ESPN Articles on China Golf

Good articles to read on the state of China golf...

ESPN - Washburn: Golf in China: All growing, All new, All raw

Zhou makes remarkable leap into pro golf

How they got to the China Tour

SARS... a catalyst for Golf

If you can remember back to 2003 the SARS epidemic started to spread from Hong Kong. For me, this was my first chance to come to Asia. I took advantage of the cheap airfares, knowing they would have it under control. And, now, here I am in Asia living and working.

SARS was a airborne epidemic that spread throughout many large cities in Asia. One of the cities affected was Beijing. Over the past two years living in Beijing, I have heard on numerous occasions that people starting playing golf when SARS hit. It is a really interesting phenomenon. The reason many people started playing golf is because people wanted to be outdoors. During that time, if you were indoors, you may catch the virus if someone sneezed or coughed. So, many people wanted to get outside and away from others. There you have it, a pretty large group of the Beijing golfers started playing when SARS hit.

Now, Beijing has around fifty golf clubs and over one-hundred driving ranges. The golf industry is hot here and is the second best market behind Guangdong Province in the South.

China Tour Stories

This year my parter and I have been traveling with the Omega China Tour. It is an interesting tour that is three years old. The tour is professionally run and has a look and feel like any other major tour you would visit in the world.

We have traveled to each stop coaching and helping many of the tour professionals. It has been fun building relationships with the touring professionals in China. They all have different stories of how they decided on playing golf. What you have to realize is that most of the touring professionals are the best coaches in their hometowns. Therefore, there aren't many professional coachs to help them out. With this situation, we have seen many homegrown swings.

There are also a lot of homegrown stories of how they became interested in golf. There is an American following the tour especially one player this year. He is compiling information for a book he is writing: ParForChina. The American writer is writing about golf in China and the stories of the players on the China Tour. I look forward to seeing the finished product. One of the players he is following started working as a security guard at a golf course. Later, he started practicing at night and now he is a China Tour player ranked in the top 15. I am always intrigued to find out more about each of the players stories. There are players that were ex-baseball players, weigh-lifters, kungfu artists, motorcross racers, the list goes on... It is an interesting time to work in the golf business in China.

One year until the Olympics!

This week, Beijing celebrated the one year anniversary to the Olympic Games here in 2008. I unfortunately was in Jiangsu Province at a Golf Tournament and flew in the day of the activities. From the sounds of friends, it was truly impressive. I see the change for the Olympics everyday on my way to work. It truly is incredible the change going on in this city.

For those who don't know, the Olympics will start in 2008 on August 8th at 8pm. You may ask wy so many eights? Well, in China the number eight is a good number. It is the same meaning for success. So, next year the Olympics will start 8, 08, 8008 at 8pm. Not a bad idea if your Chinese. It is going to be an amazing year leading up to the Olympics.

Picture taken from China Daily Website

China's playing the long game with new Junior Programs

China's junior golf market segment is growing just as fast as the red-hot economy. I continue to see a major increase in excitement toward golf among juniors in China. In addition, many companies are starting to sponsor and support China Junior Golf. Just recently, HSBC made a major announcement. Read the article here: "Golfing authorities play the long game with new junior program"

Golf on the North Korea Border

This past week, I was at the Yan Ji stop on the Omega China Tour. It reminded me of golf in the Northwest in the States. The course was absolutely beautiful. One of the interesting facts is that the course is within twenty minutes to the North Korean Border. The delicacy of the town the city the event was staged was dog meat. I didn't taste it this time. Maybe next!

My partner and I are traveling to each China Tour site coaching and evaluating China Tour players. Our goal is to help grow and develop the Chinese golfers and this is one way to make a contribution. In addition, we want to see the Chinese Tour players get better faster as foreign players will be entering the tour in the years to come.

The following is a picture of hole #8.


The following is a picture of three of the top players next to the NK border. NK is in the background. To see other pictures, visit: www.sina.com.cn (One of the best web portals for golf in China)

Golf Going Mainstream in China

Read the following article regarding the China Golf Association's plan to take golf in China to the masses: Golf Chief: I'll Take Sport into Mainstream