Posted on 01/02/2002 12:45:16 PM PST by super175
Mission Hills Golf Club - the name sounds like something overlooking the Pacific Ocean from San Diego or maybe something at Pebble Beach.
Mission Hills is in Shenzhen. And Mission Hills has competition.
Surrounding Guangdong province has almost 100 courses, with bookings starting at HK$650. Golf has become popular in China over the past decade and the trend shows no signs of topping out, because Chinese executives need open space to relax and do certain business the Western way.
One other thing: Chinese walk, not drive, the six or seven kilometres from the first to the 18th hole.
"It's to get exercise, and for businessmen to have a relaxed atmosphere" said Wang Zhongdong, Beijing representative of the Japan-based Honma golf equipment shop.
"You don't have to be that rich. People's living standards have increased, and there's a market."
Mission Hills, with five 18-hole courses, is Asia's largest, according to its management. It also has villas for sale and a five-star resort.
Seventy per cent of the 3,800 members are from Hong Kong, 20 per cent are mainland residents and 10 per cent are foreigners. Most are top-level business people, who pay at least HK$618,000 a year to join.
"The sport is booming, and everyone is trying to pick it up. I would say we're following the trend," said Mission Hills communications manager Lester Mo.
Guangdong golf courses, which came along in the early 1990s as a place for Hong Kong business people to take guests, led the trend to Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Dalian in the late 90s as the national economy improved and people were affluent enough to afford green fees or membership dues.
About 150 or 200 courses operate in China, and many others are being built to attract company executives, their clients and foreign counterparts.
Courses already decorate the landscapes of South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. About 30,000 courses operate in the United States.
"And we have five, 10 times the US population, so we do have room to expand," Mr Mo said.
Expand they will. Last summer, golf course growth claimed 13 hectares of land in Hebei province, near Beijing, held under contract by farmers for more than 30 years. The farmers protested the illegal taking of their land, but police and bulldozers prevailed.
Two months ago Shenzhen-based Jing Jin Hai Golf Investment Development opened an office at the upmarket International Club in central Beijing.
As the company finished an 18-hole course in Tianjin in July, two service representatives waited in the Beijing office for would-be customers who could afford the US$10,000 annual membership fee.
Representative Chen Ting expects mainly entrepreneurs and foreigners to join the club.
One who welcomed the club's opening was Beijing golfer Chai Yansheng, who began playing two years ago and became professional this year. He said walking the 6.5 kilometres between the first and 18th hole would keep him in shape and that playing a good round would keep him happy.
"There's something for the body and something for the heart," he said, adding he could play golf until he was old because there were few physical limitations.
Mr Chai, also a golf course designer, said Chinese officials see golf courses as a way to make the country greener, replacing felled trees and drought-stricken land.
Mr Chen's club will compete with about 15 courses in the Beijing suburbs. These cater to wealthier people who want to get away from the city, talk privately in a clubhouse and work out on the green.
The first 18-hole course in the capital's suburbs was Beijing Golf Club, which opened in 1987 in a suburb near the city airport.
Designed by an American and an Australian, it looks like any Western course, with forested boundaries, five lakes, metre-high hummocks and closely cropped grass. Most members are Japanese and they pay membership fees starting at 7,000 yuan (about HK$6,684) a year with green fees starting at 350 yuan.
Club service manager Zhao Shuqing says people go to relax outdoors, get exercise and talk in the ninth-hole coffee house or the dining hall. So popular are these pursuits the club now has competition next door.
"Anyone can hit a ball. If you can walk, you can hit a ball into a hole. Other sports are not so satisfying," said Ms Zhao, who plays golf once a week.
Damn Chinese. Can't even get golf lingo right. Its the 19th Hole!
Sayr Wrat? I no understand. I thought it was the 19th hole and you don't drink coffee there, but Tsingtao beer.
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