This weeks World Cup takes place at the extraordinary Mission hills golf resort in China and it is perhaps fitting that the eyes of the golfing world will be on Mission Hills as not only is it the largest Golf resort in the world, but it is the largest Resort by a staggering four courses. With Top Class pairings from all over the world including big names such as Justin Rose, Retief Goosen and Miguel Angel Jimenez (to name but a few) descending upon Mission Hills this week, there is no better time for the resort to show the world what it can offer.

The quality of the courses is on a par with the Valderrama’s and the Augusta’s of this world and more and more golfers are making Mission Hills their first choice for an all inclusive golf vacation. And there are a number of reasons why!

Mission Hills has an incredible 12 courses, four practice ranges and three clubhouses, including the Dongguan which at 680,000 square feet, makes it the largest in the world. And as home to the David Leadbetter Academy and the new Cindy Reid Golf Academy, Mission Hills is one of the only properties in the world to house two “name” golf schools on site.

It is as easily accessible as any other golf resort as there are non stop flights to Hong Kong from New York, London, San Francisco, Vancouver, Chicago, Los Angeles and many other major cities all around the world.

Every golfing need is tended to by the 3,000 female caddies that work at Mission Hills, night golf makes it possible to play until 2 a.m and the restaurants and bars make for a raucous nightlife. But if all of that seems a bit much for you after a tough round or two, there is a 315-room, five-star hotel and clubhouses featuring four premier spas to relax and unwind in.

The Bug is sure to take some time out to sample Mission Hills for itself sooner rather than later!

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The Bug has just got back from the World Travel Market, a huge gathering of the travel industry; tourist boards, travel agents, resorts and so on. Of course, many countries in the world have long recognised the importance and value of golf to their tourism, but it seems the sport is continuing to spread to new remote locations, and even the established countries are looking to expand their offering to the golf traveller. New courses are springing up in places as diverse as Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Iceland, the Azores, the west region of Portugal, and Tunisia, to name a few. It’s all good news for the adventurous golfer, and for Golf Bug TV.

GOLF IN ICELAND

We have really started to focus on building our video directory of courses and resorts around the world, so look out for some spectacular images of places you will really want to play in our destinations section.

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Such is the astonishing assault that Tiger Woods has made on the professional golf scene since turning pro in 1996, that when you try and imagine any new young talent coming close to achieving what he has done , it seems almost impossible. Sure there have been many great amateurs, who have succeeded or failed to greater or lesser degrees once they turned pro; but only Sergio Garcia in recent times has been heralded as a potential heir to Tiger’s throne, such is his awesome talent. But as yet, despite being a highly successful professional golfer, his record bears no resemblance to Tiger’s.

So what can we expect from the new young pretender on the scene, acclaimed as a child prodigy, with seemingly an extraordinary ability on the golf course. In only his second professional tournament, Rory Mcllroy finished third at the Dunhill Links this year, an achievement that even Tiger (11th at the Bell Canadian Open) could not match. His free flowing carefree manner of playing, suggests that he fears no one, and that his talent will deliver whatever he sets his heart on.

Although undoubtedly a golfing genius at this point, we know this actually does not guarantee him anything! We would all put a hefty wager on the fact that he will win in Europe! He will get in the Ryder Cup team, probably at the first time of asking….but, can he win in the US…and can he win a Major?

And once he has managed all of these outstanding achievements, just imagine how much more he has to achieve to get anywhere close to Tiger! It is little wonder that when another young and enormously talented golfer, Justin Rose, who has just won the Volvo Masters and with it European Order of Merit, announces that his ambition for the coming season is to become the second best golfer in the world; or in other words, the best apart from Tiger.

Even though Jack Nicklaus was regarded as the best golfer of his day, and is still considered by many to be the best of all time, I can’t imagine his closest competitors having quite the same reverence for the Golden Bear; huge respect yes, but reverence, no! Well, not Arnie, Lee, Gary, Johnny, Ray, Tom, anyway!

Wouldn’t it be great if Rory sustained his fantastic start, and becomes the man capable of stealing majors from under Tiger’s nose on more than a couple of occasions, just like Lee or Tom used to do to Jack. Then the excitement would really begin!!

It’s a hell of a daunting task, but someone has got to do it!

The Bug

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During Golf Bug’s recent trip to Munich for the annual Trade Fair known as Golf Europe, the Bug was pleasantly surprised at the number of companies exhibiting who were marketing kids clubs. It is a very positive thing that youngsters starting the game can play with clubs that are built specifically for different ages and sizes.

