Another week in China!!

Tour Diary

So, another week in China and loads more to share with you guys!!

And what’s so great about my job is that I get to travel the world and play the sport we all love … but the frustrating thing most weeks is that you don’t get to see the sites in these amazing countries, you just get the stamp or Visa in your passport.

A week tends to look a little like this…

Airport > hire car > hotel > golf course > hotel > airport!

But this week was different, I got asked by the Tour media guys to do a feature for the “Challenge Series” they film for the Sky Sports programme that they cover the events on.

So Wednesday morning me and Paul Maddy headed into the city of Foshan with the media guys and a translator, just in case we got into any sticky situations.

The photos show what we got up too … and below is a little bit on where we went!

Foshan Ancestral Temple

Foshan Ancestral Temple (Foshan Zu Miao) is located in the urban area of Foshan City. It was first used to honour the founder of the local smelting industry, and then changed to worship Pak Thai, a Taoist god. The original temple was burned down at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. In 1372, the fifth year of the Hongwu Emperor’s reign in the Ming Dynasty, the temple was rebuilt and named Ancestral Temple because of its long history and status as the preeminent temple in Foshan. In 1962, Foshan Ancestral Temple was designated as a key cultural relic of Guangdong Province. 

Anyway, apart from ‘sightseeing’, I did actually have two and a half days of solid practice, the facilities this week were great, the course really is fantastic and the hospitality that was put on was up there with some of the biggest events I have played in.

It was also quite nice to get my tee times through this week and see an Austrian and an Englishman in the group, after last week playing with mainly Chinese locals I did not have much conversation whilst playing!

So to play with two guys I knew was fun and to top it off we all played great!

In round 1 I got off to a slow start hitting it close but not converting the putts, but then a hot spell around the turn got me going and to finish the round with a 68 (-4) was promising.

My playing partner Jason Palmer took the lead on -7 (he went on to win) and Martin Wiegele was pretty steady for -2 also.

But then it got even more exciting on day two …

I got off to a hot start and made it to the turn in -5, and I left a few chances out there on the 1st and the 8th. But to shoot up the leader board was great.

Jason pushed me all the way too, and for most of the day we were neck and neck… in the end he finished a little stronger and his birdie on the last saw him take the round 2 lead on -10.

I stumbled home in 68 (-4), again after a sloppy finish but after watching Martin set the back nine on fire and holing out on the par three 16th to win a £30,000 gold ornament was a highlight of the day.

Not many of you will know, but Martin is pretty well known for his holes in one …

A few years back on the Challenge Tour, he had back to back holes in one a year apart on the same hole in the same tournament … and each year he won a £30,000 car! Pretty amazing!!

So for me another cut was successfully made and this time comfortably which is always nice! I’ve made the cut in the last 7 events I have played too which is great, so it would be good to press on over the weekend and hopefully put a nice result on the board!

The weekend went pretty well. I shot a steady -3 in the third round to keep me in contention in tied 3rd, which is always the aim. So to be in the mix with one more rounds to go was a great feeling …

So … The last round, in the second to last group out and thousands of trigger happy camera spectators to keep us on our toes! They constantly took photos when you stood over the ball, and on your backswing!

It must be a small taste of what Tiger puts up with day to day on the course, but even at my level it was frustrating, I must have backed off 10 shots over the week to give the evil stare to anyone with a camera, and even once shouting at a guy! He deserved it.

I gave myself two good chances straight away in the last round but left them both short! And then a bogey halted my charge after a bad tee shot on three! I bounced back straightaway on the next and then played ok though the mid part of the round.

A couple of birdies down the stretch with a solo bogey meant I signed for a 71 (-1) and that put me in T6th. A very positive result and one that will secure my Challenge Tour card for the 2015 season.

That’s such a great feeling as it’s something I’ve not managed to do fully from the CT Order of Merit in the past two seasons, so it shows I’m making progress, which is all you can practice for!

SO ALL ROUND, A GOOD TWO WEEK SPELL IN CHINA!

Away from golf this is a pretty crazy time of the year for me and my family; we have to make some tough decisions, and I really can’t be more thankful for the support they are showing me and more importantly my amazing wife Laura back home.

I really miss them like crazy! Jessica is growing up so fast and is such a character, she sure keeps mummy on her toes back home – the little chatter box!

Some of you may also know that we are expecting a little brother or sister for Jessica in the next few weeks, so being away from home is killing me at present and even by speaking to Laura I know I can’t appreciate enough how tough it is for her back home!

There is a lot more to what you just see on the European Tour leader board, and that’s why I write this blog, to share with people the experiences and the ups and downs of ‘life on tour’ and being away from home.

It’s nowhere near plain sailing and there certainly is a bigger picture, but hopefully a few more good results at the business end of the season and me and my family will be able to reap the rewards from all our sacrifices!

And thanks to you guys too for your support, as I always say, it’s great to get the messages of support when I’m away playing!

Best regards

Chris

P.S – as always I’m writing this blog on my travels … and this time I’m on a coach on my own from Foshan in China to Hong Kong airport (4 hours) to then hopefully catch a flight to Oman the following day to play next week in the Emirates!

Last modified: June 3, 2019