China on verge of boom after sport's Olympic acceptance

Golf is on the verge of a boom period with more courses, financial support and events for amateurs planned after the game was reintroduced as an Olympic sport last year.

After the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) announcement last October, the sport's governing body in China vowed to develop the "game for the rich" and show the world's most populous nation is determined to produce top international golfers in the near future.

"Golf is a sport which demands more technique than athleticism. It's a sport quite suitable for Chinese," said Zhang Xiaoning, secretary general of the Chinese Golf Association (CGA). "I'm sure as long as it is developed under the state-support system it will produce some of the world's best athletes - like we do in table tennis and badminton."