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The scenic layout has been upgraded to meet European Tour standards, writesw Adam Main]

The Shanghai Silport layout has been fine-tuned over the past 12 months to meet the rigorous standards imposed by the European Tour, says club general manager Jack Huang.
The long-time veteran of the Shanghai golf scene said George O’Grady, the European Tour deputy executive director, had visited the club during the Volvo China Open last year when it was part of the old Asian PGA Tour circuit. The event has since been upgraded to become a joint-sponsored tournament between the new Asian Tour and the European Tour.

At the time, O’Grady gave his approval to the course but recommended some of the tees be rebuilt and made larger. “Getting O’Grady’s insight was really appreciated,” says Huang. “It has always been (club owner) Beta Soong’s philosophy to continually improve Silport and we have acted on o’Grady’s request.
“We have rebuilt tees or constructed new ones on holes eight, 14,16 and 17. The new tee areas only add about 100 yards in total to the Championship Course but it is enough to bring a new challenge to the holes for the professionals.”

The Championship Course, which measures 7,170 yards, is a par-72 layout made up of the club’s nine-hole West Course and the nine-hole Centre Course. There is also a third nine-hole layout, the East Course, at the 27-hole club. All of the layouts were created by the late Bob J Martin, a former member of the Jack Nicklaus design geam who branched out on his own while working in Asia.

A fourth nine-hole layout, the North Course, is being constructed by designer Roger Packard and will be ready late next year. The American has designed more than 200courses around the world including redesigning parts of Chicago’s famed Medina Club when it hosted the 1990 US Open.
Huang says it will be vital for the European and Asia Tour pros to keep the ball in the fairway if they are to scire well as the club has bee letting the rough grow since September. Other challenges are water as the wet stuff comes into play in some form on all 18 holes and the wasteland bunkers which lie in wait throughout the resort style course.


“We have let the rough grow up to about six inches (15.2 centimetres) but it is actually not as bad as it sounds. At this time of the year, the grass surrounding the fairways goes dormant and it is possible to get a good shot out of there. It would be more difficult in the summer months.

“The greens will be fairly fast. We use TifDwarfon the greens and it’s a thick-bladed grass which makes the texture of the putting surface very firm. The greens will be about 10 to 11 on the stimp Meter. For members’ play, it is 6.5 to 7 usually,” Huang say.

The club has also added about 100 trees throughout the course as part of its continual efforts to improve the layout. “These new trees likely won’t make much of a difference to the layout this year, but it will be a different experience in 10 years when these trees are mature and become more of a factor in influencing play.”

Huang says the first five years of the club’s hosting of the Volvo China Open has been a good experience for the added demands that come with this year’s event. More than 5,000 people are expected for the final day, double that of last year, the media personnel will be anywhere from 80 to 100, triple that of last year, and a higher standard is generally expected overall.


“We have had to bring in more than 30 phone lines to accommodate the media and provide more coverage from Chinese broadcasters as well as more international coverage from broadcasters such as the Golf Channel and the European Tour broadcast.

“We have also had to rope off all 18 holes, something we have never had to do in the past. But we are bringing in 30 students involved in a golf MBA programme at Tongji University to help with the marshalling of the event as well as crowd control,” Huang said.

“There is also greater demands on our food and beverage staff. The European Tour people want an executive dining area while some of the players have special requests for western foods. In addition, there is the public gallery to look after.
“We are expecting a big crowd this year. But this is something we have been preparing for in the last six years and we will be ready to accommodate them.”

South China Morning Post November 25-28, 2004