Golf House Visit Sign That Chinese Officials Want Game To Grow


November 24, 2008

By David Shefter, USGA

Far Hills, N.J. - Anyone who watched the Summer Olympics this past August in Beijing saw the emergence of an athletic juggernaut.

Mu Hu, who is a member of the University of Florida golf team, came to the United States to attend a golf academy. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

While the United States hauled in the most medals - and enjoyed a record-setting performance from swimmer Michael Phelps - it was the host nation that turned heads and raised eyebrows for its depth and diverse athletic prowess. The People's Republic of China registered the most gold medals (51) and medaled in 25 of 34 sports. Not bad for a country that didn't come to the Olympic table until 1984.

Ironically, that also was the same year that the first golf course appeared in the country. During the first 35 years of the Communist regime, the sport was considered too aristocratic and Western for the masses. But with the creation of the China Golf Association in 1986, the ancient game was about to take flight.  Today, more than 500 courses have sprouted and an estimated three million Chinese play, although only 30,000 have a handicap index, according to China Golf Association officials who paid a visit to Golf House Nov. 11-13 to get a crash-course in the USGA Handicap and Course Rating System.

Those figures could get a major spike next fall if the International Olympic Committee approves golf as an official sport for the 2016 Games. Seven sports are hoping to become one of the two the IOC approves. Golf was last played in the Olympics 104 years ago in St. Louis.

However,  if golf does get on the Olympic program, CGA officials believe more dollars would be pumped into the sport from a country that already heavily finances athletics.

Even without golf in the Games, CGA officials said during their visit that programs are already in place to grow the game to Chinese youth. A program sponsored by HSBC, a global bank, has begun a project to introduce 20,000-30,000 kids ages 5-17 to the game.

"It would be one of the biggest projects in the whole world," said Song Yingchun, the CGA's director of marketing through Haili Chen, a New Jersey-based interpreter. "Because China economics are booming, lots of children are starting to play golf."

The results of such initiatives likely won't be measured for another decade. More than 20 years after the first golf course appeared in the world's most populated country (1.3 billion people, according to census figures), China has yet to be a major player on the major professional tours. Zhiang Lian-Wei, 43, was the first Chinese golfer to win on the European Tour (2003 Caltex Singapore Masters), edging past two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els on the 72nd hole. The victory caught the attention of Augusta National officials, who offered Zhiang a special invitation to the Masters, where he missed the cut in 2004.

His protégé, Liang Wen-Chong followed suit by becoming the first Chinese golfer to play in the PGA Championship (2007), where he missed the cut. He did receive a special invite to the 2008 Masters (missed cut) and qualified for the '08 British Open at Royal Birkdale, where he tied for 64th.

Two other Chinese golfers have recently shown the aptitude to become possible stars: Shanshan Feng and Mu Hu. Feng qualified for the 2007 U.S. Women's Open as an amateur and earned her LPGA Tour card for 2008, where she posted four top-five finishes in her rookie campaign ($464,225). Hu, who came to the U.S. to attend a golf academy in Florida, has also played in USGA events, including the 2007 U.S. Amateur, where he missed the match-play cut. Hu currently is a freshman on the University of Florida men's golf team.

Instructors from the U.S. and America have begun to filter over to China. The World Cup signed a 12-year deal to play its event at the swank Mission Hills Resort, which features 216 holes of golf, making it the world's largest. The HSBC Champions event on the European Tour is held outside of Shanghai, and when Tiger Woods participated, large crowds came to watch the world's No. 1 golfer, said Song Huaxun, the CGA's senior executive of golf marketing.

In an effort to promote professional golf from within its borders, the CGA helped create the Omega China Tour, a development circuit open primarily to those from China, although a small handful of players from surrounding nations are permitted to compete. Omega signed on as a title sponsor for seven years.

It's not far-fetched to think a Chinese golfer will win the U.S. Open or U.S. Women's Open someday. (John Mummert/USGA)

"Tournaments in China for Chinese golfers had been getting fewer and fewer," said Li Chao, who led the tour's money list two of its first three years, in an ESPN.com piece last year. "Now the country's golfers have a reason to practice and a chance to win regular prize money."

So what does all this have to do with the CGA's visit to Golf House?

Well, it's a sign that the Chinese want to be a serious player in the game. In 2006, Scott Hovde, the USGA's manager of course rating and handicap education, traveled to the country for several seminars. Even though China had been licensed to use the Handicap and Course Rating System since 1996 (58 international associations have license agreements for course rating only; 25 have agreements for the Handicap and Course Rating systems), the country was lagging in terms of properly rating its courses.

Song Huaxun said plans are being made to re-rate every course in the country, a process that won't happen overnight. The three men who came to Golf House - the party also included Jin Hongwen from the Small Ball Sports Management Centre of China's State Sports General Administration for which golf falls under along with other non-Olympic sports such as cricket, squash and bowling - were going bring back all the information received from the Handicapping Department and train the individuals who will carry out the rating process.

"They want to forge a relationship with us," said Mary Kate Kemp, the USGA's director of handicapping and course rating.

 Eric Lahman, assistant manager of handicapping and course rating, and Cindy Cooper (assistant manager, handicap and course licensing), educated the CGA officials on all aspects of course rating and handicapping. The CGA officials also spent part of their last day at the USGA with Green Section staffers and toured the Museum and Test Center.

Relations between the two associations began in earnest prior to the Olympics when the inaugural China vs. Youth Team Golf Championship was staged July 23-25 in Langfang City. Promoted by the USGA and CGA, the match brought together eight Americans and eight Chinese youth golfers for a Ryder Cup-style competition that was won handily by the USA, 14-2.

The outcome aside, the competition was a major learning experience for the Chinese. Just observing the Americans' games and course-management habits was invaluable. The competition will take place again in 2009 on American soil.

While touring the USGA Museum and Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History, the CGA officials perked up at a small display from that youth competition.

"They were all excited," said Kemp about the display, which featured a shirt and cap from the competition.

 The potential for China being a major golf player is enormous, especially if the game becomes an official Olympic sport. For proof just look at where China has positioned itself in other Olympic sports such as gymnastics, track and field and even tennis, where the country produced its first gold medalist (women's doubles) at the 2004 Athens Games.

A big obstacle could be expense. The CGA officials said most courses in the country can be played for around $50, which might sound cheap for Americans, but for the average Chinese farmer, it can be a chunk of his monthly income. Most of the venues are private or resorts, but anyone can play as long as they can afford the fees.

 Some Chinese see the addition of so many courses in the last 10 years as poor use of land. Critics have even called golf "green opium" because new courses eliminate fertile agricultural fields.

Still, China ranks second to Japan for total number of courses in Asia.

And remember the sport in China is nine years younger than Tiger Woods. There also wasn't a "pro golfer" designation in the country until 1994, with most being classified as instructors.

Even the Americans needed time to beat the Scots and English during the fledgling days of the U.S. Open.

But on sheer numbers alone, China could someday be held in the same regard as Australia, Japan and Korea in terms of developing world-class players. It was only 10 years ago that Se Ri Pak burst onto the scene in women's golf. Now Korea is flooding the LPGA Tour with talent. Greg Norman helped pave the way for Australians to come and be successful on the PGA Tour.

"We are very confident that more people will come to [golf]," said Song Yingchun, "because China has a very good sports system."

DavidShefteris a USGA Digital Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org .