Far and away

WHAT IT'S LIKE BEING A GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT IN CHINA

Q How many golf courses are in China?

We have about 240 throughout the country, but they're concentrated in the main cities, which are on the coastline.

Q Have there been many course openings lately?

We have a short golf course history. It's only 20 years old. The first golf course opened in 1984. During the past five years, golf course supply has increased about 30 percent.

Q Are most courses owned by the government?

Golf courses are owned mainly by foreign investors. However, about 10 years ago, the local governments and local investors started venturing into the market.

Q Are there many foreigners operating golf courses?

About 10 years ago, when I started working in China, about 30 percent to 40 percent of the new golf courses were maintained by foreigners. But five years ago, local people started taking over the maintenance and management. Now only 10 percent of those maintaining golf courses are foreigners. But at most high-end golf clubs, foreigners are still taking care of the maintenance.

Q Do you predict a significant increase of the number of golf courses that will be developed during the next 10 years?

The government doesn't encourage any more golf courses, and it doesn't issue any more permits. However, there are still new projects coming up and eventually will open.

Q How is development happening when the government isn't issuing permits?

Developers have support from the local government. The central government policy doesn't support golf course development because it thinks golf courses are using too much farmland. There's a possibility the government will only support golf course projects that are built on wasteland and areas that aren't suitable for farming. So there's a possibility of a boom in the future.

Q How did you get into the golf course industry?

Well, I'm not Chinese. I'm Malaysian. I started my career in 1994 after I graduated from university. I worked at three golf courses in Malaysia before I came to China. I worked at two of them when I was doing my practical training as part of my university studies, and I worked at another golf course for a year. Subsequently, the owner of that course started to invest in China. He invested in a course in Guangdong province, which is the province nearest to Hong Kong.

In 1995, I was sent to this new project after one year of intensive training. The golf course happened to be a successful and profitable project. It's a 27-hole course (with 18 holes lighted) designed by JMP of the United States. After two and a half years there - after going through the grow-in and maintenance stages - I resigned and moved on to join the biggest golf club in the world, Mission Hills, which is in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It has 10 18-hole golf courses. Thereafter, I moved from Guangdong province to the northern part of China. I moved from warm-season grass to cool-season grass. Currently, I'm at Tianjin Warner International Golf Club, which is an 18-hole course owned by an American, Jason Chen, who hails from Taiwan but resides in the United States.

Q Were there many other people in your class studying to become golf course superintendents?

No. I was in horticultural science majoring in turf and landscaping when I was at the university. About 5 percent of my classmates went to work at golf clubs after graduating.

Q That seems like a small percentage. Why is that?

In Malaysia, we have about 270 golf courses. Not only is the market saturated, the university students find it's too tough to work at golf courses.

Q You mentioned a night course. is night golf popular?

It's popular in the southern part of China, and in the North as well. Nowadays, at least nine holes of any new project will be lighted.

Q Does the course close during the year?

The course, which is located in a technological economic development area, is open all year round. We have many foreigners working in this area, which is industrial, and we have many foreign investors, which drives the number of rounds played a year.

Q What are the green fees?

Normally, on the weekdays, it costs $75 for walk-in guests; and on the weekends, it's $100. Members pay 40-percent less than the visitor rate.

Q Has the number of rounds increased at the course during the past five years?

Yes, definitely. We've had a constant growth of 10 percent to 15 percent every year.

Q Why is that?

More local people are starting to play the game. Golf has become more popular among the community in China, and golfers have influence on their friends.

Q How big is your staff?

I have 20 permanent workers and 10 seasonal workers during the summer.

Q Is it easy to find workers?

It's not a problem. The population is 1.4 billion, so we have sufficient manpower. But we need to provide training for them.

Q So workers don't need previous experience to work on the golf course?

Not necessarily because I train them from scratch.

Q What's your annual maintenance budget?

$250,000 to $300,000, which has remained the same for the past several years. However, when turf equipment needs to be replaced, we have a special budget for that.