Gold medals and golf: What Olympic inclusion means for the game in China
Thursday, 15th October 2009 ~ Sam ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
2016 gold medalists? Young golfers practice their tee shots on the driving range at Lakeview Golf Club, Kunming
In a country where the Olympics are seen as the summit of sport, the ramifications of last Friday's International Olympic Committee (IOC) announcement that golf and rugby sevens are to be included in the 2016 and 2020 Games will be huge.
Golf, in particular, has had a short and startlingly fast development path in China. From the first golf club, Zhongshan Hot Spring Golf Club, which opened in China in 1984 to Mission Hills, home to the World Cup of Golf with its 12 courses designed by the top industry names such as Nick Faldo, José Maria Olazabal, Greg Norman and Ernie Els, golf in China has mimicked the economy in its rapid growth. The re-admittance of golf into the Olympics could speed up the game's growth in China even more by attracting money, government support and popular interest.
Asian golf in general is booming right now and most recently it was South Korean Y.E. Yang's PGA victory over Tiger Woods in the States that shocked the world. Mirroring Yang's career path many Chinese "first generation" golfers are also from under-privileged family backgrounds and are self-taught, picking up the game in their late teens just as Yang did. Chinese golfer Wu Ashun is an example of this phenomenon; determination and luck have enabled him to work his way up from a 19-year-old first-timer to the top amateur national player and now to a top three ranking on the Omega China Tour.
Wu, whose talent was discovered by a Hong Kong charity fund, is not satisfied yet however and says "I would rather be a small fish in a big pond than a big fish in a small pond." Describing the China Tour as a small tour is no understatement. Most of the golfers outside its top 20 struggle to break even on their travel and accommodation expenses.
It is a situation that Dan Washburn, author of the as yet unpublished book "Par for China," has likened the situation of China's pros to that of the early 20th century in America where professional golfers, who were mostly immigrants, were socially ranked somewhere between traveling salesmen and itinerant farmhands. Of course, the US PGA Tour has since grown to become the largest golf competition in the world and it will be interesting to see how the IOC's latest decision affects the growth of golf in the world's most populous nation.
"Par for China" is more than just a description of golf in China; it also uses the metaphor of the development of golf epitomizing the country's development as a whole. Washburn describes "golf as a barometer of economic growth" and certainly golf has only existed since Deng Xiaoping opened the country in the 1980's. A key issue for the rapidly developing China, both politically and within golf, is land usage rights. The official stance is that golf courses built on farmland are illegal, but on the outskirts of the wealthiest Chinese cities--where the rich of the city meet the poor of the country--the farmland is often obtained through backdoor connections and bribes to local officials. The property is then listed as housing estates and turned into a golf course.
Another aspect of golf that reflects a topical issue in contemporary China is the question of "accessibility for all" versus elitism. As promoted by the IOC, the decision to include golf in the Olympics will certainly bring added funding to the sport in countries such as China and India, but the question remains whether this money will go towards the development of the sport at the grassroots level where it is needed the most or if it will stretch the gap between China's rich and poor even more. The reality, though, is that golf will struggle to ever become the people's game due to exorbitant greens fees (an average round costs $152 USD, the most expensive in the world) exacerbated by the government's well-intentioned efforts to curb construction which decrease supply and put further upward pressure on prices.
China has seemingly been the fastest to rebound from the economic slowdown and the golf industry will likewise continue to flourish, with the China Golf Association predicting that by 2020 China will have 20 million golfers. Tiger Woods has stated that he intends to participate in the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and having witnessed last year what China can do when they focus their efforts on the Olympics, it would be no surprise to see a Chinese golfer challenging him for the gold.
Tags: Dan Washburn, golf, Mission Hills, Olympics, Omega China Tour, Y.E. Yang, Zhongshan Hot Spring Golf Club
Aussie wins at Sofitel Zhongshan IGC Open
Tuesday, 28th April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Kurt Barnes image: Omega China Tour
Tags: golf, Kurt Barnes, Omega China Tour, Zhongshan Open
Martial artist turned golfer Wu wins at Xiamen
Monday, 23rd March 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Wu Weihuang
"When I holed the par-putt on 18, I just felt so relieved that I'd finally done it. I've waited 10 years for this moment and it's a great feeling," Wu said. He cited time in the gym during the off-season as a big factor in his win. He had to hold off runners up (Alex) Wu Ashun (吴阿顺 ), from Fujian, and 2008 Omega Championship winner Zhou Jun (周君) for the win. Wu and Zhou each took home 90,000 RMB and a Dell laptop. Also competing in the tournament was Wu Weihuang's son, Wu Jianlong, who shot a 75 and a 78 in the first two rounds.
