DATELINE...China National Convention Center, Beijing,China
DISPATCH...Bruce Williams, GCI foreign correspondent
China Golf Show 2011
March 18, 2011
I have written a lot of pieces for the media over the years but never did I dream I might be even considered to be an international correspondent. Those who know me would probably say that I am a decent storyteller so I hope to share some information and insights over the next several days on the China Golf Show.
For those thinking that China is half a world away it really isn’t that bad to get to Beijing.
My flight was a quick 12 hours and the flight route took us up over Alaska and eventually crossing the Bering Sea and then headed south over or near the borders of Russia, Korea and Japan before we entered Chinese airspace. Now you might think that international correspondents fly in 1st class but I can assure you it was economy this flight and I did get a couple of extra inches in economy plus due to my frequent flier status. A couple of movies, some music, reading and a couple of meals and we were there fairly quickly. I had a nice young Chinese man sitting next to me that shared a lot of information about his country to help me get acquainted... No time for a nap so I just toughed it out until the evening so I was up for about 23 hours straight.
One could tell that there must be a golf gathering somewhere as there were a few familiar faces on the plane and also a few more when we arrived in Beijing for customs. Dave Taylor, from Bryant, Taylor and Gordon was there to attend the show and also check on a couple of his projects in China. Dave indicated that they had about 10 projects in the pipeline in China. Robert Trent Jones II was on the plane and shared with me that architecture is not work but an art form and they have been very successful in the Chinese market. Mike Brown, from RainBird was also with us on the flight and they had a significant presence in the Chinese market.
I am doing some work with Jason Taylor and Ross Fischer, the principals of Professional Golf Development and Management. They kindly had a car, driver and interpreter meet me at the airport and take me to my hotel destination for a long awaited sleep after we had our initial meeting. Jason and Ross are managing a project and development in the north of China near the Russian border. Construction is underway with hopes to get the majority of the course established in 2011.
On the first day the weather was surely overcast and the locals told me that the air was not clear due to dust coming from Mongolia. Apparently there was a lot of dust blowing in from the desert and it created the look of fog most of the day. The temps ranged from 40 F in the morning and went up to about 55 F in the afternoon. There is not much greenery around as this part of China is just coming out of winter. As a retired golf course superintendent I got all excited when I saw workers verticutting and dethatching a lawn across from my hotel. The work was done mechanically but the cleanup was all manual and it reminded me of my trips to Asia in the 1990’s when I encountered a number of golf courses with as many as 200 workers. Labor was more affordable than equipment so much of the work at that time was done slowly and manually.
DAY 2
After a fairly decent sleep it was time for a breakfast meeting with some associates before heading over to the first day of the show. In the lobby there were a few more familiar faces, some of whom I had seen recently at the GIS in Orlando. I tried to do a lot more listening than talking as I encountered a number of people with a vast experience of working in the Asian market.
In evaluating the size of the golf market in China, I found that most would say that there are about 600 golf courses in China. 400 of those are in the south and it just so happens that is where the population and better weather happen to be. While it was hard to gauge the current number of projects underway I feel comfortable in reporting that there must be at least 40-50 projects in the planning and construction phase. Greg Swanson, who I knew from California, indicated that he was working on two Nicklaus designed courses and was very positive about the continued growth of golf in China. He has built and managed courses throughout Asia. Golf Course Architect, Rick Jacobsen, indicated that he had 8 projects underway in China and felt strongly that China was the place to be as an architect building new golf courses.
Dr. Mike Hurdzan took the time to introduce me to some of his business acquaintances and people he works with in China. He too is busy with new design work. Mike mentioned that his partner, Dana Fry, is actually living in Hong Kong due to the number of projects they are working on currently in China.
At some point I ran into a familiar face in Dr. Kevin Frank, Professor at Michigan State University. Kevin is a well-known Turfgrass researcher and has been involved in an American-Chinese cooperative education training program for several years. Several MSU professors have come over to Beijing to lecture and share their information. In turn, Chinese students have attended the Turfgrass Management Program at MSU. Several years ago I had a fantastic intern, Danny Sun, from that program and he is now a very successful golf course superintendent working for a developer in China.
The trade show has grown over the last several years and they were hoping to get 10,000 attendees this year. This trade show is one in which there is the traditional set of booths you would see at GIS and also a commercial part of the show where they have a lot of golf equipment, golf simulators, balls, golf clubs, etc. The commercial side of the show took up about 2/3 of the trade show floor. The turf and golf operations side was similar to some of the regional trade shows you might see in the USA. More on the trade show tomorrow.
One of the final activities for the day was to hear a presentation by Rhett Evans, CEO of GCSAA. Rhett did a great job of sharing a presentation, which was translated into Mandarin for the Chinese audience. Rhett was accompanied by Director John O’Keefe and Senior Director of Membership, Carrie Riordan. Rhett announced that an agreement had been made with Reed Expositions and the PGA Alliance to become involved and potentially provide education for future shows. No further information was released in that regard as I am sure lots of planning will be required.
Off to a dinner with some friends from Toro this evening. More to report tomorrow on my observations of things that were heard and seen while in China.
Bruce Williams, CGCS, is a GCI contributing editor.