Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course takes on a new look this week at the Fiji International and the man responsible; Vijay Singh is ready to tee it up on his re-designed layout.
Involved in the original design, Singh has spent the past three years competing in the Fiji International dreaming of what the course could become.
Starting the day after the 2016 Fiji International, Singh is pleased with the outcome of the redevelopment which saw changes made on 15 of the 18 holes.
“I walked around it for the first time yesterday, most of it is done, Steve (Lalor, Course Super) did an unbelievable job getting it done,” said Singh, who will play the layout for the first time in the pro-am.
“Most of the work is done according to what we thought it was going to be, everybody’s happy, we’ve got great reviews about it now all we need is some good weather.”
“I hope I can just focus on the game this week but there are a couple more holes to go. We only did about 80 percent of the work; I’m always looking for things to improve.”
While the professionals teeing it up at the Fiji International are praising the changes, Singh made his alterations with the average amateur golfer in mind.
“I wanted it to be more playable for hotel guests but at the same time challenging enough for pros to go out there and play, I think we did that,” added Singh.
“We did a lot of changes to most greens, a lot more putting surfaces and if it’s windy you can still have four, five, six pin placements instead of what we had with five greens with one pin placement.
“We widened some of the landing areas which is good and I think we did a good job.”
The course changes have also provided an extra incentive for the three time Major champion to perform well in front of home crowds this week.
“I’m really happy with the work we’ve done and I just want to go out and play it the way I know how,” added Singh.
“I think everyone in Fiji is waiting for me to play some good golf here, I’ve come close to playing good golf here.”
But if Singh is to lift the trophy on Sunday he will need to overcome a field which included two fellow Masters Champions; Angel Cabrera and Mike Weir.
“I was surprised to see Angel here, he’s a really good player and also Mike, it’s nice to see them here and people can actually see Angel play who’s won the Masters, won the U.S. Open and Mike, so people can go out and see these guys can still play.
“And then you’ve got some good players from Asia and Europe as well, this is one of the stronger fields we’ve had so hopefully we can build from here in years to come,” added Singh, who says the tournament is building in stature amongst some of the world’s best players.
“There are a lot of players that want to come, they’ve been asking about it,” added Singh.
“I’ve been talking to friends about this golf course because it’s great, it’s a great place come for a holiday and play some golf at the same time.”
Vijay Singh will tee off at the Fiji International on Thursday at 7.15am playing alongside Dimitiros Papadatos and Ryan Fox.