2007 China Tour Shanghai Leg - About the Grand Shanghai course

A proud winner of a variety of awards, the Grand Shanghai course has been recognised for everything from the character of its fairways, the natural environment, the distinctiveness of its finishing hole and for being among the best courses in China. It is also renowned for the freshwater hairy crabs that are the delicacy of the famous Yancheng Lake and the Yancheng East Lakes, on the banks of which the Grand Shanghai Resort is built.

The course was completed in 1996, but only after extensive excavation. Most of the original site was paddy fields standing only 15cm above the high-water level of the two lakes. The rolling contours all came from the digging of the channels and lagoons around the course

Designed by the GolfPlan partnership of Ronald Fream and David Dale, the course features one of the most memorable finishes of any course in the People's Republic: a 534-yard par 5 with an island green that deservedly has its own permanent grandstand.

Card of the Course

Hole	Yards	Metres	Par
1	548	501	5
2	420	384	4
3	233	213	 3 
4	438	401	4
5	166	152	3
6	402	368	4
7	382	349	4
8	353	323	4
9	524	479	5
Out	3466	3170	36
			
10	408	373	4
11	392	358	4
12	176	161	3
13	466	426	4
14	580	530	5
15	210	192	3
16	389	356	4
17	445	407	4
18	534	488	5
In	3600	3291	36
			
Total	7066	6461	72

Course designers: Golfplan - Ronald Fream and David Dale
Fairways: Tifway (419) Hybrid Bermuda grass
Greens: Tifdwarf

For more details about the course, click here for GolfToday's Course Guide to China

Hole-by-hole:

Hole 1 Par 5 548 yards: An immediate birdie chance for the professionals. By their standards it's a short hole, and for almost all of them it's reachable in two shots. The green is large although well-protected at the front and left by bunkers. While the green on the whole is not particularly difficult there are two potential pin positions that could change the nature of the hole. Flags set either back-left or front-right could make things more awkward.

Hole 2 Par 4 420 yards: With the rough struggling to grow thick in the summer heat, many holes have a safer side where a player can afford to miss the fairway. On the second you have to avoid the bunker and water on the left, particularly as the sand-trap has some vicious long grass in the middle. The right-hand side offers more forgiveness. With the prevailing wind helping, the players could easily be hitting as little as a wedge into the green.

Hole 3 Par 3 233 yards: The third is a tough hole. It's long, and worse still often plays into the wind. The L-shaped green ironically plays hardest at the front where the target area is half the size and there are some big breaks and difficult reads. In comparison the rear portion of the green appears to be more straightforward.

Hole 4 Par 4 438 yards: Like the second hole, the fourth needs a drive that avoids water down the left. However the fourth hole is one of the places where the rough has thrived, and hitting into the rough in the hollows on the right could cost a shot. The green is another L-shaped one, where the front position might be the hardest. Missing to either side leaves a chip that is quite difficult to get close to the hole. In fact each of the potential pin placements offer a relatively small target area, so this hole will probably need an accurate approach shot before it yields any birdies.

Hole 5 Par 3 166 yards: Club selection might be the biggest issue on this hole, because the green is huge; measuring around 50 yards from front to back it's a three-day camel ride if you get the distance wrong. While the picturesque rock wall might scare the living daylights out of us hackers, it shouldn't worry the pros who will look at this as a birdie chance.

Hole 6 Par 4 402 yards: A dog-leg left, this hole would be a lot trickier if it weren't for the fact that a lot of the players are long enough off the tee to take the huge fairway bunker on the left out of the equation. Any drive longer than 260 yards will leave a wedge into the green. This is a hole that will only really show its teeth when the wind blows.

Hole 7 Par 4 382 yards: With water and three large bunkers down the right, this is a hole where you must stay to the left from the tee, especially as the route to the green is more open from that side. Again a good tee shot will only leave a wedge and, as the putting surface is relatively flat, players should be aiming to pick up a shot here.

Hole 8 Par 4 353 yards: Proof that you don't need length and lots of bells and whistles to make a good golf hole. This par 4 is short and it has only one bunker. But there's water down the right, which cuts in between the end of the fairway and the green, making the tee shot all about positioning. Your driver has to be on the left and the wedge has to be accurate over rocks and sand because the 8th is one of the nastiest greens on the course. Welcome to three-putt hell!

Hole 9 Par 5 524 yards: A chance to quickly make amends. The pros can easily reach the green in two shots, indeed many of them may be hitting five irons or less! However there are risks involved. A huge patch of sand bordered by long rough waits for anything that lands short of the putting surface. There's also a really steep ridge across the front half of the green, which means that, when the pin is at the front, any approach hit long is almost a sure-fire three putt. In comparison, if the pin is at the back, expect a flood of birdies.

Hole 10 Par 4 408 yards: A gentle start to the back nine, the tenth normally plays downwind, so it could be as little as driver and a wedge. Whether the hole plays easily or not, depends on the pin position.

Hole 11 Par 4 392 yards: Some of the pros have this down as an easy hole. It's not particularly long - most will hit a wedge for their second shot, and the green is quite flat. Expect to see the flag placed close to the bunker that guards the front of the putting area.

Hole 12 Par 3 176 yards: For the average duffer this hole is something of a nightmare. There's enough sand to cause a shortage in the Sahara and plenty of knee-high rough. However it is unlikely to cause the Omega China Tour's professionals too much trouble. The green is large, flat and there is a little extra room between the bunker and the front of the putting surface. Expect birdies.

Hole 13 Par 4 466 yards: Another hole that is worthy of a nod of appreciation to the designers Golfplan. Not a single bunker and the water down the left is not really a threat, and yet this is a challenge. It's not just the length, but the design of the green which has all sorts of dips and holes surrounding it to funnel away all but the most accurate approach shots. The putting area also has a steep tier across it, making getting the ball onto the same section as the flag of paramount importance.

Hole 14 Par 5 580 yards: The long hitters will have a big advantage on this relatively straightforward par 5. For them it is reachable in two. For the rest, the important thing is to position the second shot on the left of the fairway to open up the route to the green and to take the bunkers on the right out of the equation.

Hole 15 Par 3 210 yards: This long par 3 completely changes its complexity depending on the pin position. The friendly placements for the weekend warrior would be lapped up by the pros. It's a wide, open green and for them it requires something like a five iron. But, once the pin is placed on the small plateau on the left-hand side, tucked in close to the bunkers where the water also becomes more of a threat, it's a different ball game.

Hole 16 Par 4 389 yards: For the players driving beyond 260 yards this is a birdie chance. Clearing the fairway bunker on the left, opens up the green for the approach shot, which will be a nine iron or wedge. The green is not the hardest on the course either, although there are a couple of places where they could hide the flag just to make things more interesting.

Hole 17 Par 4 445 yards: The closing holes play tougher when the wind picks up, as it normally blows down their length, or across them. If it's still, then it could be an 8 iron or less for a second shot. A little bit of breeze could bring a slight bottleneck in the fairway into consideration. With water down the left the better mistake is to miss on the right with the tee shot, but the rough is relatively lush here and could cause trouble.

Hole 18 Par 5 534 yards: The signature hole of the course and a great finish for tournament golf. It's short enough to be reachable in two shots, and the island green is flat enough to suggest that there will be some dramatic long putts holed here. At the same time, there are plenty of opportunities for things to go horribly wrong. There's water down the right, and a tricky little tongue of water that cuts in at the end of the fairway on the right, which will catch out players who get too greedy when they are trying to lay up. There could be some dramatic swings of fortune here!

August 8, 2007

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