Mathew Webb is feeling confident having spent a second year travelling as a tour professional – securing a top 25 finish on the China Tour’s order of merit.
Webb, a prolific winner at home in the UK in recent years, spent a large portion of his year in China playing 14 events and winning nearly £26,000 as he finished 23rd in the season-long order of merit.
“The overall experience has been good. I’ve got to grips with the tour lifestyle and really enjoyed the mix of travelling and playing,” said Mat.
“The golf side has been good; the courses are usually great layouts and the season is really varied. The highlight was my fourth place in the Yulongwan Yunnan Open and I had a strong end to the season with a tie for 14th in the KG S&H CITY Asian Golf Championship.”
The year has also brought a lot of new experiences. “The biggest problem is the language barrier – even simple things are extremely difficult at times,” added Bedlington-based Mat.
“There’s a lot to learn on the golf course as well. I’ve made a lot of cuts but have had some very average finishes, which was disappointing.”
Webb will be heading back out to China in 2018 having learned a great deal in his first full season in Asia.
“I’ve found my first year in a totally different climate very tiring, particularly trying to finish the season with good results with 11 events in 12 weeks.
“I need to improve my fitness while I’m back at home and try to maintain my good golf for longer. I’ll also be trying to plan my schedule so I don’t have more than four tournament weeks in a row – though that may be tough to do with two tours in China next year with
26-28 events.
“The plan for 2018 is to win an event out in China and finish top 10 on the order of merit while playing as many of the Asia Tour and Challenge Tour co-sanctioned events as possible. If I can build on what I’ve learned this year I think it’ll be a really good year.”
