Nick Faldo has been one of Asia’s finest ambassadors over the years, first as a regular visitor to the region for tournaments and lately as someone keen to see the development of Asian golf.
He will be fulfilling both roles at November’s Hong Kong Open at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling in a city where he is hugely popular.
Apart from playing in the $2.25 million event, which is jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour, he will also spend some time coaching Hong Kong’s best young talent.
Faldo is already heavily involved in the Faldo Asia Series, which has identified some of the best young golfers from the region and singled them out for grooming.
Indeed, some of the players involved in that series will also participate in his Hong Kong clinic. In a press release from sponsors UBS, Faldo said:
“The Hong Kong Golf Club is a unique and special place which I have enjoyed playing on many occasions. There are likely to be some players in the field who have come through the Faldo Series, both in Europe and Asia, so it will be rewarding to see them first-hand and equally exciting to see the high standard of other young Asian golfers coming through.â€
The Faldo Series Asia involves 11 tournaments in nine different countries, culminating in the grand final at Mission Hills, China on December 12-14.
I remember covering the 1990 Johnnie Walker Classic, which was the inaugural tournament, held in Hong Kong when I was a reporter at the South China Morning Post.
Faldo went on to win the event, shooting a then-course record of 62 in the third round.
Meanwhile, in Jakarta, England’s Lee Westwood, finished joint third in the Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational.
Westwood closed with a two-under-par 70 for a four-round total of 272 to finish three strokes behind Filipino Juvic Pagunsan, who claimed his maiden triumph.
Sharing third place with Westwood was American Anthony Kang while India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar was second on 270.
