Happy homecoming for K.J in Asia

Sunday 7th March| K.J Choi continued his recent run of strong play with a 2nd place finish behind compatriot Noh Seung-yul at the Maybank Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The experienced South Korean lovingly called “the tank” by his peers handled the severe heat and humidity impressively to finish at 13 under par for the tournament. Choi birdied the final hole to put pressure on the 18 year old Noh coming down the par 5 18th tied for the lead. After taking an adventurous route on the 18th which included playing through the crowds after taking relief from the practice putting green, Noh hit a clutch pitch to 3 feet and sank the putt for birdie to win by one.

Choi, however, will take plenty of positives from a week which saw him continue to strike the ball extremely well, only to fall short (and only just) with the putter. When asked if he was disappointed at not winning he said:

“No I’m not disappointed at all. I played well and tried my best. My hats off to Seung-yul (Noh), he played well and had a fantastic round. I’m happy with how my game has improved and I have a lot to look forward to. The pin positions were tough but I held my game and managed to be in contention. Noh played brilliantly and I have no complaints.”

To his credit, Choi showed some great spirit by joining in the celebrations with young Noh as he closed out the win. He joined his Korean compatriots in showering the winner with water- a Korean tradition.

Choi enjoyed great support all week from the crowds at the Kuala Lumpur Golf Club, who seemed to adopt him as an honorary Malaysian for the week. After struggling with his game last year, Choi has started off 2010 in positive fashion with some encouraging results on the US PGA Tour including a T15 at the Farmers Insurance Open and T20 and T21 finishes at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am respectively.

Choi’s coach Steve Bann has been predicting a strong run of play from him in the last few weeks, having seen his game improve significantly in their practice sessions:

“K.J is starting to look scary good in practice. He has gained about a club in distance and is absolutely striping it. He just needs a little bit of tidying up here and there and we’ll be good to go. He is too good a player to be outside the top 50 in the world and I am confident he will be right back where he belongs in no time. I am very pleased with his progress and just excited to see him complete the final step of the Confidence Cycle and bring it onto the course in competition for 4 straight rounds.”

A big thanks to our friends at Pure Golf Blog for this story.

Hee Young makes strong start to 2010

Hee Young Park has made an impressive start to the 2010 LPGA Tour season with a T11 finish at the Honda PTT LPGA Thailand.

The young South Korean shot out of the blocks on Thursday with an impressive round of 67 at the Siam Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand. She followed that up with a blistering 66 on the second day to be in second place behind Suzanne Pettersen of Norway going into the weekend.

Hee Young struggled a bit on the weekend with scores of 72 and 73 on Saturday and Sunday respectively, however her play in Thailand this week is sure to give her a big confidence boost for the rest of the year.

Despite this being the season opener for the LPGA Tour, Park showed no signs of rust and this wasn’t all that surprising- she has been training at the Bann Lynch Golf school in Melbourne, Australia for the past couple of months and felt pretty good about her game as she left for Thailand.

When asked about her offseason, Park said:

“I went to Australia. They have long days. 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. there is sun so a lot of time to practice. Practiced my short game, greenside, and focused on putting. I did drills to shape the ball. I trained all of December and January and I got a lot of confidence”.

We were lucky enough to get some time to talk to Hee Young before she headed off to Thailand.

You can watch her interview and training video here:

Ogilvy does it again

Six Mile, S.C. (January 11,2010) — The International Institute of Golf (IIG) would like to congratulate Geoff Ogilvy on his second straight victory at the SBS Championship at Kapalua Resort in Maui, Hawaii.

Ogilvy posted four rounds in the sixties to finish at 22 under par, good for a one stroke victory.  This victory moved Geoff to 9th in the Official World Golf Rankings and marked his seventh PGA Tour victory including wins at the 2006 U.S. Open and the 2006, 2008 and 2009 WGC Accenture World Match Play. 

Winning the SBS Championship back-to-back is nothing new to IIG students.  Stuart Appleby is a three-time winner of this event 2004, 2005 and 2006, marking the only time it has been won in three consecutive years.  With Ogilvy winning this event the past two years it marks multiple victories for both Steve Bann and Dale Lynch as instructors at this event.  Ogilvy has been under the watchful eye of Lynch since he entered the golf program at the Victorian Institute of Sport at the age of sixteen which Lynch co directed with Bann.  

“Geoff’s game is primed for the 2010 season and he will not rest on this victory.  He has his sights set on becoming a better player,” said Dale Lynch.  “We focus on all aspects of his game – physical, mental, technical and strategic,” said Lynch. “Of all the things that stood out in Geoff’s game at Kapalua, his wedge play and putting showed the effort he has put into his off season practice.  Many players come to Maui to shake off the rust; he came with his game in shape to start the year off strongly.  I look forward to seeing what he will accomplish in 2010.” 

