Tianan confirmed for Beijing Leg

The Omega China Tour has confirmed that the Tianan Golf Club will host the finale to the 2006 season. The Beijing Leg will be staged at the new course in the capital's Chaoyuang District from October 26th to 29th, offering one of Chinese golf's pathfinders a chance to give back to the game.

In 1997 Cheng Jun, who is now a part-owner and General Manager of the Board at the Tianan Club, became the first Chinese player to win an international event when he lifted the Volvo China Open trophy. The significance of his win was recently summed up perfectly by Zhang Lianwei, the 41-year-old great who himself has set so many firsts for Chinese golf.

"Cheng Jun IS the history of golf in China, I'm following him and after me, it's Liang Wenchong," said Zhang, the first Chinese player to win a European PGA Tour event and the first to tee up at the US Masters.

That it is Zhang, and not Cheng, who is China's best known player around the world is the reason why Cheng was the driving force in Tianan becoming the host for the last of this year's six Omega China Tour events. Deprived of the kind of opportunities that the tour now offers, Cheng turned his attention to the golf business rather than the tournament play that still, to this day, remains closest to the 37-year-old's heart. Now, in offering his course as a host venue, he is able to play a small part in helping today's players get the chance he desperately needed 10 or 15 years ago.

"They are really lucky to have this tour. I really wish I'd had the same opportunity when I was younger. Definitely my career would have been different," he declares. "Back then there were no tournaments. There was only one each year. Now there are more and more. There's the Omega China Tour and all the Asian Tour events coming into China. Back then it was impossible to earn a living from playing tournament golf. It has changed a lot in the past 15 years. Now players still can't earn a living only from golf tournaments - maybe the top 10 can, but the rest can't - but I believe with the Omega China Tour growing and the golf market developing in China it will become possible for more and more players."

Cheng, who has played three events on the Omega China Tour with his 49th place in June's Shandong Leg his best finish, has also been able to see how the Tour's policy of setting its courses to be as tough as any on the Asian Tour has helped hone the technique and sharpen the competitive edge of the three fellow professionals who are based at the Tianan Golf Club.

"Huang Yonghuan, Zhang Meng and Zheng Shaoguang have all taken part in the Omega China Tour, and I've seen them improve a lot both in their golf skills and also through their experience in playing in these tournaments. You can see it just in their rankings. I think they're really lucky to have tournaments like these," Cheng says.

"I think it's a good thing to have a fairly difficult course set-up. It's good for the Chinese players. Maybe you can't tell from the scores, but everyone knows they have improved a lot through the experience gained through playing courses that are set-up to play so hard.
I am totally behind the tour. I am a believer. I believe in what the Omega China Tour is trying to achieve. I believe in the need to provide a core of events in which China's best players can improve and I believe that our course should play a part in that. We want to show how great our support is for the tour. October is the high season for golf in Beijing and I imagine some clubs would be reluctant to host an event at that time, because they would be thinking of the revenue they would be losing, but we aren't thinking that way."

The Omega China Tour - Beijing Leg (which like all events on the Tour has prize money of US$100,000) will be the first professional tournament staged at the Tianan club, which Cheng himself helped design. Set in open parkland, Tianan has three nine-hole set-ups and the Beijing Leg will be held on the B and C courses which combine for a 6,993 yard par 72 track.

"It's quite flat, the Beijing area is like that of course, but we've created many humps and bumps to make it more interesting and we've put in a great variety of trees and plants to make it beautiful all year round. We've also added water in places to make it more challenging," said Cheng of his pride and joy, which opened in 2005.

The Omega China Tour resumes at the end of August with the fourth event of the year - the Shanghai Leg - at the Grand Shanghai Golf and Holiday Resort followed by a trip to Yunnan Province for the Kunming Leg before heading to Beijing. Zhang Lianwei currently leads the Omega Order of Merit having filled each of the top three places in the opening three legs, including his first win since 2003 in the Zhuhai Leg. However, with Zhang committed to play two events on America's PGA Tour in August followed by a September appearance on the European Tour's BMW International, the door is open for 2005 Order of Merit winner Li Chao to take over the lead. 26-year-old Li, moved into second place after his dramatic victory in Shandong last month and needs a top-two finish to move ahead of Zhang in the prize money.

2006 Omega China Tour Schedule

6th to 9th April 2006 - Hainan Leg, Kangle Garden Spa & Golf Club. Winner: Liang Wenchong
11th to 14th May 2006 - Zhuhai Leg, Golden Gulf Golf Club. Winner: Zhang Lianwei
15th to 18th June 2006 - Shandong Leg, Tiger Beach Golf Links. Winner: Li Chao
31st Aug to 3rd Sept 2006 - Shanghai Leg, Grand Shanghai International Golf Resort
21st to 24th Sept 2006 - Kunming Leg, Kunming Country Golf Club
26th to 29th October 2006 - Beijing Leg, Tianan Golf Club

August 1, 2006

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