China teed up as game's next great frontier

'The new white ball of China", according to Chu Tenniel, executive director of the Mission Hills Golf Club in Hainan Island, has dimples and flies through the air, not across a ping-pong table.

Mission Hills will host the 56th World Cup of Golf from Nov 24 to Nov 27, the second of two PGA Tour events to be played in China within a month. The first will be the HSBC World Golf Championship to be held from Nov 3 to Nov 6 in Shanghai.

The likelihood that any Chinese players will be competitive with the top pros is slim, but experts think that will change soon with golf becoming an Olympic sport in 2016.

Asked when China would develop a player who could crack the top 50 in the world rankings, Andrew "Chubby" Chandler of International Sports Management says, "within five years because they're making a big push before the Olympics."

Three players Chandler manages, Charl Schwartze, of South Africa, and Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, both of Northern Ireland, have won majors this year, the Masters, the US Open and the British Open respectively.

Tiger Woods, very popular in China because he is half Asian, conducted a 90-minute clinic for 200 youngsters (while 30,000 watched) in April and said he was impressed with the growth of the game, also predicting Chinese golfers will break into the top 50 in the world.

"It's been really neat as a player who has come here for a number of years to see the development of the fans and their knowledge of the game and their enthusiasm for the sport," Woods, who has twice finished runner-up at the HSBC Champions event, told The Associated Press. "These fans are certainly much more knowledgeable now."

More recently, Antony Scanlon, executive director of the International Golf Federation based in Switzerland, spent four "pretty informative" days in China in last September. "They're doing a lot actually," Scanlon says. "What I saw was a great enthusiasm for the sport."

Scanlon says China is working closely with the Australian PGA Tour to develop coaches and establish centers for excellence for elite golfers. There are about 200 schools in the junior development program, teaching children from primary school age to high school. "They're expanding their base and are looking to uncover the peak of their talent," says Scanlon.

Scanlon says these programs were "already in the pipeline," but have flourished now that the Chinese government has officially sanctioned golf as a sport because of its inclusion in the Olympics. "They're developing their own men's and women's tours and are making their own pathways that eventually will lead to majors. If given the opportunity on the world stage, I wouldn't be surprised if they're represented in 2016," Scanlon says.

The Olympic selections will be tied to the professional rankings as the top 60 players will qualify with a maximum of four per country. "With the top 150 to 200 players in the mix, there will be opportunities for China," Scanlon says.

From Scanlon's visit to China, he did not think the State Council's 2004 ban of the construction of new courses was "inhibiting the development of golf". He says that "some courses are still being built as long as you're not infringing on farmland."

Both Scanlon and Chu think the sport is also becoming less elitist despite the high cost (an average of 118 euros, $160) to play a round. "Another challenge right now is how to grow the game in a mass market," Chu told pgatour.com. "One of the things that the Olympics have served for us is the game is no longer just seen as an elitist game. It's a commoner's game because everybody can play. The garbage man or your mailman can equally play this game and enjoy and get the benefits of what this game can offer to them. That's what I do envision and hope to see in China, as well."

Chu says he feels "its part of our obligation that we must grow the game. Even if I can acquire all possible golfers to become members (at Mission Hills), it may not be enough for the whole industry to actually grow. That's why we have, from day one, been very much supportive in junior development to amateur to professional."

Like the ping-pong diplomacy of 40 years ago, Chu thinks golf can be the new sport to connect the world to China. "I think golf is the new trend, the new white ball of China," Chu says.