technology. The way they look after the grass and the way they built it. HSBC is probably one of the best greens we play on," Hanson said, adding that the tournament has the potential to become a legend in world golf in a very short space of time.
"In only 10 years time, if we keep it going, it'll be massive."
The praise for the course, which was in golfing terms virtually brand new when the HSBC Champions started in 2005, really began in 2007. It was then that Ernie Els described the putting surfaces as "excellent" and Vijay Singh became one of the first to come out and favourably compare the "magnificent" surfaces with anything else he'd seen worldwide that year.
"To achieve the goal of etching a place for an Asian event on the global golf calendar we couldn't just do things well, they had to be world-class," says Giles Morgan, HSBC Group Head of Sponsorship.
"Just as we wanted to provide the spectators with a world-class experience and TV viewers with world-class entertainment, we needed a golf club with a similar vision. In preparing the course every year in immaculate condition and exceeding the expectations of the world's best golfers in preparing the greens, Sheshan has certainly played a significant role in making the HSBC Champions one of the top tournaments in the world."
Just as the tournament has evolved from being a highlight on the European and Asian Tour calendars into one of the leading events anywhere in the world, so Sheshan has developed as one of the best tournament venues. In 2008 defending champion Phil Mickelson likened the difficulty of putting at Sheshan to playing one of the sport's legendary courses Augusta National:
"The greens at Sheshan are some of the most difficult greens to putt, very much like the Masters, and so I spent a lot of time practicing speed and practicing my putting to be able to perform well on the greens. I believe the greens at Sheshan are the key to success," he said.
Laird backed up that sentiment, saying that from his experiences at the 2009 event, which Mickelson also won, you need more than just a hot putter to win.
"It isn't the kind of course where you can hit it into the middle of the green and rely on making putts. You had to fire at flags to get it on the right tier and stuff, but if you did get it up there you had a good chance of making a birdie. There's nothing better than when you're on good greens and you know if you hit a good putt it's going to go in, because it's not going to bobble or anything. You know if you're over a six-foot putt and you read it 'right edge' you know that if you hit a solid stroke on the right edge it's going to do what it's supposed to do and go in... if you've read it right. That gives you a lot of confidence when you're on greens like that. When we play on the west coast [of America] or places sometimes when the greens aren't great, you hear guys saying 'I played great, just didn't make any putts, greens were terrible!' you definitely don't have that excuse that's for sure at the HSBC."
Westwood believes the immaculate conditions are another reason why more and more players will automatically ink the trip to Shanghai into their schedules once they qualify.
"I think the word gets around, players like Phil and Tiger all speak to the other guys on the tour here. The word will get round that it's a good tournament - a great tournament - and it's a great golf course," Westwood concluded.
http://www.hsbcgolf.com/news/38.html
Will be nice to have an opportunity to play there some time in future. BTW, the event will be held in Shangghai this week between Nov. 4-7.
................
Asia's WGC a Putting Paradise
created on : 12th Oct 2010
Shanghai's WGC-HSBC Champions is rapidly being recognized by the world's best golfers as providing the finest putting surfaces anywhere on the planet. World number three Lee Westwood, PGA Tour member Martin Laird of Scotland and Sweden's Ryder Cup candidate Peter Hanson are the latest to add their voices to the growing legion of players who have described the greens at Shanghai's Sheshan International Golf Course each November as "probably the best we see all year".
"They're immaculate! If you don't hole a putt on those greens it's your fault," says Westwood.
"It's always nice to turn up to a golf course you know is going to be in immaculate condition. You know what you're going to get. It eradicates a bit of luck on the greens. It's nice to go out there first thing in the morning and you know they're going to be pure and you've got every chance. It's now right up there with any golf course in the world."
Westwood's fellow Englishman Ian Poulter was another to hail the WGC-HSBC Champions' greens when, earlier this year he told the Wall Street Journal that "the green texture they have there is probably the best surface we putt on all year."
Several months later Poulter is still raving about putting at Sheshan.
