The Ballantine's Championship: Can Gregory follow Raphael into the winner's enclosure?

The 13th hole at Blackstone

Our man takes a look at this week's European Tour action in Korea, where he dug out Bernd Wiesberger at 130.0129/1 last year. Can he repeat the feat twelve months on? Read Steve's preview here...

Tournament History
The Ballantine's Championship is a European, Asian and Korean Tour tri-sanctioned tournament that tends to attract one or two top-class players, thanks largely to generous appearance fees but we've lost a few this year - the two Johnsons, Zach and Dustin, have both withdrawn from the event due to the "perceived unrest on the Korean Peninsula". This will be just the sixth staging of the event.

Venue
Blackstone Golf Club, Icheon, Seoul, South Korea

Course Details
Par 72 - 7302 yards
Stroke Average in 2013 -73.04

Designed by JMP Group and opened in 2010, Blackstone has been used as the event's venue for the last two years.

It's about now that I wish I'd made some notes on the course after last year's renewal. The European Tour website describes the fairways as 'wide and contoured' and yet they depict the general playability as 'very narrow', which is confusing to say the least.

It's a tree-lined track with water in-play on a number of holes and the greens ran at around 10.6 on the stimpmeter last year.

If it helps, and I'm not entirely sure it will, Tournament Director David Williams had this to say about the venue before last year's event: "On the fourth hole we now have the option of moving the tee forward and making it driveable. It's a stunning hole and makes for very exciting golf.

"The whole course will provide a tough challenge for the field. It's long, but it's not all about power and long hitting; it's a thinking player's course. It's also very scenic with fantastic views, creeks, lakes and forest glens.

"There are a couple of excellent par threes which are long and over water - the seventh and the 12th holes. It's a young course as it only opened a couple of years ago, and every year it will mature and get even better.
"It's hilly so it will be physically demanding as well, and the greens are undulating and offer some testing pin positions.

"Then you have the club itself, which is stunning. It is very exclusive and will provide the perfect backdrop to what I am sure will be a tremendous week of golf."

Damien McGrane, after taking the lead on day one two years ago, described the fairways as generous and Lee Westwood stated after his win: "It's a difficult course because it goes around the hills and it's difficult to pick the wind up; it swirls a lot."

Useful Sites
Event Site
Course Details
Weather Forecast
Alternative Weather Forecast

TV Coverage
Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 5.30am on Thursday

Last Five Winners
2012 - Bernd Wiesberger
2011 - Lee Westwood
2010 - Marcus Fraser
2009 - Thongchai Jaidee (play-off)
2008 - Graeme McDowell (play-off)

What will it take to win the Ballantine's Championship?
Having had just two renewals at this venue, finding a way in isn't easy, especially as the first winner here was an experienced pro and the second a rookie.

Both winners, Lee Westwood and Bernd Wiesberger, came here in good form - Westwood had won the Indonesian Masters seven days earlier and Wiesberger, having spent time with his coach, had found improvement in all aspects of his game to finish 7th in Indonesia.

The stats don't provide too many clues. Westwood ranked 6th for driving distance and 4th for greens hit, whilst Wiesberger ranked 6th for putting and tied 12th for greens hit. Neither men were especially accurate off the tee but both scored heavily on the par fives.

The top-tens from each renewal are littered with quality players and quality players that play well in the wind.

Is there an angle in?
Just to reiterate the above point, wind will almost certainly be a factor this week and an ability to handle breezy conditions is essential.

I could be barking up the wrong tree entirely, but visually, Blackstone reminds me of Bro Hof Slott, home of the Nordea Masters. Lee Westwood has won at both venues and Alex Noren has won the Nordea Masters and played well here, so there could be something in it.

In-Play Tactics
You can dissect the course roughly into thirds, with holes 1-6 providing a relatively gentle start and holes 14 - 18 a reasonable finish. Holes 7-13 are all tough with the possible exception of the 12th, which last year ranked the 10th hardest.

With the wind forecast to blow on each of the first two afternoons, it's going to be tough to tee-off on the 10th in the afternoon.

Both winners here started fairly slowly. Westwood was way down in 36th and six of the pace after day one and Wiesberger was four back. The former didn't hit the front until late on - on Sunday but the latter led from halfway.

Market Leaders
World number seven, Louis Oosthuizen, is by some distance the highest ranked player in the field now that the American duo have withdrawn and he has a habit of winning European Tour events in far-flung places but he hasn't been in the tip-top form of late and I'm happy to dismiss him on his course debut.

Second favourite, Alex Noren, has shown a liking for the venue having finished tied 5th in 2011 and tied 7th last year. He should have fared much better two years ago, having traded at just a shade over 2.01/1 when he went a couple clear early on in round four before making five bogeys on his way to the clubhouse.

That woeful finish might just have left its mark as he opened up with a round of 75 twelve months ago before firing rounds of 66-69-69 over the last three days. Nobody's played the long holes better than the Swede over the last two years and he won't mind one jot if it gets windy but his obvious chance is reflected by his price and I'm happy to leave him out of my calculations.

The first three home last year more-or less occupy the next three spots in the market but again, if there's value there I can't see it. Backing Wiesberger at 130.0129/1 last year was one the highlights of 2012 for me but even sentiment won't allow me to take almost a hundred points less this time around. And Richie Ramsay and Victor Dubuisson (2nd and 3rd twelve months ago) both look plenty short enough to me.

Selections
Having turned my nose up at the front few in the market, a number of players a little further down the list were of interest, including Ryder Cupper Paul Lawrie, recent winner Kiradech Aphibarnrat and former Ballantine's Champ, Marcus Fraser but in the end, I've decided to take it very easy from the off and play just two rank outsiders.

Having just switched coaches, Frenchman Gregory Havret is bullish about his form and he looks worth chancing this week, despite missing the cut in Spain, courtesy of a three-putt on his final hole on Friday.

He's tweeted how Raphael Jacquelin's win there will inspire him and watching Graeme McDowell winning stateside might spur him on too - Havret finished second to G-Mac in the US Open there just years ago.

Havret's been in the doldrums for some time and he managed just one top-ten finish in 2012 but as it came at Bro Hof Slott, if I'm right about the possible course correlation, this could be a good week to see him get back to form.

With an impressive five under-par 67, Gareth Maybin shot the round of the day on Sunday at the Open de Espana where he ranked no worse than 25th for any aspect of his game.

He finished runner-up to Marcus Fraser in this event three years ago and his course form isn't bad either. He was 13th in 2011 and 38th twelve months ago.

His sudden upturn in form caught my eye and reminded me of last year's winner, Wiesberger. He won't mind any windy weather and I thought he was worth a small play at 160.0159/1.

Selections:
Gregory Havret @ 160.0159/1
Gareth Maybin @ 160.0159/1
Andreas Harto @ 230.00229/1 - Please see comment below

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