After a couple of weeks off In Atlanta I was ready to get back into tournament mode and the first stop was Suzhou, China for the Suzhou Open back on the PGA Tour China Series.
Upon arriving to the city, we were all very impressed with the modern architecture mixed in with the more traditional style that has been years for some time. Some people refer to this city as ‘The Venice of China’.
The Course was called Jinji Lake Golf Club and it was presented in excellent condition surrounded by Jinji Lake and cityscape views. The front 9 was a nice resort style layout with clean edged manicuring and a modern look, whilst the back 9 looked as though it was something that belonged on a Scottish Links.
The first round of the tournament was an interesting one for me. I got off to a solid start and was 1 under par through 3 holes but as the rain started and wind picked up I struggled a little and made 3 bogeys in a row. I rallied a little further only to make a quadruple, 8 from the middle of the fairway on 18. In my defence, The 450m par 4 18th was playing straight into the wind and rain and I had to hit 3 wood to get all the way to the flag… For some reference, I hit 9 iron into that green the following two days. That saw me make the turn at 6 over par with plenty of work to do. I rallied a little on the back 9 with 3 birdies and 2 bogeys to shoot a mixed feelings 5 over par, 77.
The second round left me a pretty simple equation, make birdies and shot a low round. I did just that playing really nicely and shooting a very solid 6 under 66 to finish at -1 for two days which saw me in a tie for 44th after two rounds.
Rounds 3 and 4 were very much of the same, seeing some tangible results from my game which I have felt coming into a good place for a little while now. I shot rounds of 67 and 69 over the weekend to finish at 9 under par and a tie for 22nd. An even more encouraging stat was that for the last 63 holes of the tournament I was -15 and only made 3 bogeys. Needless to say I am very encouraged with the direction my game is heading as it has been a slow start results-wise to the year but such is the nature of this game. I am looking forward to the events coming up and hope to continue this good play.
My next event is the Huangshan Championship on the PGA Tour China Series on June 20-23 at the Hidden Tiger Golf Course in Huangshan, China.
Tim Stewart Golf 