It would be fair to say that the decision to continue hosting the recently-completed World Cup of Golf in China until 2018 has not been universally welcomed.
Stinging criticism from Stephen Urquhart, the president of the competition’s title sponsor Omega, has claimed that China “is too immature a market to put the World Cup where it should be”. While Urquhart has a valid viewpoint to some degree, he is missing the point.
China’s golfing profile is on the up. Staging competitions such as the World Cup of Golf in China for a sustained period of time will only help to further raise awareness of the sport in the country and Asia as a whole. That in turn could boost revenue and lead to an increase in the amount of Asian, and more specifically Chinese, players taking on the world’s best.
Having being held in Shenzhen on the previous three occasions, the tournament switched this year to the Blackstone course at Mission Hills Haikou and the United States pair of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland claimed a two-stroke victory ahead of England, Germany and Australia.
For the record, China finished 18th overall out of 28 teams and despite criticism from the likes of Urquhart, Ken Chu, chairman of the Mission Hills Group, is excited about the impact the World Cup of Golf can make in China.
Chu told the Korea Herald: “The World Cup is not as popular as other sports. For instance in China golf is only 25 years old. But it means there is a lot of room to grow.” The optimism of people like Chu is infectious – and is based around some impressive statistics. There was estimated to be only 20 or so courses in China in the 1980s. Nowadays, there are well in excess of 300 and interest in golf is increasing all the time.
There’s now not just a wealth of courses, but these are quality courses as well. Take Mission Hills Shenzhen, for example. The 12-course resort is widely recognized as the largest golf facility in the world.
The infrastructure is definitely in place for China to become a force in the golfing world. There are loads of luxury golf resorts and hotels to be found around the whole country.
What it really needs now to make a real breakthrough is for a player from China to make a name for themselves on a global level in much the same way that the likes of South Korean KJ Choi have in recent years.