Golf: A necessary indulgence of the Chinese rich
Its one those balmy mild spring afternoons at the Beijing Links Golf Club when luxurious BMW’s, Mercedes Benz and Audis line up in the parking as their rich owners step down to stretch their hands for a round of golf. If golf was anything but a rich man’s
indulgence, the new breed of Chinese riches is h**l bent to prove it as one.
The country has seen unprecedented economic progress in the past two decades, when often the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) scale of the country went beyond the staggering two-figures and quite logically, the rich turned their attention to the favourite
pass time of businessmen. Accompanied by their slender girl caddies, these industrial tycoons have taken up the sport more for the sake of self-obsessed publicity, which has remotely anything to do with the spirit of the game itself.
"Golf is becoming more and more popular in China," says a businessman, who had just parked his expensive SUV before being driven off to the tee ground by his female caddie. The horrendous membership fee, coupled with the expensive cars in the parking, leave
little doubt that China’s newly rich have taken up the sport seriously.
The life membership cost of the club is around six million Yuan and presents a wide contrast of the filthy rich and the major chunk of working class of the country, who spent most of their lives trying to make two ends meet. A worker with his average pay
will have to save every penny for 25 years to get a membership of this sprawling course. The hefty fee is barely a problem for the rich, as the club holds a solid strength of 400 members.
Despite a strict ban on building golf courses in China, the country like any other, is replete with corruption and under the table deals. Beijing Links Golf Club claims to be the oldest in the city, with it being almost ten years old, new clubs are emerging
with each passing year. The Pine Valley, designed by Jack Nicklaus as well as the Beijing Longxi Hotspring Golf Club, are just a few examples of the new turn around of the sport in China.
Beijing Honghua International Golf Club, designed by the English veteran golfer Nick Faldo is beefed up with excellent amenities and provides a world class venue of an international standard course. Beijing Cascades Country Golf Club, equipped with luxurious
villas, is also one of the 15 golf courses spread across the business centre of the country.
The current progress of the sport should come as a delightful surprise for the lovers of the game, unfortunately though, the scenario is anything but encouraging. The rich are the only ones who have access to these isolated clubs and they primarily use the
sport for their personnel business deals or to impress their guests.
"We treat it as a kind of sport but [mainland golfers] don't," said Douglas Ho, the membership sales executive with Hong Kong's 007 Golf Society. "They treat it as a sport where they can express their social status."
The sport is used across the world for exclusive business deals as the businessmen walk and discuss their future course of action, but the Chinese businessmen have given an altogether different meaning to golf. They use it to boost of their wealth in order
to impress their prospective clients or business partners.
The Chinese culture has an overwhelming influence on the sport and the rich use it to demonstrate the volume of their success. They have been doing it for centuries on evening banquets and have taken golf as refreshing change, using it for the same purpose.
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