Here is how some other golfers on CST's radar finished:
Zhang Lianwei 张连伟 (Omega Order of Merit winner 2006, runner-up in 2007 and 2008; first Chinese player invited to play in The Masters Tournament): 282, tied for 7th place
Lu Wen-teh (Taiwan-based Asian Tour player; winner, 2008 Kunming Champioship) 284, 9th place
Li Chao 李超 (winner, 2008 Dell Championship; winner, Omega Order of Merit 2005 and 2007): 287, tied for 14th place
Liao Guiming廖贵明 (Omega Order of Merit winner 2008; winner, 2008 Sofitel Golf Championship): 292, tied for 25th place
Zhou Xunshou 周训书 (16th in 2008 Omega Order of Merit, featured in upcoming book Par for China): 305, 58th place
The tour's next event is the Sofitel Zhongshan IGC Open, at Zhongshan International Golf Club in Nanjing, April 23-26.
Image: World Sport Group
Tags: China Tour, Dell Championship, golf, Li Chao, Liao Guiming, Lu Wen-teh, Omega China Tour, World Sport Group, Wu Ashun, Wu Weihuang, Xiamen, Zhang Lianwei, Zhou Jun, Zhou Xunshou
Father and son to compete at Xiamen golf tournament
Wednesday, 18th March 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Wu Weihuang at last year's Dell Championship
The elder Wu is a former martial arts champion and also a character who draws crowds on the links, according to World Sport Group, which puts on the tournament as well as the Omega China Tour. The younger Wu is a former basketball player who took up golf at 14, and has progressed rapidly.
"I basically went from shooting in the 90s to shooting in the 70s last summer," says Jianlong, a three handicapper.
The story of the two Wus mirrors the Chinese professional golf world as a whole. Older players on the tour are pretty much all in a second career, coming to golf from other work, often not as professional athletes. The younger players may have gotten an earlier start than their older counterparts, but still have come to the game relatively late compared to players in other parts of the world. For more on the subject, keep an eye on Shanghai-based American sportswriter Dan Washburn, who has been following security guard-turned-pro-golfer Zhou Xunshu, as the central figure of a book on China's development and the growth of golf here.
Related: Lu wins at Kunming, young amateurs shine
Yunnan's top young golfers compete at Faldo Series Asia
Tags: Dell Championship, golf, Omega China Tour, World Sport Group, Wu Jianlong, Wu Weihuang
Liao Guiming wins Omega Order of Merit
Friday, 17th October 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Despite finishing 17th at the season-ending Omega Championship in Beijing last week, Liao Guiming (廖贵明) finished first in this year's Omega Order of Merit, the ranking system for China's pro golf circuit.Liao finished the season with 375,125 yuan in prize money, putting him about 45,000 yuan ahead of second place finisher Zhang Lianwei and more than 100,000 yuan ahead of third-place Zhou Jun. The 31-year-old from Guangxi has played in every Omega event since the tour's inception in 2005. He finished 10th in last year's rankings.
"I'm really happy. Winning the Omega Order of Merit proves I have the ability. I had a great career as an amateur but it took me five years to finally win as a pro," Liao said.
Liao's 17th place finish in the final event opened the door for Li Chao (李超) to overtake him in the Order of Merit, but Li placed fourth in the tournament, leaving him at fourth place overall in the rankings.
Zhou Jun, 24 years old, became the youngest player to win on the tour with his victory at the Omega Championship, which was played at Beijing Longxi Hotspring Golf Club. He shot a six-under total of 282.
Tags: golf, Li Chao, Liao Guiming, Omega China Tour, Zhang Lianwei, Zhou Jun
Liang makes British Open cut
Monday, 21st July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Playing in his third major, Liang finally made the cut at Royal Birkdale with an eight-over-par 148 over the first two rounds. Liang, currently number one on the Asian Tour, shot a 77 and a 74 on the last two rounds, ending with an overall score of 299, 19 over par. He finished in a three-way tie for 64th place.
