Women`s British Open, Par Five Hole Is Key

``The accurate tee shot will be the key to win the title.``

The last major championship of this year, the 2001 Weetabix Women`s British Open (total prize of $1.5 million) yesterday began the four-round contest in which the 8 Korean women including Pak Se-Ri (Samsung Electronics), Kim Mi-Hyun (KTF) and Grace Park participated.

This tournament is being held at the Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England, which is 100 year-old and relatively short par-72 course with total yardage of 6277. The course was originally designed as a par-70, but this event`s host remodeled the two par-4 holes to the par-5 holes.

All par-5 holes are very short to the extent that even Kim Mi-Hyun can land the ball on the green by the second shot. Kim told that ``the score in the par-5 holes will determine the title``.

Yet, it seems hard to find the fairway because of the narrow fairway, the uneven and the long rough surface that can cause the irregular bounce. Actually, in the practice round, Han Hee-Won (Fila Korea) dropped right in the middle of the fairway, but could not find the ball that fell into the rough bouncing to the side.

Moreover, the uniquely whimsical weather of England would be another variable.

Pak Se-Ri, who has shown the poor performance in the golf courses in England, teed off the first round with Lorie Kane (Canada) and Suzann Pettersen (Norway) at 8: 15 pm. Pak had a bitter experience in the 1998 Women`s British Open in which she shared the 34th place with 20-over-par.

Meanwhile, Karrie Webb, who is challenging to the `super grand slam`, contested with the defending champion Sophie Gustafson (Sweden) and Dottie Pepper (USA) in the same group.

ysahn@donga.com