When the inaugural Asian Amateur Championship (AAC) tees off at the end of this month at Mission Hills, there'll be an interesting story behind each and every player's path to Shenzhen. But few will be able to match the journey of Sonny Raemaki, proudly representing the Cook Islands in the 120-man field.
Raemaki is a 40-year-old father of five who took up golf only a dozen years ago when injuries ended his promising rugby career. Now he'll tackle the imposing Jack Nicklaus-designed World Cup course after honing his skills on the flat and barren nine-holes of the Rarotonga Golf Club.
It's a home layout that he knows well after putting in endless hours as a green-keeper to support his wife, Tania, and their five children, aged from five to 15, in the village of Takuvaine.
'All I can do is imagine how long and how tough the course at Mission Hills will be,' Raemaki said. 'I'm very excited about going there because we simply don't have the opportunity to play in events of that magnitude in the Cook Islands.'
With a population of just 20,000, the 15 small islands in the South Pacific Ocean are located northeast of New Zealand, between French Polynesia and Fiji. Just last month the Cook Islands were confirmed as full Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) members, giving Raemaki his chance at a possible place at the 2010 Masters at Augusta National - and final international qualifying for the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews.
With just two nine-hole courses and without a full-time professional, golf has been a mostly recreational sport on the Cook Islands, often played by expatriates and tourists.