Weather Plays Havoc at the Ballantine’s

April 23rd, 2010

Amidst heavy downpours and thick fog, the European Tour and The Titleist Tour Team (TTT) arrived on Jeju Island in Korea for the Ballantine’s Championship at the beautiful Pinx Golf Club.

The hope had been that the bad weather – heavy rain, strong wind and thick fog – would pass as the tournament began. However, on Thursday the Tournament Directors decided that almost seven hours of lost play would be impossible to make up, and reduced the Championship to 54 holes.

Click here to view the slideshow

In spite of the bad weather, at the time of writing, Titleist ambassador Tano Goya had shot himself to a joint lead of the tournament after a stunning opening round of 66, closely followed by a 70, to take him to eight under.

Fellow Titleist ambassador Brett “Rummy” Rumford was just one shot behind after completing his second round – check out Brett’s patriotic bag in the slideshow!

The Korean Titleist Tour Support Vehicle was in attendance this week, so the TTT were able to help some players out with their equipment needs.

One visitor was up and coming Korean star and winner of the Maybank Malaysia Open, Seung-yul Noh. The full line Titleist staffer did some Trackman work, showing an impressive 178mph in ballspeed, 120mph in clubhead speed, carrying the ball 285 yards and rolling out to a total of 318 yards! Not bad for just 18 years old!

Noh, pictured signing a cap for a fan, (see slideshow photo 4) uses a 909D3 8.5° with a Fubuki 73x shaft and the new Titleist MB’s with Dynamic Gold X100 shafts. The good news is that he is going to be playing several European Tour events this summer and we expect great things from this young man! If you get the chance, get out to see him!

Staffer Tano Goya was also a visitor to the Korean TTSV, ordering a new driver this week – a 909D2 9.5° also with a Fubuki 73 x shaft. Almost as a sign of what was to come, Tano was looking very good on the range before the start of the tournament – let’s hope he keeps up the form on the course! The driver will be delivered to him next week at the Open de España in Seville.

Ambassador Rick Kulacz was looking at the new Titleist CB irons this week in order to promote a more penetrating ball flight, but wanting to keep some of the forgiveness that he gets from his current AP2 irons! Rick will be spending some more time with the TTT in Seville on the range and in the European TTSV next week to get his optimum specs. He will also pick up a new 60-V Vokey Design wedge.

Swedish staffer Martin Erlandsson is looking for some form this week and opened with a level par round. He was also looking good on the range this week, so we hope that Martin pulls together a good run! Martin has AP2 irons and 50, 54, 58 degree CoC (Condition of Competition) Spin Milled wedges by Vokey. Having had a look at his wedges, Titleist Tour Technician Mattias Jelver will be making some adjustments and delivering a new set to him soon.

After a good finish at the Volvo China Open, Pablo Larrazabal has got off to a promising start at The Ballentine’s. Pablo was happy with his finish last week and was hoping for a better one this week – an opening 69 puts him in a good position to push on!

We also managed to have some fun when Titleist’s Korean Tour Rep Eric Kong got behind the grill to cook us up some local treats! (see slideshow).

We’re hoping that travelling in Europe goes back to normal soon so delays and cancellations are a distant memory! We’ll be on hand in Seville to bring you the inside the ropes scoop on the European Tour! Happy golfing!

Keep in mind that you can now follow us on Twitter too (TitleistEurope)!!! We will be updating on a daily basis from the European Tour. Look out for Titleist Tweets!!

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