China-The Next Big Surge In Golf
posted in My Golf Stories, News |The Chinese are starting to play golf, there are approximatley one million Chinese golfers in China at the present time. These are people that are playing on a regular basis and this number is growing very rapidly. This week the European PGA-Asian Tour is sponsoring the Volvo China Open in Bejing..
This year the Chinese are also hosting the summer Olympics. The Chinese market will be the largest in the world since China has the largest population in the world. You can imagine how the world leaders in golf equipment are posturing themselves for this huge market. The Chinese will push to have a winner on all of the major tours around the world, the small country of South Korea has already made a huge impact on the ladies tours of the world. South Korean, K. J. Choi has won on the PGA tour and is an established world class player.
I beleive the Chinese will do very well in golf. It is very evident that the game eventually comes down to having a strong mind set and being able to follow a rigid shot routine. These tendencies will fit the Chinese quite well. When you examine the success of the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan, their strong suites are and were their ability to stay in the moment and not let anything disrupt their concentration. It was often said that Ben Hogan did not know who his playing partners were are what they had shot during a round. Ben was totally focused on the round and focusing on one shot at a time. These great players also have the ability to disect a course and play each round to their strengths.
Already a lot of the major golf companies use the likes of Tiwain and other Asian countries to manufacture their components. As the number of players increase in China, the golf course architects, golf cart companies and everyone involved in all aspects of the game will be impacted. This huge increase in demand for all that is associated with the game may put a crunch on the rest of the world that has enjoyed having the game to themselves for so many years. You may see a lot of golf course superintendents, teachers and other skilled people migrate to China to take advantage of the boom.
Can you see The Golf Channel with a satelite station in China doing the 19th hole?