Top teacher Andy Leadbetter joins kids at the 6th Guangdong USKG Junior Championships
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Highlights of the second practice day at the 6th Guangdong USKG Junior Championships were firstly an opportunity for the competitors to complete a practice round on the tournament course, secondly a clinic provided by top teacher Andy Leadbetter, and finally a reception for the kids and their parents offered by hosts US Kids Golf.
Demand for early tee-off times on the practice round was fierce, and by ten-o-clock there was already a logjam of enthusiastic competitors waiting for their start. Once on course the groups took their game as seriously as any professional, most of them seizing the opportunity to play several balls on each hole, either to remedy a mishap from tee or fairway, or to try out a few different options in terms of their approach shots.
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A youngster keeps nothing in reserve as he tees off at the first. [China.org.cn] |
The result was a slow round that was taking somewhere in excess of five hours to complete, but there were no signs of impatience, each playing group happy to take their own time and allow the players ahead of them and behind them to do the same.
Those parents who were not fiercely intent on following their young hopeful's progress were likewise happy to take their time. Colin Montgomerie has produced a course that is as much a pleasure to walk round as it is to play. The trees and shrubs that line the fairways produce an air of seclusion and privacy that makes each hole feel like a little world of its own. Exotic birds take advantage of the cover offered by the foliage, and their bright plumage makes its own contribution to the course's palette of colours.
There is a constant presence of water around the course, but it acts more as a discreet companion than a brash interloper. For the most part the extensive lakes run alongside the fairways rather than across them, and they can be avoided with a little care and attention to choice of club and line. Not until the par-5 7th hole are the players asked to hit across the water, and then woe betide anyone who strays a little too far right – the difference in the challenge can be almost a hundred yards of lake.
The name of Andy Leadbetter may not yet be known as well as that of his famous father David. The latter's weatherbeaten face will be familiar to most golfers in most countries around the world as the best golf teacher around. But with a father who carries such a reputation, it would be hard for Andy to be anything less than a supreme practitioner of the art of coaching himself.
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Andy Leadbetter (in blue on the right) provides a few past-minute tips to a group of enthusiastic youngsters. [China.org.cn] |
Andy has been in China with his Golf Academy for three years now, and is in the process of completing a move from his former base at Mission Hills, venue for the Golf World Cup, to a new location, also in Shenzhen, under a new name – Pure Lead Golf. So successful has his time in China been that Andy is also considering further expansion of the business.
He has been joined in China by former European Tour Pro Roger Winchester, and both came along to the Golden Gulf Club on Tuesday to offer last-minute advice to some very fortunate young golfers. Roger has only been in China a matter of weeks, but his experience to date has been more than positive. "The first things I noticed here were how friendly the locals are, and how safe you feel. There's no doubt that I'm looking forward to my time here," he said.
Andy pointed out that he has over forty of his academy students in the field for the event. He emphasised that he had come along to provide a few last minute tips on how to perform well in a tournament, but he and Roger still took the time to give some ten-minute coaching sessions to an enthusiastic queue of youngsters.
The evening's entertainment was provided by US Kids Golf, and presided over by the company's General manager in China, Linda Liao. An informal dinner offered a final opportunity for the young golfers to relax and chat with each other before the serious business begins tomorrow.
The groups of older competitors will tee off at both the first and the tenth holes from 7.30 tomorrow. The last group – the Boys under-6s – will start their nine-hole round from the first at two-o-clock in the afternoon.
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