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About the International Institute of Golf (IIG)
Located at the Cliffs at Keowee Springs, the IIG accompanies a Tom Fazio-designed golf course and community.  Headed up by Steve Bann and Dale Lynch, the IIG offers varying levels of instruction, group lessons and corporate outings.  In his commitment to make the IIG the premier instructional facility in the world, Lynch relocated to the Greenville, S.C. with his family. Bann will commute across the continents at the outset, splitting his time between the IIG at Keowee Springs and Melbourne training facility.  Both instructors spend time traveling with their professional clients including Geoff Ogilvy, Stuart Appleby, Mathew Goggin, K.J. Choi, Arjun Atwal, Roger Tambellini, Nick Flanagan, and Steve Allan.  

The IIG includes a state of the art 80-yard short-game area with varying rough heights, run-offs and green shapes and speeds will help golfers learn different ways to save strokes; a teaching center featuring NIKE 360® Fitting System; a state of the art Swing Catalyst motion analysis studio; and an indoor putting studio with the TOMI system and a fitness training area. 

The Cliffs at Keowee Springs is one of eight private master-planned residential developments within The Cliffs Communities, founded in 1989 by Jim Anthony and located in the heart of the Carolina Preserve stretching from Greenville, S.C., to Asheville, N.C. To learn more about the IIG, call (864) 868-0477 or visit www.iofgolf.com ? 

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About The Cliffs Communities
Founded in 1989 by Jim Anthony, The Cliffs Communities offers a unique collection of eight communities within three distinct regions of The Carolina Preserve — Asheville, Mountain-lake and Mountain— while providing immediate enjoyment of all with only one membership. All communities are just minutes from each other. All are surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of protected parklands at the southernmost edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And all provide access to two of the South’s most vibrant towns: Greenville, South Carolina, and Asheville, North Carolina. When you are a member of one Cliffs community, you are a Member of all eight. The Cliffs offers home sites from $200,000 to more than $3 million and custom homes from $700,000 to $5 million. To learn more about living at The Cliffs, call (877) 254-3371 or visit www.cliffscommunities.com. 

Contacts:
Barrett Wood      
(864) 868-0477 IIG      
(404) 543-3400 cell    
bwood@cliffscommunities.com

Seriously…How does Geoff Ogilvy do it?

We’ve all seen it.The calm demeanor. The casual, almost lazy stroll across the fairway. That smooth swing.We’ve also seen the booming 300 + yard drives, the fierce competitiveness and the mental toughness to win the US Open and a host of other big events. How does Geoff Ogilvy do it?

This week, Geoff Ogilvy is defending his title at the SBS Championship at Kapalua, Hawaii, which is the first event of the 2010 US PGA Tour season.We thought it would a good time to ask his coach Dale Lynch some questions about how Geoff has developed such an effective mental game which has brought him tremendous success on the world stage.

We also asked Dale if there is any difference between how he would train a player like Geoff Ogilvy or Aaron Baddeley, versus how he would train an amateur golfer:

Here is a recap of Geoff’s 2009 win at this tournament (the event was called the Mercedes-Benz Championship until last year):

(Our thanks to pgatour.com for the video)

How would you would like to have access to the training program players like Geoff Ogilvy, Stuart Appleby and K.J Choi use?

Give us just 21 days and we guarantee that we can improve YOUR golf with a membership in our Online Training Program. Try it out today:

IIG Golf Camps

Learn more about our Kangaroo and Koala Holiday Camps:

Junior Golf

IIG offers a range of junior golf programs

Golf Schools

Whether you are a complete beginner or a low handicapper trying to sharpen your game for the club championship, IIG offers a range of golf schools that suit every golfer’s needs.

Click on the image below for a larger view

My First Golf Book

Do you want to get your kids into golf but aren’t quite sure where to begin? Or perhaps you’re new to the game yourself and are looking for a good place to start. There is enough instruction around on golf to make you go nuts even before you pick up a golf club! However, luckily for you, we’ve found a great resource which will help you get started on the right track. And best of all…its free!

My First Golf Book Online is a great website developed by world renowned PGA Professional Steve Bann, who coaches PGA Tour stars such as Stuart Appleby and KJ Choi.

The website covers all parts of the game, starting with an introduction to the basics of the game, a section on safety and the rules of the game, and then gets into some basic lessons about technique and the fundamentals of the game.

The website is a great place to get started with the game and has some nice illustrations to go along with the written content to make it fun for the kids to read as well. Give it a go this summer!

Visit: http://www.my-first-golf-book-online.com/

Appleby finds rich form at Aus Open

5/12/09| Stuart Appleby might be a little disappointed that he didn’t win the 2009 Australian Open which concluded at the New South Wales Golf Club, La Perouse, NSW on Sunday. However his performance this week must have done wonders for his confidence as he played the kind of golf his supporters have longed to see this year.

Appleby seemed to be playing a tournament of his own the first two days, shooting two consecutive 66’s while playing on the tougher side of the draw in extremely windy conditions on the tough layout. He was several shots better than anyone playing on his side of the draw, and many onlookers called it some of the best golf they have seen for some time.

His coach Steve Bann said the following on Twitter:

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