Australians Peter Moss (left), Geoff Barton
(middle) and Mark Moss are optimistic about their golf business in
China. Chris Hyde
Former jockey Geoff Barton was ensconced in the Australian
thoroughbred scene when he received the telephone call that would
be the opening chapter of his China story. It was an unexpected
opportunity that came while Barton was dealing with tragedy, and
one that saw him headed for a foreign land to be part of a bold
venture that has been described as China's greatest gamble.
"I was handling the affairs of a friend of mine who was
contacted to come here when they started racing in Beijing," says
Barton, who worked as a race caller and media commentator after
retiring as a jockey.
"He was supposed to come here and be the horse breaker.
Unfortunately, the week before he was coming he had a car accident.
He ended up as a paraplegic so I had to ring them and say, 'he
can't come', and they needed him a month ago, and they asked,
'well, can you come?'
"So I jumped on a plane and was coming over here and said,
'Well, what am I doing? I'm on my way to China, my God!'"
Geoff Barton takes aim in
the virtual golf simulator. File photo
Barton, originally from Darwin in Australia's Northern
Territory, was starter and horse breaker for the Beijing Jockey
Club, established in 2001 with a world-class racecourse over 160
hectares at Tongzhou, in eastern Beijing. Funded by Hong Kong toy
magnate Chung Yun Pun, it was a $200 million venture that aimed to
revive legal betting on horse racing in China.
But the Beijing racing operation shut down in late 2005, leaving
43-year-old Barton "in limbo". He became a partner in Avid Golf
Management, a company organizing corporate tournaments founded by
his friend and fellow sports-mad Australian expatriate, Mark
Moss.
Moss' own China story began some years before an encounter with
a former US president put his future on course with the development
of golf in China. In 2001, the 28-year-old moved to Beijing,
following his father Peter Moss, a builder who had based himself in
the capital four years earlier.
He worked various jobs, including for the Kunlun Hotel, his
father's construction company, BHDP, and as a sales rep at a
financial firm, before finding his own footing in China's brave new
world of business. A top football player as a Sydney teenager, Mark
Moss is also a keen golfer and was approached by the Capital Club
to organize a monthly golf tournament for its members in 2005.
Bill Clinton's September, 2005 China tour delivered Moss a major
coup. He was engaged to organize the World Celebrity Golf
tournament, a weekend charity event headlined by the former US
president and featuring a slew of political, sporting and
entertainment identities from China and abroad.
Avid Golf has since organized events for embassies, foreign
chambers of commerce and corporations, including McDonald's,
InterContinental Hotels, and South African media group MIH. The
introduction of a state-of-the-art indoor simulator has been
another business boon, allowing golfers to practice their strokes
in the comfort of an indoor lounge area.
Housed in a bar suite painted with dark green walls and
furnished with bright orange sofas, the simulator's centerpiece is
a 10-sq-m screen displaying the player's choice of 27 courses from
around the world. The player tees off and, once the ball hits the
screen, computer sensors produce a virtual rendition of its journey
through the green.
In a city where only the most die-hard of golfers brave the
winter elements for a round, Avid Golf's indoor set-up has a
"tremendous social aspect", Barton says. Clients range from
"Chinese rock stars to overseas businessmen".
"We get guys down here, they have a few beers, we order in some
pizzas, and we have a night of golf," Barton says. "It's just
fantastic and there's a lot of ribbing going on, a lot of jokes, a
lot of bagging. It's a lot of fun and you don't have to walk far to
get a drink."
Despite the good times, Moss admits it was hard to return with
his wife and 19-month-old daughter to Beijing's frigid winter after
a recent holiday in Sydney.
"That's China, you know, who knows what's going to happen
tomorrow?" he says, laughing. "Some days you want to get up and go
right now. Just like anywhere you know, there's good days and bad
days. But here, it just seems to happen that there's a lot more bad
days than good days."
With a decade of Beijing experience behind him, Peter Moss has
seen plenty of both. He was working in Sydney for a company
contracted to work for the Australian Embassy here, and stayed upon
the completion of the four-month job to open a local representative
office. The company left in 2000, but Peter Moss, "could see the
opportunities for work here".
He established his own business, BHDP, specializing in
refurbishing foreign embassies, and has since completed jobs for
the Australian, Canadian, British, Swiss, Norwegian, Swedish and
German Embassies.
Mark Moss says "communication" is the biggest challenge for
foreigners seeking success in China, joking that the best way to do
business here is, "not to do it and go home".
"It's tough, you know. But you learn new things every day doing
business in China," he says.
"The language barrier's difficult. I can get by - my wife's
Chinese, so my Chinese is okay, but it's still a test every day.
The advantage we have is that dealing with the clubs is difficult,
but dealing with our clients is pretty easy because we have
international clients."
The three friends would like to see golf in China evolve from "a
rich man's sport" to one that is accessible at a grassroots level,
for example through talent development programs at local
schools.
"At the moment, it's the kids that have parents with money who
are going to play golf. It's not like in Australia or America,
where the average person can afford to go and play golf. Here, an
average round's about $50," Mark Moss says.
Having hosted a community event in a suburban park in Beijing,
Barton says: "A lot of kids were really interested in golf and
there is a lot of talent out there."
"(But) it is not really accessible if you haven't got the funds
and we want to change that - get involved in some youth programs,
take it to schools," Barton says. "Whether you're rich or you're
poor, if you've got a swing, you've got a swing."
Outside of golf, Barton is excited by next year's slated
introduction of legal betting on races at Wuhan, capital of Central
China's Hubei province. It would be the first official bet placed
on a horse race since 1949.
"Basically, if racing kicks off here then I'd like to be
involved in it in some way. But if not, well, we're going to try
and build the golf up regardless. This is something that's going to
grow. It's not a short term fix - we're here for the long haul,"
Barton says.
"I enjoy living over here. It's difficult at times but, hey,
it's not our country, it's theirs, so if you don't adapt either you
go mad or you get out."
(China Daily January 25, 2008)
