Defending champion Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño hopes his fond memories of Lake Malaren can inspire an upturn in form at this week’s BMW Masters.
The Spaniard held off Francesco Molinari and Thongchai Jaidee by a shot 12 months ago to land a seventh European Tour title, but goes into the first event of the 2014 Final Series without a top-ten finish this season.
“It's great to be back,” said the 34 year old. “Even though it has not been a great year for me - I haven't played great, but when you come back to a course that you've won on, it always brings great memories.
“It's a good feeling and hopefully it brings out the best of my game, too.
“I think that this is one of the longest courses we play all year, and considering it's going to be wet, that's not going to make it any shorter, that's for sure.
“So I think it's quite a demanding golf course; it's pretty challenging.
“You have to be careful, because even though the fairways are generous, you need to putt the ball in play to be able to attack these greens. Especially being such a long course, you're going to be hitting long irons and even a few hybrids into these greens.
“Accuracy is always a premium. I would say I think long hitters are going to do well on this course, because as I said, it's playing very long, some of the par fives.”
Fernandez-Castaño also expects the water of Lake Malaren to play a part in Shanghai.
“As far as I know, they don't invent a ball that floats,” he added. “That's something that you always have to keep in mind - you have to avoid the hazards.
“On this course, you've got a few holes with water and that's probably very important, then you've got a lot of bunkers and they are all very well positioned for your tee shots.
“So you have to stay away from all these hazards if you want to be able to score around Lake Malaren.”
