Local Pros look for home advantage
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
BIG HIT: 2009 New Calendonia Championships leader Fabrice Ho smashes a drive on his way to a new course record at Golf de Tina in Noumea.
Tina Golf Club Professional Fabrice Ho will tee it up in the South Pacific Golf Open Championship this week.
With the home advantage, Ho has extensive knowledge and experience of the course that will make him a contender this week.
“It will give me an advantage with the wind, without wind all the guys have yardage books and play quite easily on this course, but with the wind is very different,” said Ho.
But to win any PGA Tour of Australasia tournament course knowledge is not enough. You must have the talent to match it with Ho proving himself in past years.
“My best score in practice is 61 but during a tournament is 65,” said Ho of his lowest score around Tina Golf Course.
“I didn’t practice too much this year, just practiced for the last two weeks. My long game is pretty good but my short game is average, so I have to practice again today on my short game, a little bit, to fix it.”
“My goal is to finish top 10 and try to have a good low round under 65,” he added.
Usually playing as a par 72, this year the course has been set up as a par 71 with the usual 410 meter par 5 16th being dropped back to a par 4 for the South Pacific Golf Open Championship.
Ho believes that a player who hits the ball well of the tee but is also hot with the putter will be in contention this week and has been impressed with defending champion Matt Griffin.
“Good driver and a good putter that’s it, I played with Matt Griffin Saturday and he impressed me in putting so if he is on the ball with his long game he will be good.”
Other local favourites in the field this week include Adrien Peres, Kevin Bosio, Jean-Louis Guepy, Jean-Michel Ribera and Florian Garnier (am).