Corruption taints reputation of golf

Hobbies, it is said, reflect the innermost desires of people and help them fulfill their unmet needs. So it's not strange that golf will often trigger criminal behavior when corrupt officials take to swinging a club.

Amid the current crackdown on illegal courses in China, details of bribery, extortion and self-indulgence involving fallen golfing officials have surfaced, further damaging the reputation of the sport that is long perceived by many as an elitist pastime of the moneyed class.

One of them, Gu Xiang-ling, a deputy planning director in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, before he was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes, reportedly played golf at almost all the courses in China, accompanied by his mistresses and a real estate developer who picked up the bills.