| The first round of the First Mercuries Cup Masters Invitational Golf Tournament was held on August 20, 1987 and it just so happened to be that date was also my 53rd birthday. Is this just a pure coincidence or a kind of predestined arrangement as Chinese say? The planning and preparation stage taken into account, the Tournament now becomes one of the most important parts of my life for nearly 20 years.
The period of 20 years is really not so long, yet it is neither short. I just leafed through the manual of our first event of Mercuries Cup Masters Tournament and am a kind of dismayed to find out a cruel truth by looking at the photos of myself and the others printed on that. What I found out is that the period of 20 years is actually pretty long – long enough to change your looks and countenance entirely. From the pictures shown I also found out majority of the players were still using persimmon wood clubs and ‘L’ shaped putters. Yellowish clippings we still keep on hand report about the performances of young players such as Chen Liang-hsi and Wang Der-chang who are eligible for senior tournament in couples of year from now. Well, we really trekked the long way in 20 years of time!
As an appreciative spectator I have been on the spot at every single round of all 19 events. Those friends who are familiar with my behavior pattern would sympathize or comfort me by saying ‘must have been a hard job to be here everyday!’ To this my response is always like ‘not at all, I enjoy looking at the game, especially the great game such as Mercuries Cup Masters Tournament!’ I am not exaggerating. Taiwan Masters from its outset has earned the fame and respect of being a solid, international and great game. Now it is ranked as the top game of Taiwan and cherished as the public asset of our society and virtually is the hope and lighthouse of Taiwanese professional players.?
Certainly, to operate and maintain a tournament for 20 years is not an easy job. The kind of toil and difficulties those persons in charge of actually running the shows have to face are just colossal. Of course, the biggest challenge has always been to raise the fund for tournament. The total prize money awarded in the 10th Masters was 10 million NT Dollars and we are awarding this year at the 20th Masters the total prize money of US dollars 500 thousand or equivalent to NT$16,500,000 (total expense must exceed NT dollar 23 million), eight times more than the prize money awarded at the first Masters which was 2 million NT dollars. The increase rate is much faster than that of consumer price index. Even though the prize money awarded by this tournament is not of the biggest in Asian tours, the fact a single firm singly bears this expense for 20 years is worthy of reverence and praise.
In the middle of the 80s, Taiwanese Professional Golf world seemed still full of strength and liveliness. The outstanding players such as Hsu Sheng-san and Lu Hsi-cheung, practically invincible in Asian Circuit, answered the expectation of their great progenitors by earning their due fame and so many championships. They were then just ready to hand over the heritage to Chen brothers, namely Tze-ming and Tze-Chung who are so active and very welcomed in Japan and the States. Some observers with sharp eyes, however, discerned the foreboding of the downfall of this industry in Taiwan, if we may call professional golf an industry, because there was a paucity of both players and the stages where a good professional could rear his head. The risk is still here after 20 years. Not to mention the internal disadvantageous factors we have in Taiwan, the circumstances surrounding us are becoming severer and more difficult, for examples, the fierce competition from neighboring countries, possible rise of China, and encroachment of European tours in Asia, just to name a few. Thus the maintenance and betterment of Taiwan Masters is our sovereign responsibility.?
We have enjoyed the happy side of running the shows too! Personally, for me I have much more of the pleasant memories than those of bitter ones. We have been so lucky that in past 19 events we have never been forced to cut short the competition because of the bad weather. We have good reason to have Tamsui as our one and only choice as the playing-field of Mercuries Cup Masters Tournament. Oldest in Taiwan and rich in tradition, Tamsui is also a natural-born championship course. The course settings and the strategic thought laid out are such that there is no room of windfall win that only the best player will get the trophy so the quality of the contests have always been high. The past 76 rounds of competition are just like a series of great drama that every single act and scene is played so wonderfully and each frame of scenario is just heart striking. Nothing in this world moves us more than the countenance and body language of the champion at the moment he wins – be it the throwing up of his arms with happy cry or sobbing on the shoulders of his caddie. In past 19 competitions there were some young champions and some older champions whose ages had long passed the prime of their lives, such as Kuo Chi-hsiung in 1988 and Hsie Ming-nan in 1992. There were champions of all kinds of skin-color. There has been a commonality in all these champions – they all possess the characters of perseverance, spiritual toughness, determination to win and ability of concentration. No wonder all the galleries are so spell bound and stricken with the awe when they enter the arena to feel personally the atmosphere of deadly combat.?
Here I have to repeat again my deep gratitude to three former presidents of Tamsui Golf Club, namely Messrs. Ho Chi-ming, Hsie Chong-pi and Ku Kuan-min, and especially to the late Chairman of Mercuries Group, Harvey Tang. All of them are my best friends and the most generous supporters. The tournament really owes them a lot to come thus far. Johnny Peng’s name must be mentioned too. He is one of the progenitors responsible for the original idea of giving birth of Taiwan Masters to this world. Johnny, now resides in Beijing for many years, makes it his routine to come back every year at this time just to hurray and applaud. I thank very much also to Chen Yu-shu, who also lives in China for several years now, for his helping me build up the solid and firm grounding of today’s Taiwan Masters. I sincerely salute Eve Yao for helping me run the show from the very outset and she is simply indispensable.
I still adore and think much of my lamented wife Chizuko whose creative ideas, encouragement and concern during the nascent stage of Mercuries Masters were just invaluable. In memory of her contribution ‘the nearest to the pin’ prize is offered at the 18th hole and it is going to continue as long as the event lasts. My better-half Haru, knowing that the event is one of my prime concerns, makes it the rule of family that I should not be disturbed and distracted when the season begins. I am just the luckiest man to have such a wonderful family.
There are some unlucky fellows such as Chung Chun-Hsing, though good and never absent once in our tournaments but never won, who deserve our special mentioning and applause. Only when there are so many excellent supporting actors the performance of the leading characters will stand out. Since we owe so much to innumerable friends, supporters and volunteers in organizing, managing and financing Taiwan Masters to today’s successful standing it is simply unrealistic trying to name every one of them to acknowledge our gratefulness, however, at the very least, the names of the following writers/reporters, who are also my good friends and sure supporters, should be given, namely Wang Li-chu, Wei Yu-jen and Chao Hsin-tian. |