"I'm happy overall. This is my first time at The Open and I made it through the weekend," Liang said, according to this report from the Omega China Tour. "A tournament like this is a great learning experience. You learn to be patient and I'll take this experience and apply it in future tournaments. I can become better."
Liang competed in last year's PGA Championship and this April's Masters, missing the cut both times. He is the first Chinese player at the Open Championship. This year, he will play in three US PGA Tour events, the Canadian Open, the Reno-Tahoe Open and the Wyndham Championship.
For more on Liang, see this recent Golf Digest feature: Golf in the Year of the Rat
Image: Omega China Tour
Tags: British Open, golf, Liang Wenchong, Omega China Tour, Open Championship
China's top 10 golf courses: Kunming is king
Thursday, 17th July 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Kunming's Spring City Golf & Lake Resort
US-based Golf Digest magazine has released its annual list of what it considers to be the China's top ten golf courses. According to the magazine's editors, if you're looking for China's best courses, forget Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen – go west to the laid-back city of Kunming.
The laid-back city of Kunming in southwestern China's Yunnan province took three of the top six spots on Golf Digest's list, here are the results:
1. Spring City Golf & Lake Resort (Lake course), Kunming, Yunnan province
2. Spring City Golf & Lake Resort (Mountain course), Kunming, Yunnan province
3. Sheshan Golf Club, Shanghai
4. Shenzhen Golf Club, Shenzhen, Guangdong province
5. Tiger Beach Golf Links, Haiyang, Shandong province
6. Lakeview Golf Club, Kunming, Yunnan province
7. Jian Lake Golf & Country Club, Shaoxing, Zhejiang province
8. Trans Strait Golf Club, Fuzhou, Fujian province
9. Pine Valley Golf Resort & Country Club (Old course), Beijing
10. Mission Hills Golf Club (Norman course), Shenzhen, Guangdong province
Kunming ended up beating out the big coastal cities with the top two courses – both at Spring City Golf and Lake Resort. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, Spring City's Lake course was named best in China, beating out Spring City's other championship course, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Mountain course.
Kunming reappears at the number six spot on the list with Lakeview Golf Club, which has been the site of the Yunnan stops of the Omega China Tour as well as the Faldo Series Asia.
Shanghai's Sheshan Golf course rounded out the top three.
Shenzhen is the only other city with multiple courses in Golf Digest's top ten – Shenzhen Golf Club was named number four, while Mission Hills Golf Club's Greg Norman-designed course came in tenth.
Image: Spring City Golf & Lake Resort
Related articles:
Lu Wins in Kunming, Young Amateurs Shine
Golf Emerging in China, and an Emerging Chinese Golfer
Tags: Faldo Series Asia, golf, Golf Digest, Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus, Jian Lake Golf & Country Club, Lakeview Golf Club, Mission Hills Golf Club, Omega China Tour, Pine Valley Golf Resort & Country Club, Robert Trent Jones Jr, Shenzhen Golf Club, Sheshan Golf Club, Spring City Golf & Lake Resort, Tiger Beach Golf Links, Trans Strait Golf Club, Yunnan
Golf Emerging in China, and an Emerging Chinese Golfer
Friday, 20th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
This video from Daedalum Films tells the story of Zhou Xunshou, a farmer turned security guard turned pro golfer. His story—he is entirely self-taught and club members laughed at him the first time he asked to hit a tee shot—is an extreme version of a pattern in China's professional golf world, which includes many players who took up the game relatively late in life.
Zhou is currently ranked 14th on China's Omega Order of Merit. He will be featured heavily in "Par for China," an upcoming book by Shanghaiist editor Dan Washburn. Washburn is an American journalist who has been in Shanghai for six years. When the book comes out, it should be the definitive title on the state of golf in China.
Here are links to some of Washburn's other golf stories, all written for ESPN:
Zhou makes remarkable leap into professional golf
Golf in China: All growing, all new, all raw
Golf still an elitist pursuit in China
Tags: golf, Omega China Tour, Washburn, Zhou Xunshou
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