Hot on the heels of the HSBC Champions golf tournament, the Asia
Golf Show has arrived in Shanghai's Exhibition Center.
The two-day event, which opened yesterday offers a platform for
business people from the golf industry, as well as private
enthusiasts, to get to grips with the latest developments in Asian
golf.
"Everything in China develops rapidly, as does golf," said
Michiel Kruse, co-organizer of the Asia Golf Show.
Visitors to China 20 years ago had few further aims than
climbing the Great Wall, nowadays many head straight for the
country's pristine fairways and well kept greens.
The emergence of golf as a popular sport in China has been
little short of meteoric, attracting devotees from all layers of
society, but many have connected the growing numbers of people
playing the game with the continuing rise in incomes.
"Prosperity in China is rising, therefore the number of wealthy
people builds up quickly. These people like to be associated with
golf, since after all, it is a sport in which networking and the
enhancing of business relations is just as important as the game
itself," Kruse added.
Nevertheless, he reckons the sport will eventually become more
accessible to the broader public. "As soon as people recognize the
value of the sport next to its business aspect, such as its
healthiness and its appeal to every age group, it will become more
of a people's sport, as it already is in New Zealand and
Britain."
Business developer for San Diego-based Full Swing Golf, which
has several offices throughout Asia, Jiri Cermak, also sees a
bright future for the sport in China.
Cermak considers Chinese golfers to be "just beginners,"
compared to the more sophisticated players in Hong Kong and the
rest of Asia, but from a business point of view presence in the
country makes perfect sense.
"Golf here is growing as a sport, while it stagnates in the
saturated United StatesChina has a huge potential for growth," he
said.
Anyone who is anyone in the industry was present at the Asia
Golf Show, hosted by Shanghai for the first time this year.
With stands ranging from Philips lighting to the Millionaire
Fair, golf magazines were also prominent exhibitors, their presence
a clear sign of the sports increasing popularity.
"Right now there are about 10,000 national magazines on golf,"
said Stella Gu of Golf Digest. "Ten years ago there were none."
(China Daily November 15, 2006)