Q Golf - Official online magazine for Golf Queensland Summer 2012 | Page 15

On arriving in Thailand on the Monday
evening of the event it soon became clear
that what Smith had been saying was spot
on. At the airport to greet every player was
a representative from the Mandarin Oriental
Hotel, one of the great hotels in Thailand
and many would suggest the world.
The Asia Pacific Golf Confederation had
booked out 150 rooms at the riverside hotel
in Central Bangkok for players, officials
and media and for some it would be an
experience of a lifetime to not only stay at
such a hotel but to play the magnificent
Amata Spring layout and in such a well
organised event.
My car into the hotel from the airport
perhaps told the remarkable opportunity
the event was providing players from the
Asia Pacific region.
The two players I shared a car into the hotel
with were from the Cook Islands. William
Browne and Daniel Webb appeared to
come from relatively privileged positions
in Rarotonga but their excitement at being
involved in such an obviously well coordinated event was hard to hide.
Given that they only play one nine hole
golf course in Rarotonga, and with the
greatest respect a very basic one at that,
then that excitement and anticipation was
understandable. When I saw them the
next day waiting for their ride to the golf
course they were still coming to terms with
the stunning hotel and the player’s lounge
where breakfast and dinner was supplied
all week.
They were not alone in experiencing the
thrill of a golfing life. From places such
as Mongolia, Iran, Nepal, Lebanon and

Cambodia, players mixed with many of the
elite of world amateur golf from countries
such as Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Australia.
Australia fielded six representatives.
Oliver Goss from WA, Cameron Smith from
Queensland, Ricky Kato and Brett Drewitt
from NSW and Nathan Holman and James
McMillan from Victoria.
From the hotel to the golf course was a trip
of either one hour or over two dependant
on what time of the day you left. Bangkok
traffic is famous or perhaps more correctly
infamous. I calculated that during the
course of the week I spent 18 hours getting
between the golf course and the hotel.
The Amata Spring Golf Club in Chonburi
is considered by many to be one of the
best in Asia. It not only hosted this event
in 2012 it also plays host to the Thailand
Championship in December where the likes
of Lee Westwood, Charl Schwartzel, Bubba
Watson, Louis Oosthuizen and Nicolas
Colsaerts will tee it up.
It is a high quality layout but its feature
hole is both controversial
and much anticipated. The
par 3 17th measures only
130 metres or so but it is a
complete island requiring
a two minute boat ride
to the green which you
have hopefully found with
your tee shot. Coming as
the penultimate hole in a
tournament it can
potentially make or break
a round of a week.

To the tournament itself and it would be a
stunning performance by 14 year old (and
only just 14 year old) Guan Tianlang who
dominated the event from the start.
The young man from Shenzhen opened
with a round of 65 and never looked back.
Although the winning margin was just one
after he had been forced to get up and
down from off the green at the 72nd hole,
he had won the title and a start at the 2013
Masters.
When Guan tees it up at Augusta National in
April he will become the youngest player to
ever have played the Masters. It will be one
of the great stories of 2013 and irrespective
of how he performs he has trail blazed for
the thousands of young Chinese golfers who
will follow his lead.
Guan had already alerted the