"The greens are fantastic! The putting surfaces have always been good every year I've been there. They're big greens and they're nice to putt on because they are so consistent. There are a number of tournaments in the U.S. you look forward to playing because you know if you've hit a good putt on the right line it'll go in. It takes the luck factor out. It's obviously a testament to how much hard work they put into their golf course. They obviously spend a lot of money on it, it's a good golf course, and therefore they get their rewards by their course being in great condition."
Laird, who made his first trip to the HSBC Champions when his Justin Timberlake Classic win qualified him for the 2009 tournament, says the mere mention of Shanghai conjures up images of perfect putting conditions.
"As soon as I think of the HSBC Champions I think about just how good the greens were. They were perfect," says Laird, who points out that it is no faint praise given that the PGA Tour players are used to playing on some of the world's finest surfaces.
"In general our greens are pretty much the best you can get. I forget just how good the greens are we play on and I'll go back to Scotland and go and play my Dad's club or the club I grew up at and I look at the greens and think 'I can't believe I used to putt on these!'. You lose touch with the reality of what greens are like. I'll go and play with friends back in Arizona and get on the greens and ask 'how do you make a putt on these?' because we're spoiled playing on absolutely flawless greens. You can see it nowadays on HD TV when they zoom in and there is hardly a mark on them and they roll absolutely perfectly."
Sweden's Peter Hanson says one of the keys is the way that the Nelson and Haworth-designed course was constructed from the very start with the aim of being home to an event of the stature of Asia's first World Golf Championships.
"They did it the real way when they built it with all the drainage systems and the water and everything. It feels very modern. It feels like it has the highest technology. The way they look after the grass and the way they built it. HSBC is probably one of the best greens we play on," Hanson said, adding that the tournament has the potential to become a legend in world golf in a very short space of time.
"In only 10 years time, if we keep it going, it'll be massive."
The praise for the course, which was in golfing terms virtually brand new when the HSBC Champions started in 2005, really began in 2007. It was then that Ernie Els described the putting surfaces as "excellent" and Vijay Singh became one of the first to come out and favourably compare the "magnificent" surfaces with anything else he'd seen worldwide that year.
"To achieve the goal of etching a place for an Asian event on the global golf calendar we couldn't just do things well, they had to be world-class," says Giles Morgan, HSBC Group Head of Sponsorship.
"Just as we wanted to provide the spectators with a world-class experience and TV viewers with world-class entertainment, we needed a golf club with a similar vision. In preparing the course every year in immaculate condition and exceeding the expectations of the world's best golfers in preparing the greens, Sheshan has certainly played a significant role in making the HSBC Champions one of the top tournaments in the world."
Just as the tournament has evolved from being a highlight on the European and Asian Tour calendars into one of the leading events anywhere in the world, so Sheshan has developed as one of the best tournament venues. In 2008 defending champion Phil Mickelson likened the difficulty of putting at Sheshan to playing one of the sport's legendary courses Augusta National:
"The greens at Sheshan are some of the most difficult greens to putt, very much like the Masters, and so I spent a lot of time practicing speed and practicing my putting to be able to perform well on the greens. I believe the greens at Sheshan are the key to success," he said.
Laird backed up that sentiment, saying that from his experiences at the 2009 event, which Mickelson also won, you need more than just a hot putter to win.
"It isn't the kind of course where you can hit it into the middle of the green and rely on making putts. You had to fire at flags to get it on the right tier and stuff, but if you did get it up there you had a good chance of making a birdie. There's nothing better than when you're on good greens and you know if you hit a good putt it's going to go in, because it's not going to bobble or anything. You know if you're over a six-foot putt and you read it 'right edge' you know that if you hit a solid stroke on the right edge it's going to do what it's supposed to do and go in... if you've read it right. That gives you a lot of confidence when you're on greens like that. When we play on the west coast [of America] or places sometimes when the greens aren't great, you hear guys saying 'I played great, just didn't make any putts, greens were terrible!' you definitely don't have that excuse that's for sure at the HSBC."
Westwood believes the immaculate conditions are another reason why more and more players will automatically ink the trip to Shanghai into their schedules once they qualify.
"I think the word gets around, players like Phil and Tiger all speak to the other guys on the tour here. The word will get round that it's a good tournament - a great tournament - and it's a great golf course," Westwood concluded.
http://www.hsbcgolf.com/news/38.html
