The US$2 million (about NT$60 million) in prizes awarded at this year’s Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Taiwan Championship is the largest sum ever awarded in Taiwan for a golf tournament. The world’s No. 1 women’s golfer — 22-year-old Yani Tseng —will enjoy a home-course advantage in Taiwan as she joins 79 other women golfers from around the world, including eight of the world’s top 10 women golfers, to vie for the championship prize of US$300,000 (NT$9 million) in a four-day tournament at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club in Taoyuan County starting today. Tseng won the LPGA Hana Bank Championship in South Korea on Oct. 9 for her sixth LPGA Tour victory of the season.
Tseng’s path to success in the world golf arena did not come by chance. Besides having a tenacious and perseverant spirit that constantly guided her in her pursuit of excellence, the Sunrise Golf and Country Club President and Taiwan Golf Association Chairman Hsu Tien-ya also played a major role in her career. For a number of years now, Hsu has spent huge amounts of money and spared no effort in building a solid golf-training foundation for young golfers, promoting the sport of golf, and cultivating young elite golfers based on a holistic educational curriculum, all of which were important elements that paved the way for Tseng’s own fame. She spent nearly six years undergoing the toil and hardships of training at Sunrise before making her professional debut in 2008.
Hsu established the 99 Golf Project under the auspices of Taiwan Golf Association last year in hopes of systematically cloning Tseng’s success and cultivating more talented golfers in Taiwan. Tseng is the first, but will hopefully not be the last, Taiwanese golfer to become the world’s number one.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
In a telephone interview with the Taipei Times on Tuesday, Hsu said it costs about NT$1 million a year to support a young player, which does not include expenses incurred when playing in tournaments abroad. There are 17 young golfers currently receiving training at Sunrise. Last Saturday when the Sunrise Golf and Country Club celebrated its 20th anniversary, two 20-year-old golfers named Huang Tao and Hsieh Chi-hsien, who also started out on the amateur circuit, went on to become professional golfers on the same day. However, playing in professional golf tournaments means spending more money. “It costs more than NT$4 million a year to sponsor someone like Huang Tao, for example,” said Hsu.
Starting next year, the 99 Golf Project plans to hold two auditions and recruit 20 players annually until 60 players have been recruited in all. Hsu said as long as a young player is physically fit, easily comprehends things and responds quickly, they will be eligible to receive training at Sunrise and possibly even go on to become famous golfers in the future. He quickly reminds us, though, that if a golfer does not perform well, he or she will be quickly removed from the program.
A new book by Taiwanese media figure Yang Hsien-hung called Cloning Yani will be published while Taiwan hosts the LPGA Championship. In the book Hsu says that “even if the 99 Golf Project is a success, there will only be 60 professional golfers, which pales in comparison to the tens of thousands in South Korea.” In other words, Taiwan needs more than just one Tseng. Providing young golfers with a proper golf-training environment is a must.
Photo courtesy of the Sunrise Golf and Country Club
照片由揚昇高爾夫鄉村俱樂部提供
The young golfers participating in the 99 Golf Project are given a military-style training. Regardless of season, everyone has to get up at 5am and go to bed at 10pm. Head coach Lu Hsi-chuen is one of many on a team of coaches coming both from Taiwan and abroad in charge of training golfers to learn professional golf skills at Sunrise Golf Training Center. Everything from posture to golf swing efficiency, golf course rules to golf etiquette, is covered thoroughly and in meticulous detail at the center. Hsu also told Yang in an interview that “a player’s success requires a combination of various elements.” Thus, other than acquiring professional golf techniques, an elite golfer must also receive training in physical and mental fitness, how to communicate and express themselves, as well as quotidian etiquette. For those involved in the 99 Golf Project, it is hoped that Taiwan will not merely see yet another Yani Tseng in the near future, but rather more golfers that can even surpass Tseng in their achievements so that the dream of transforming Taiwan into a golf paradise will become a reality.
(LIN YA-TI, TAIPEI TIMES)
揚昇LPGA台灣錦標賽總獎金高達兩百萬美元(約新台幣六千萬元)的賽事,堪稱是台灣運動史上空前紀錄。現年二十二歲的世界女子高壇球后曾雅妮,返台回到個人「主場」的桃園揚昇高爾夫鄉村俱樂部,與七十九位來自各國的職業女將,包含八位世界排名前十名的選手,從今天起一連四天的賽事中,角逐三十萬美元(約新台幣九百萬元)的冠軍獎金。曾雅妮在十月九日於LPGA韓亞銀行錦標賽,擊敗韓國選手崔蘿蓮,勇奪個人本季第六座冠軍。
曾雅妮在國際球壇的成功並非偶然,除了她永不放棄放膽追夢的精神外,要感謝揚昇高爾夫鄉村俱樂部董事長與台灣高球協會理事長許典雅,不惜砸下重金,長年對高球向下扎根與向外推廣不遺餘力,以全人教育課程,培訓青少年高球菁英選手,也因此奠定曾雅妮成名的基礎。曾雅妮在二○○八年首度打入職業賽前,即是在揚昇球場優異的環境下,接受將近六年備嘗辛苦的培訓。
Photo courtesy of the Sunrise Golf and Country Club
照片由揚昇高爾夫鄉村俱樂部提供
高爾夫協會的「九九高爾夫計畫」去年由許典雅推動誕生,希望藉此有系統地複製「曾雅妮」的成功經驗,培育更多在地高球菁英選手,讓曾雅妮的世界第一,空前而不絕後。
許典雅週二在電話訪問中告訴《台北時報》,培訓一位選手每年要花上新台幣一百萬元,此經費不包含出國比賽。而目前有十七位小選手正接受培訓。其中有兩位選手─二十歲的黃韜與謝繼賢─已於上週六在揚昇球場歡慶二十週年慶的日子,從業餘轉為職業,但相對的花費也就更高。許典雅表示:「以黃韜為例,一年就要花費新台幣四百多萬元。」
許典雅表示,明年起,「九九高爾夫計畫」將有一年兩度的對外招考,每年新增二十位選手接受培訓,直到錄取六十名選手為目標。只要是體能佳、領悟力強、反應快的小選手皆有機會受訓,成為高球明日之星。但許典雅提醒,若是表現不佳的選手,也可能被淘汰。
Photo courtesy of Yang Hsien-hung
照片由楊憲宏提供
媒體人楊憲宏在台灣LPGA開戰帶動高球熱之際,出版《複製曾雅妮》一書。該書引用許典雅的話說:「但即使『九九計畫』成功了,也只有六十名選手,比起韓國動輒幾萬名選手,還真是小巫見大巫。」換句話說,台灣不能只有一個曾雅妮,而是訓練更多像曾雅妮這樣優秀的選手。首先提供年輕選手一個完善的高球訓練環境是必需的。
高爾夫計畫培訓選手在軍事化的管理下,不分季節,早上五點起床、十點就寢。總教練呂西鈞與其他來自國內外教練團隊,負責培訓選手的專業能力,從揮桿姿勢與技術到球場規則與禮儀,各個細節皆不馬虎。而該書作者在與許典雅訪談時,許表示:「一個選手的成功,要有很多不同元素的配合。」因此,除了專業能力訓練外,還有身心適能、語言表達,以及日常生活禮儀,才能養成一位優秀的高球菁英。希望「九九高爾夫計畫」,台灣不但培訓下一個曾雅妮,還要有更多選手超越曾雅妮。按照該計畫走,台灣成為高球天堂將不只是一場夢。
(台北時報記者林亞蒂)
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