By Joy Chakravarty
If the 120 participants of this year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, to be held at New Zealand’s famous Te Arai Links, are looking for any added motivation, they just need to think of Ryan Fox.
The Kiwi star, winner of The Open in sensational fashion at Royal Birkdale this summer, stands for every ethos with which the Asia-Pacific Amateur was created. As an amateur, he took part in the first three editions of the Championship. He missed the cut in the inaugural Championship and then improved to T-34 in 2010 and T-17 in 2011 before turning pro the following year.
Now a major champion, the 39-year-old has fond memories of the Asia-Pacific Amateur and how it prepared him for life as a successful professional.
“Before the AAC, nobody treated us that well in any Championship that we played. They made us feel special and they made us dream. After all, we had a one-in-120 chance of getting into the Masters, and later The Open, and we never thought we would have that opportunity,” reminisces Fox.
"The AAC . . . made us feel special and they made us dream."
Just to make the Fox connection to this year’s Championship even stronger, he is a long-time member of Te Arai Links and someone who is familiar with every square inch of the stunning property. He also holds the course record (60) on the South Course, the same course that will host the Championship.
Fox took some time to explain the challenges that players will face at Te Arai later this month:
A true links course
“I’m lucky enough to be attached to Te Arai Links and have played there a significant amount since it opened a few years ago now. It has evolved quite nicely as a golf course. It’s a links golf course through and through, and it’s definitely firmed up and sped up a little bit over the last couple of years.
“In terms of playing there, expect to hit a lot of links-style golf shots. You are going to get some pins that you can’t get to on the greens. I wouldn’t say the greens at the South Course are overly severe, but they are definitely firm.
“There definitely will be some wind and you are going to have some shots that you kind of have to be conservative with. You can’t get close.
“You know we haven’t seen some of the pins that they will have in the tournament. However, having played there a lot, there are definitely some spots that can challenge the players. They can tuck them in places they wouldn’t on any normal day out there.
“It’s just a great part of the world to play golf. They’ve got all the facilities up there now, some great restaurants, and it’s a pretty special piece of land. It’s built on sand, which is the perfect land for golf.
“The cool thing about that kind of turf is you can do anything. You can use the lob wedge and spin it or you can bump it into the banks and trust it’s going to bounce. If you’re a bit worried about something, you can putt it from the fairways too.”
Be prepared for the wind
“Being October in New Zealand, I would expect at least a couple of days of wind out there. It’s a very unsettled time of the year. It’s not overly cold but you can get some wind and some rain. The golf course is designed to be played in those conditions anyway, so I think everyone would quite like to see a bit of wind to test the guys.
“It’s not overly long, but obviously with the winds, there are some pretty strong holes out there when they play into the wind. The prevailing wind that time of year should be southwest.”
A softer front nine
“I think holes one and two will be quite sneaky out of the gate. One is a nice first tee shot. It normally feels like a nice birdie hole, but into a strong southwestern, it would be hard for the guys to get there in two. The second is a very strong par four playing back into the wind.
“If the wind is off the southwest, the rest of the front nine tends to play a bit down. You have got the beach on the right and everything is kind of pushing you towards the beach. If you miss fairways around there, it’s a lottery. There’s no rough; it’s all wasteland. You can get very lucky and have a shot out of there or you can get severely penalized. I feel like guys will be able to score around the front nine nicely.
Te Arai South Course, Hole No. 1
Ricky Robinson
Back nine will be a tough ask
“On the back nine, 11th is a really strong hole. Wide tee shot, but you know, with this southwestern, it will be down off the right, leaving a half-blind second shot from the right-hand side to a very strong green. Once you turn back into the wind – if it’s that southwestern – Nos. 15, 16, 17, 18 will all be straight into the wind.
“No. 16, if the wind’s the other way, it’s almost drivable, but it’s a pretty severe green into the wind. Some big slopes there and a big drop-off into a waste bunker on the right if you miss it on that side.
“No. 17 will be the feature hole of the week. There are two par threes that are very good ones – the fifth and the 17th – which will be a pivotal hole in any tournament. It can be a lob wedge, but the green is probably 40-something yards long and it’s very narrow with some nasty bunkers. Playing into the wind to a back pin, you can see the guys hitting six or seven irons in there and trying to flight it low.
“The 18th, if it plays into the wind like it should during that time of year, is a very strong hole. If it plays downwind, it’s a gettable par 5. But into the wind, with the beach on your left and some waste area that you don’t want to be in, could be a 3-wood, or a 2-iron shot in.”
Te Arai South Course, Hole No. 17
Ricky Robinson
Key hole
“I think No. 14 will be pivotal in the tournament, being a drivable par four. You can get a two, or a five/six because it is a very tough chip if you miss it in the wrong place.
“There are a couple of bunkers protecting the front-left pin and there is a big drop-off on the right of the green. It’s a really nice risk-reward hole. Even if you do lay it up, it’s not an easy hole. It’s not a very easy wedge shot to get the ball close.”
Te Arai Links South Course, Hole No. 14
Ricky Robinson
Green complexes make you think
“They are not too funky. There are definitely some slopes in them, some that will take you away from the pin, and some you can use to get the ball close to the hole. Having said that, there will be some pins that will be very hard to get to in the tournament if they do what I think they’re going to do. There are some pins next to slopes that, if you miss on the wrong side, it will run a decent way off the green.”
Waste bunkers must be avoided
“There are no pot bunkers on the course, but there are some bunkers on the golf course and some fairway bunkers. We call them bunkers but they play as waste areas for us normally. There’s no rakes, and you kind of smooth it over with your feet. In general play, if you’re in a footprint, you get to place the ball. I’m sure there will be slightly different rules for the AAC, but there are many bunkers you don’t want to be in, both around the greens and in the fairways.”
