Live at the Ballantines
Wednesday 12th March 2008
Wednesday March 12
The European Tour is set for its first ever tournament in South Korea, the
Ballantines Championship, which starts tomorrow at the Pinx Golf Club on
Jeju Island, 60 miles off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula.
A volcanic island in the Yellow Sea, Jeju – or 'Island of the Gods' - is a
popular retreat for Korean and Japanese honeymooners in particular, but
getting here from the west can be complicated. Living proof of that comes
from American Chris DiMarco, who has come to Korea for a change of scenery
in the hope of ending the worst spell of form he has endured in his 18 years
on Tour. DiMarco and his wife Amy travelled from their home in Orlando via
Los Angeles and Seoul to reach Jeju after a three-flight, 31-hour journey.
The irony is that DiMarco is skipping one of his hometown tournaments to be
here, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, which is no more than 31
minutes from home, door to door. It's a 14-hour time difference between
Florida and Jeju, but you never know, the dulling effects of jet lag might
just end what the former Ryder Cupper describes as the hardest five months
of this career.
Sandy Lyle has also made the trip to Jeju, straight from his Champions Tour
debut in California, but he missed his flight from L.A. to Seoul because he
presumed his Monday flight was 12:10pm, when in fact the itinerary read
12:10am. The Scot missed his flight by 10 hours, turned up a day late and
missed the tournament's opening gala dinner on Tuesday, at which he was
scheduled to co-host in his kilt as the tournament's official ambassador. He
missed the only time this week that haggis will appear on the menu.
Pinx is highly regarded in the Far East, and provides the European Tour an
attractive setting perched on a hillside at an altitude of 430 metres. The
course offers views over thick pine forests that run down to the base of the
bulbous Mount Halla in the distance, which is South Korea's highest mountain
with a summit 1,950 metres above sea level.
South Korea in mid-March has little of the 40-degree heat and high humidity
of the summer months, particularly at this altitude, where the generally
breezy weather this week could be the sternest defence of the golf course.
Local hero and world number five KJ Choi is hoping the forecast for
worsening weather will be proved wrong, so the event can serve as a
sun-drenched showcase for his homeland's golf, whereas Padraig Harrington,
the highest ranked European in the field, would prefer the wind and rain to
blow into the island to offer the Irishman home comforts of his own.
