It’s reason enough to make any proud Scot scratch his head and down another pint. The 2005 European Tour schedule includes five golf tournaments on mainland China, three of which made their debut this season. That’s more than in England or Scotland.
What in the name of St. Andrews is going on?
“Surprising, isn’t it?” said Luke Donald, a native Brit competing on the PGA Tour. “It shows the game of golf really is a global sport.”
The People’s Republic of China could be golf’s next frontier. An ancient nation flexing an unfathomable resource of 1.4 billion people, China is eager to become a major player on the world’s stage in all arenas, including sports, as evidenced by its unified efforts to secure the 2008 Summer Olympics for Beijing and its announced intention to win the medal count.
Until the early 1980s, when the first course was built in China, golf had been considered too bourgeois for proletarian ideals. But 200 golf courses now dot the landscape and driving ranges are sprouting up.
The Chinese Golf Association estimates that 500,000 Chinese people are golfers. That figure may be a tad misleading, depending on the definition of a golfer, said Ian Stirling, a sports agent and director of International Management Group’s (IMG) Asian operations.
“There are people that might only own a 7-iron who like to take that club to the range and pound a few golf balls,” said Stirling in a phone interview from his office in Hong Kong. “Their enthusiasm is encouraging.”
Participation is growing rapidly and milestones have been reached. In 2004, one of Stirling’s clients, Zhang Lianwei, became the first golfer from mainland China to play in the Masters. Zhang held his own, shooting 77-72 and missing the cut by one stroke. A month later, Zhang made the cut at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Zhang became the first golfer from his homeland to win a European Tour event when he outdueled Ernie Els in the 2003 Caltex Masters in Singapore.
Zhang said teeing it up at Augusta National was a dream come true. “But for China, this is only the beginning,” he said afterward. “There are a lot of kids starting to play in China.”
At age 40 Zhang decided against trying to earn a PGA Tour card. But Stirling expects that a player from mainland China will soon qualify for the PGA Tour. China’s second-best player, Liang Wenzhong, is 26, and another young player, Li Chao, shows potential on the Asian Tour. But China’s top hopes may rest with 15-year-old Hu Mu, who moved with his family from Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, to Orlando three years ago so he could learn from David Leadbetter, one of the world’s foremost swing coaches.
Two days older than fellow Leadbetter pupil Michelle Wie, Mu won three U.S. national junior tournaments last summer and made the cut in two Asian Tour events last fall.
“The kid has it all,” Leadbetter said, “the game, the looks, the swing and the work ethic. They’re already calling him the ‘Tiger Woods of Asia.’ He’s going to be a phenomenal player.”
Ten members of the Chinese junior golf team are spending six weeks this summer at the Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The next prodigy might be Cindy Fong, 9, who moved with her parents six months ago to Florida to learn the game.
“You cannot believe the golf swing of this girl,” Leadbetter said. “From a technique standpoint, it’s perfect. … I think you’ll start seeing a lot more Chinese players, male and female, start to make an impact on the sport. They’re on the move.”
For now, however, golf is deemed “elitist” in China because of the high price to play and relative scarcity of courses. An average 18-hole greens fee of $100 takes a healthy bite from the budget of a middle-class Chinese family that typically earns less than $15,000 annually, Stirling said.
“To have a golf membership is really something, as well as to own golf clubs and to wear polo-type shirts,” Stirling said.
Golf equipment manufacturers have taken notice. Callaway markets its brand at tournaments in China and in pro shops. As of yet, however, large retail golf stores do not exist in China.
“It’s going to be a while before the game catches on in China on a large scale,” said Callaway vice president Larry Dorman.
“The Chinese aren’t overly quick to Westernize; they want to take smaller steps,” said Jim Engh, a Castle Rock-based golf course architect who designed a 36-hole complex in Dongguan, two hours west of Hong Kong.
Growth could also be dampened in the short term because golf is not an Olympic sport. Officials are putting unprecedented resources into gearing up for the 2008 Games and winning the medal count.
“China is using sports as a means of instilling patriotism,” Stirling explained. “Where they finish on the medal table is a very big deal.”
Despite the hurdles, golf continues to make in-roads. A sports marketing company, World Sports Group, recently announced plans to begin a Chinese pro golf tour. European Tour stops in China attract as many as 12,000 spectators for a weekend round. The Asian Tour has eight stops in China.
And the sprawling, 10-course Mission Hills complex an hour from Hong Kong ranks as the world’s largest golf resort.
“I think any business in the world would be naive to not look at China as one of the next exciting market places, and that includes golf,” said Henry Hughes, the PGA Tour’s senior vice president and chief of operations. “China is a force to be reckoned with. And in our planning we’re giving some thought to that.”
Possibilities include more marketing efforts in China, building a TPC course and perhaps hosting a Nationwide event.
Stirling sees the biggest immediate obstacle to growing the game as a lack of quality instructors, not interest.
“People are learning the rules and the etiquette of the game. To refine their playing skills later, I think that’s another phase.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
