Jul30 ollie’scourse

Double US Masters winner José Maria Olazábal will be a proud man when he re-visits Mission Hills Golf Club in China – the world’s largest single golf venue (it’s the home of a staggering 216 holes of golf!) – in November.

The 41-year-old Spaniard is already looking forward to the end-of-year Omega Mission Hills World Cup event which is set to take place on his own 7,400 yards masterpiece where top players from 28 nations battle it out on November 22-25.

Now, as the driving force behind the Olazábal Course at Mission Hills, Ryder Cup hero ‘Ollie’ believes that the 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup will rubber-stamp China’s Olympic credentials.

He said: “I remember going to Mission Hills in 2002 to check out the course routing and being told that my course and four others had to be finished within one year. I thought: ‘Five courses in a year? No way!’ But it happened, which made me realise why China could handle the task of staging the Olympic Games.

“They brought in about 3,000 workers and 600 machines to move the earth and, sure enough, the courses were completed on time. I have to say I was impressed!”

Olazábal believes that his course will deliver a fair but stern challenge, adding: “I hope the players enjoy the course and the challenges facing them. For example, the change in elevation is one of the key factors.

“There are many shots where you find yourself driving off elevated tees or playing approaches to elevated greens. The bunkering is another feature of the course and there is a little bit of water, especially to the left of the 18th which is a little left to right dog-leg with a bale out collection area to the right of the green.”