NEW SOFTEST. LONGEST. STRAIGHTEST. AVAILABLE IN 7 COLORS SOFTEST CLAIM: BASED UPON INTERNAL BALL COMPRESSION TESTING PERFORMED AT WILSON INNOVATION CENTER ON 3/14/17. DISTANCE AND SPIN CLAIMS BASED UPON INTERNAL FLIGHT TESTING PERFORMED AT WILSON’S RESEARCH TEST FACILITY IN HUMBOLDT, TN ON 5/20/17. (90 MPH DRIVER TEST) 218 ISSUE NOVEMBER 2018 Greg Norman who is an old Asia-hand is very bullish about the future of golf in Asia and his assessment of the region is based on solid facts combined with his stepped up busi- ness activity on the Continent. Generally speaking, he is bullish about golf, PERIOD! It is most encouraging to hear a golf great and arguably one of the most respected entrepre- neurs in sports speak about golf with such optimism. It comes as a breath of fresh air after 16 years of the industry languishing in a state of laggardness. Read his full interview inside. Q EQUIPMENT FOCUS 12 POWER FOR THE FEET! Adidas giant has announced a change to the adipower range which essentially incorpo- rates a new forging process as part of the design. This feature is intended to provide extra stability for golfers throughout the swing. 40 A POUND FOR POUND CHAMP! Tour Edge has always been a little guy amongst the heavyweights in the club equip- ment sector of the golf industry. However, it 12 now proudly claims that its new EXS driver has no match – the marketing tagline says it all – “Pound for Pound, Nothing Else Comes Close!” Quite a bombastic boast from a small company! 46 WILSON UPS THE ANTE WITH A NEW BALL! The new Wilson Staff DUO Professional golf ball has been designed to take tour- level performance with great feel to new heights and it is expected to further advance the ongoing success of the famous DUO line. Q SPECIAL FEATURE 28 ASIA’S COMMUNITY OF EXCELLENCE GROWS! 58 The cream has risen to the top and the moment has almost arrived when the most popular golf clubs in the Asia Pacifi c will be unveiled at the glitzy 2018 Asian Golf Awards during the staging of the 2018 Asia Pacifi c Golf Summit at the brand new fi ve-star Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit in Thailand on November 3. 50 THE GOLD STANDARD IN GOLFING EXPERIENCES With over 30,000 golf courses in the world, it cannot be said that golfers are not spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding where to play a round of golf. Although there are many to choose from, it always helps if there is a way to make a good decision and pick the right course to play at. Given this scenario, ASIAN GOLF has partnered with IMG which designs, operates and 66 manages quality golf courses in Asia and elsewhere. 58 HOME TO AN AWARD-WINNING GOLF COURSE Central to a show-piece development called KN Paradise in Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam, it will feature a massive integrated resort venture that will include an array of upscale villas for sale, a gaming complex, a private beach club and an awarding winning golf course – the KN Golf Links Cam Ranh. 66 ASIAN AMATEURS ROCK AT APAC 2018! The 10th Asia Pacifi c Amateur Championship (APAC) was held at the award- winning Sentosa Golf Club in October and it was a huge success. What was especially signifi cant about the championship this time around was the qual- ity of play displayed by Asian players and the way they dominated the tourna- 72 ment. Unlike the early years of the tournament where players from Australia and New Zealand dominated, this was not the case this year. 72 A NIGHTMARE TO BE FORGOTTEN! Against a bellicose setting of shouts of allez, allez, allez, Team Europe rolled to a clear 17.5 -10.5 victory after entering the fi nal round leading 10-6. The win saw Team Europe take back the trophy after losing it two years ago and kept the U.S. from winning on European soil for the fi rst time since 1993. 78 KOREA STAMPS ITS SUPERIORITY IN WOMEN’S GOLF! It gained this prestigious honour when Team Korea outplayed seven other teams representing the United States, England, Sweden, Australia, Thailand, 78 Japan and Taiwan to emerge as the winner of the UL International Crown which was played in Incheon, Korea in October. 