Shiv Kapur diary: Mixed Stableford format offers chances of attacking play

This week, we are again in Thailand for the second week along with the Ladies’ European Tour at the Siam Country Club, for this week’s Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge.

Unusually, we are starting on a Wednesday so we all need to be ready.

Last week during the second round on hole seven, I got a bee sting on the middle finger of my left hand. It was most uncomfortable but no excuses and after a few applications of some local lotions and potions, I am checking in for this week fully fit.

It is an interesting format this week with Modified Stableford scoring as below:

Albatross - 8 points

Eagle - 5 points

Birdie - 2 points

Par - Zero

Bogey - Minus 1 point

Double Bogey or Worse - Minus 3 points

This will encourage some attacking play, but then again, we all need to avoid the big mistakes. It is a week where you can afford to be a bit more aggressive as birdies and eagles pay off more than a regular strokeplay event.

The course has been watered quite heavily between the tournaments, so it makes for softer fairways and the wind direction is the opposite of last week, so it will present a new challenge.

I think golf needs more of these new and innovative formats, as four round strokeplay events can get a bit dull and boring and this makes for some fun, hopefully!

If we do well it is a great initiative, if we struggle, perhaps it is not! The Tours and promoters will never win with players!

My first round tee time is at 12.25 pm off Tee 1 along with Rory Hie (Indonesia), a winner on the 2019 Asian Tour and Alison Hewson (Eng) who has won on the LET just before Covid, so it will be interesting to see how she and Rory fare.

Others in the field this week include my fellow Dubai-based Asian Tour friend MG Keyser (RSA), who represents Jumeirah Golf Estates, who tees off 7.46 am and Dubai’s Meghan MacLaren (Eng), who tees off at 7.13 am.

The Asian Tour is again on Dubai Sports Channel this week, so feel free to join in the live broadcast to see us all in action (UAE times):

Wednesday – From 11 am

Thursday – 11 am

Friday – 10 am

Saturday – 10 am

See you all soon!

-Shiv Kapur is a 40-year-old professional who plays on the Asian Tour and is a multiple winner. A Dubai Golden Visa awardee, Shiv is a Dubai resident with his family.