The lot of young professional golfers, especially from these parts these days, as they endeavour to secure a spot on any of the world‘s leading tours, usually entails an enormous amount of travel. Scanning the widely various global locations our leading players were in last week underlies the itinerant nature of this sport.
We had Kazuma Kobori, our newest addition to the men’s professional ranks, playing in the Kenya Open in Nairobi; Ryan Fox was in Mexico, the latest stop on the USPGA Tour; Nic Voke was making a very successful fist of things winning the latest tournament on the Australasian Tour; Momoka Kobori, Kazuma’s older sister, is playing on the European Ladies Tour; Lydia Ko and Fiona Xu, the NZ pair competing on the USLPGA tour which is currently playing a series of its events in Asia; Daniel Hillier, like Kobori, a regular now on the DP World Tour, has spent the last 3 weeks competing in the Middle East but is now in Queenstown playing the NZ Open before returning to the DP World Tour which heads to South Africa for the next couple of weeks then off to Singapore Tour. I guess if you’re a member of this Tour, like Kobori and Hillier, and even if you’re not making a lot of money, you are certainly clocking up a lot of air miles.
None of these players, incidentally, have any of their travel paid. Air fares, accommodation and any other costs incurred getting yourself and your clubs from one tournament to the next are your costs. There are no free lunches in the world of professional golf. Sure, your potential earnings can be enormous, but it is also a costly business which is why there is such a high turnover rate. If your game isn’t up to scratch, you will run out of money quickly. Certainly many promising youngsters
initially attract sponsorship in their rookie years, but if your game and standing is going backwards, your days as a touring pro are usually numbered. There has of course been one glaring exception to the above scenario - who else but Tiger Woods. So sensational was his game, even while he was ateenager yet still an amateur, that Nike offered him a US$1million contract the day he turned pro. So even before he had hit his first ball as a pro, he was a golfing millionaire.
Meanwhile back in the real world, the tough grind of life as a touring pro continued for our group of leading Kiwi pros. Not too many of them were in action last week. Ryan Fox’s Mexican sojourn only lasted two rounds, missing the cut by 1 stroke.
Better news from darkest Africa where Kazuma Kobori turned in another excellent display, shooting a final round of 66, 5 under par, to finish in a tie for 31 st place at the Kenyan Open which lifted his earnings so far this season on the DP World Tour to E65,000, close to NZ$100,000. The other really encouraging news around Kobori’s game in Nairobi was his driving and putting. According to the official stats from the Kenyan Open, Kazuma was Number One in driving accuracy and 4 th in putting, two very significant statistics which, if he can maintain those sorts of figures, augurs very well for his future this year.
Kobori isn’t the only feel-good story coming out of NZ golf over the past week. Across the ditch, Kiwi golfer, Nick Voke, whose career to date epitomises the very essence of that nomadic itinerant golfing model referred to above. Well on Sunday he won the Webex Players Series Sydney at the Castle Hill golf club in NSW. Nick, only 30 years of age, has already played on PGA Tours in China, America, Asia and Australasia and picked up A$45,000 for his win in Sydney - and boy, was he in scintillating form, shooting rounds of 66, 64, 67 and 69 to win from Aussie’s Jake McLeod by 1 stroke. If Nick can carry his Australian form into the NZ Open at Millbrook this week, he will be one to watch. Nick’s win in Sydney means Kiwi golfers have now gone back-to-back winners on the Australasian circuit with Josh Geary winning on the same Tour last week in Victoria. So, keep an eye on Voke and Geary this week in the Deep South.
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