No longer do youngsters have to make do with their parents cast offs, cut down by the local pro for size, but with no allowance for weight or balance. Thanks to sponsors like HSBC, with their Wee Wonders, and TAG Heuer supporting Ian Poulter’s  junior programme, youngsters everywhere are increasingly being encouraged to play good golf.  Long may it continue!

Keep an eye on our Amateur and Junior section, as we have lots of great content, with a few young faces that you might recognize.

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We had a big bonus when we bumped into Danielle Masters at Wentworth. She had dropped by the Mizuno Tour Truck to get the loft on her 9 iron checked. Gorgeous Dani is the Bug’s favourite on the Ladies European Tour and we interviewed her to find out how things have been going this year . Dani has always got a big smile on her face and she has every reason to feel proud, achieving her first 2nd place on Tour in the Scottish Open recently. She has had a number of other solid performances and is confident that her first tour victory is not far away.

Watch Dani’s interview, she’s been playing very well despite picking up a rather surprising and unusual injury!

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Golf Bug TV was delighted to do some filming with Mizuno at Wentworth just before the start of the HSBC World Matchplay last month. The idea of the filming was to explain how the new MP-600 driver works.The club has some movable weights built into the sole and these weights can be easily moved along a sliding mechanism referred to as the Fast Track. Moving the weights is easy, requiring a couple of turns with a small key, and there are 15 different combinations of weight position which can change the way the ball reacts off the club quite significantly.

MP-600

It’s all very simple and great fun as well, but importantly, the driver has a beautiful looking head. Look out for the MP-600 on www.golfbug.tv in the instruction section or on the Mizuno website, and you will find it hard not to want to try it out!

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Golf Bug’s relationship with the R&A is one we cherish in that it provides us with access to some of the most wonderful footage of some of the greatest golfers in the game performing heroics in Open Championships during the last 30-40 years. The current film showing in the R&A section on the channel is the 1972 event from Muirfield.

Jack Nicklaus had just completed two legs of the Grand Slam and was in fantastic form, but the defending champion was Lee Trevino. In the first 5 minutes of the film you can get a feel for what kind of character Trevino was; very confident, very talkative and extremely competitive. The action is compelling, and with spell binding commentary from the late Henry Longhurst, I would urge any real golf fan to find a spare 40 minutes and watch this wonderful reminder of two of the games greats!

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The Bug has been lucky enough to play a couple of rounds of golf with Simon Holmes; one of the leading coaches on the European Tour, who has helped many of the leading pros with their game. We are delighted to say that we have some excellent instructional content running on the channel at present, including a whole series of game improvement tips, and a film following Simon walking the course with Robert Karlsson, analysing his course management and shot selection strategy. It provides real insight and is undoubtedly an area that most amateurs fail completely to address.

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Following his first major victory this year at the US Open, Angel Cabrera is still winning tournaments in 2007, this time on the Asian Tour. In an excellent finish in Singapore, he birdied the last hole at the Sentosa Golf Club to pip Vijay Singh by one shot.

It was a hugely impressive finish at the Par 5 18th by Angel; a 300 plus yard drive followed by a almost casual long iron into the heart of the green followed by two of the easiest putts he will ever need to win a tournament. Contrast that with the carry on at the HSBC Champions event in China! Rarely, do you see golfers of the ability of Phil Mickelson, Ross Fisher and Lee Westwood make such heavy weather of the final hole in a tournament.

Watch the climax of both of these events in the News section on www.golfbug.tv .

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Great finish this weekend at Valderrama, with Justin Rose winning the event, the Order of Merit and with it the The Vardon Trophy. The fact that he is the youngest winner since Ronan Rafferty, reminds us of how young he was when he announced himself to a world stage at the Open Championship nearly 10 years ago. It also reminds us of how hard he has worked to realise his great potential, and how he overcame a soul destroying run of missed cuts early in his professional career, which would have finished off lesser men.

Credit must also go to Padraig Harrington for making an excellent attempt at retaining his European crown, but with his two Open victories, he will feel its been a great year.

Of course, it was sad that Ernie Els, who was leading the Order of Merit prior to the Volvo Masters, was scheduled to play in Singapore instead. Missing out on a spectacular three way duel must have been disappointing for him, and the fact that he missed the cut might suggest that he was experiencing an element of anti climax.

Don’t blink because the new 2008 season starts this week!!

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