82 THE COOL DUDE IS THE TOP DOG! Brooks Koepka has earned the 2018 PGA TOUR Player of the Year award, as voted on by the TOUR’s membership for the 2017-18 season. It could not have been given to a more deserving guy! 86 BATTLE ROYALE LOOMS DOWN UNDER! Team competitions often bring out the best from athletes, especially when they proudly adorn their national colours to represent their countries. Such a privilege can evoke an overfl ow of passion, competitive spirit and pride that subsequently create a wonderful theatre for sports fans to enjoy and 86 celebrate. Q REGULARS 6 EDITORIAL TEAM | 8 SHARED THOUGHTS: FROM PUBLISHER | MEDIA HYPE IS SYMPTOMATIC OF GOLF’S PROBLEMS ECCO BIOM® HYBRID 3 WITH TRI-FI-GRIP™ AND GORE-TEX® CONSTRUCTION Mike Sebastian INTERNATIONAL ROVING EDITOR Editor/Chief Executive Offi cer [mike@asiapacifi cgolfgroup.com] Alan Campbell (China/Middle East) Correspondent GLOBAL EDITORIAL ADVISORY PANEL Angela Raymond President Gregg Patterson [angela@asiapacifi cgolfgroup.com] President, Tribal Magic Inc. Andrew Wood Founder/President, Legendary Marketing James Prusa Raquel Arcega President, James Graham Prusa Associates Executive Creative Art Director [raquel@asiapacifi cgolfgroup.com] James Cronk President, Cronk Group ROTATIONAL SUPPORT · STABILITY · DURABILITY Digital Services Tech-Know Integrators Alice Ho Business Executive [alice@asiapacifi cgolfgroup.com] SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR Tony Meechai (Black Hat Golf Tips -Thailand Myra Paras INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Accounts Executive [myra@asiapacifi cgolfgroup.com] Alice Ho Email: alice@asiapacifi cgolfgroup.com 100% waterproof GORE-TEX® ECCO Tri-Fi-Grip® outsole technology ECCO YAK leather upper ASIA PACIFIC GOLF GROUP(2014) PTE LTD construction and for excellent grip, stability, for increased breathability 1 Yishun Industrial Street 1, #07-23 A’posh Bizhub, Singapore 768160 HYDROMAX® treated leather. durability & flexibility. and durability. Tel: +65 6323 2800 | Fax: +65 6323 2838 Company Registration No.: 201405689G ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of Asian Golf may be reproduced in any other publications, printed or published without the written permission of the publisher. Opinions in Asian Golf are the writers’ and are not necessarily endorsed by Asian Golf. Asian Golf accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, transparencies or other materials. golf.ecco.com Manuscripts, photographs and artwork will not be returned unless accompanied by appropriate postage. hile everyone was very happy to see Tiger recover the winner’s circle after a 5-year hiatus, his victory at the 2018 Tour Championship had the general media over-the-top obsessing to make it into the ‘greatest comeback’ in sports. The media Wfrenzy that ensued from East Lake upon Tiger’s Tour Championship win is symptomatic of golf’s problems. Too few ‘golf writers’ devoted to the game exist today – lack of competitive, familiar writing means just a few news services now push out the stories that then reverberate around the world. Where scores of competitive ‘golf writers’ once had individual relationships with the pros, hardly anyone personally knows them today. The end result is photocopied hype that’s borderline ‘fake news!’ The redundancy from week-to-week by the uncompetitive, corporate media wires STRONG COMPETITION WORLD- is strikingly focusing on only a few players while so many WIDE IS MAKING THE YOUNG PRO great, local stories are ignored. Syndication has reduced the competition via fewer TOUR RANKS HEALTHIER THAN EVER. individual, devoted golf media, just as greedy cost cutting WHAT GOLF NEEDS IS A COLOSSAL DOSE creates cookie-cutter, hyped management of golf courses too. Golf media has become ‘reverberation’ – fl irting with OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION IN ITS simultaneous ‘fake golf’ and ‘fake golf course business.’ MEDIA – AND IN ITS GOLF COURSE, CLUB Greg Norman, World Golf Hall of Fame member, suc- cinctly summed it up in a recent Yahoo Sportsbook podcast MANAGEMENT TOO. on Tiger’s Tour Championship win, “It’s good for the game, no question. But I hope they don’t put all their eggs in one sustained very critical injuries, yet the golf writers in those basket again and be all Tiger and forget about all this other days did not just focus on him (to the neglect of others) wonderful, fantastic talent – even coming out of Korea and and his subsequent 1950 US Open comeback victory only Japan and South Africa and Australia. There is an unbe- sixteen months after his horrifi c injuries. Hogan and the lievable amount of talent bubbling up around the world, and media recouped in stride. Certainly no one – Tiger included I’d hate to see them get lost in that Tiger talk.” – comes close to the heroic ‘comeback’ of Ben Hogan. Are USA-centric wire service writers just too lazy to be With so few dedicated ‘golf writers’ today, the media creative in going out and fi nding exciting, informative golf hyperventilates ‘hype’ while failing to inform the public stories? Are there any ‘golf’ writers left? The sports media about a legion of up-and-coming, talented players or is non-competitive today and it’s why it sounds like an echo about the real golf business worldwide. Is it ‘fake?’ cave. All the eggs are in one, non-competitive basket. American golf writers of the golden era like Herb Graffi s, Champion golfers and those who produce great golf Herbert Warren Wind, Charley Price, O.B.