Mission to link with other clubs

Players at the Mission Hills Group's Blackstone Course in Hainan province. Mission Hills golf club has played host to more than 100 international tournaments. [Photo/China Daily]

[WANG JING / CHINA DAILY]

Ken Chu chases expansion through brand marketing and denies any plan for listing

Ken Chu, chairman of Mission Hills Group, wants to tee off from his southern stronghold, aiming for the distant greens of the rest of the country.

The 38-year-old is pledging to expand his company, which currently has 15,000 staff, to golf clubs in other parts of China - through the use of brand marketing.

"We are bringing our tried and true brand and golf management services to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Yunnan, Chongqing and other destinations," Chu said in an exclusive interview with China Daily. "Just like hoteliers developing hotel chains, we'll spread the golf brand throughout China."

Through a business model of offering sports, health services, five-star hotel resorts and exhibition spaces, Mission Hills is driving the industry at a time when the sport is on the cusp of a windfall.

According to the China Golf Association, there are at least 3 million golfers in the nation and more than 500 courses, an astounding number considering there was no golf course in China until 1984.

In 1994, Mission Hills began its golf operations in Shenzhen and Dongguan, Guangdong province, with 12 courses designed by some of the biggest names in the sport, such as Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman and Ernie Els. The courses were completed in 10 years.

The golf club, regarded as the world's largest golf facility by the Guinness World Records in 2004, has played host to more than 100 international tournaments, including the 1995 World Cup of Golf and the 2001 Tiger Woods China Challenge.

With another 10 courses that opened last year on the island province of Hainan, Mission Hills owns properties covering more than 40 square kilometers.

"I understand that there is land restriction in golf development in China so it doesn't mean Mission Hills will roll out and go to different cities to build new Mission Hills," Chu said.

"I can help existing golf courses that are not doing as well as they should to reposition them, to remarket them and to make them profitable for the existing owners because Mission Hills has 20 years of experience in golf management."

The State Council, China's Cabinet, slapped a national moratorium on building new courses in 2004. Last June, 11 Chinese ministries collectively ordered a crackdown to prevent illegal land use and seizures.

Golf clubs deemed unfit for year-round operations, in northern China, for instance, will not only be branded under the Missions Hills name but will have a contractual agreement to allow, or share, cross-national memberships. Members of a club in Beijing, for instance, would be able to use the Mission Hills courses in Hainan. This move will also allow the company to absorb an unprofitable golf club's staff.

"We'll also bring international tournaments to cities and TV network distribution deals," said Chu, who took over the reins of the Mission Hills Group after his father, David Chu, died in August.

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