China's wary welcome to golf

Beijing: On a weekday afternoon this spring, 35 Chinese golf course managers sat in a dark meeting room at Spring City Golf and Lake Resort in Kunming, capital of China's Yunnan province, attending a crash course in golf history and etiquette.

The session closed with footage of the "Duel in the Sun", Tom Watson's classic defeat of Jack Nicklaus at the 1977 Open Championship in Turnberry.

When that tournament was played - and when most of China's current pro golfers were born - the sport was literally non-existent in China, banned under Mao Tse Tung as an elitist pursuit.

The first golf course in modern China was built seven years later, in 1984.

Counting anything in China is a dodgy proposition, but today the country has at least 300 courses, possibly closer to 400.

Its national pro circuit, the Omega China Tour, is in its fourth year. HSBC, BMW and Volvo also sponsor tournaments.

Unique challenges

The golf industry in China may have some momentum and corporate backing, but its efforts to grow face unique challenges.

Its elitist image keeps interest relatively low among the general public, while a 23.5 per cent revenue tariff prevents the industry from developing more affordable public courses.

Also, as China's appetite for resources of all kinds grows, golf has a hard time staking a claim on land.

"The government has tried to stop the development of golf," says Aylwin Tai, managing director of Hong Kong-based golf consultancy Richtone Worldwide and a key figure in the short history of golf in China.

"But it is not going to stop. It has mirrored the boom of the economy."

One of Tai's closest allies in promoting golf in China has been Arthur Yeo, general manager at Spring City.

Yeo knows that expanding the game will require the cooperation of the Chinese government.

His club caters to super wealthy guests from around Asia, but he believes that China needs affordable courses to shed its elitist reputation and garner mass appeal.

"Land should be set aside by the government to develop some golf courses, on the condition that the price be set below a certain level," he said.

Aside from addressing affordability, the golf industry is using the same three-pronged strategy that's been adopted by every sport trying to grow in China: develop grass roots interest, increase international exchanges of all kinds and find a breakthrough athlete, who can compete and win against the world's best.

Liang Wenchong, who just played at the Open Championship, and Zhang Lianwei are currently the most recognisable faces of golf in China, and neither has had big success internationally.

Nick Mould, president of World Sport Group, which produces the tour, said: "The Omega China Tour has provided a great platform for China's players to develop, although it's still in its early stages."

Faldo Series

China's younger players are targeted by the Faldo Series Asia, an amateur series organised by Nick Faldo since 2006. The series has 12 events altogether and four in China, including the series final at Faldo's course in Shenzhen at Mission Hills.

The series pairs instruction with competition and selects youths to join the Faldo Series Europe.

Golf may have a rocky relationship with the Chinese government, but it seems to win some of the nation's young people over with ease.

Michael Gu, assistant general manager at Suzhou Jinji Lake International Golf Club said: "I saw it and I felt, this is my lifestyle."

-The writer is the editor of China Sports Today.