China's top 10 golf courses: Kunming is king
Thursday, 17th July 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Kunming's Spring City Golf & Lake Resort
US-based Golf Digest magazine has released its annual list of what it considers to be the China's top ten golf courses. According to the magazine's editors, if you're looking for China's best courses, forget Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen – go west to the laid-back city of Kunming.
The laid-back city of Kunming in southwestern China's Yunnan province took three of the top six spots on Golf Digest's list, here are the results:
1. Spring City Golf & Lake Resort (Lake course), Kunming, Yunnan province
2. Spring City Golf & Lake Resort (Mountain course), Kunming, Yunnan province
3. Sheshan Golf Club, Shanghai
4. Shenzhen Golf Club, Shenzhen, Guangdong province
5. Tiger Beach Golf Links, Haiyang, Shandong province
6. Lakeview Golf Club, Kunming, Yunnan province
7. Jian Lake Golf & Country Club, Shaoxing, Zhejiang province
8. Trans Strait Golf Club, Fuzhou, Fujian province
9. Pine Valley Golf Resort & Country Club (Old course), Beijing
10. Mission Hills Golf Club (Norman course), Shenzhen, Guangdong province
Kunming ended up beating out the big coastal cities with the top two courses – both at Spring City Golf and Lake Resort. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, Spring City's Lake course was named best in China, beating out Spring City's other championship course, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Mountain course.
Kunming reappears at the number six spot on the list with Lakeview Golf Club, which has been the site of the Yunnan stops of the Omega China Tour as well as the Faldo Series Asia.
Shanghai's Sheshan Golf course rounded out the top three.
Shenzhen is the only other city with multiple courses in Golf Digest's top ten – Shenzhen Golf Club was named number four, while Mission Hills Golf Club's Greg Norman-designed course came in tenth.
Image: Spring City Golf & Lake Resort
Related articles:
Lu Wins in Kunming, Young Amateurs Shine
Golf Emerging in China, and an Emerging Chinese Golfer
Tags: Faldo Series Asia, golf, Golf Digest, Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus, Jian Lake Golf & Country Club, Lakeview Golf Club, Mission Hills Golf Club, Omega China Tour, Pine Valley Golf Resort & Country Club, Robert Trent Jones Jr, Shenzhen Golf Club, Sheshan Golf Club, Spring City Golf & Lake Resort, Tiger Beach Golf Links, Trans Strait Golf Club, Yunnan
Ou Zhijun takes Faldo Series Asia's Shanghai debut
Wednesday, 9th July 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Last Friday, Ou Zhijun emerged victorious from the first Faldo Series Asia event to be held in Shanghai. The 17-year-old Ou shot a 36-hole total of 149 at Shanghai Silport Golf Club to edge number two Hong Wei by one stroke.
In round one of the Shanghai Championship Ou totaled an impressive one-over-par 73 in wet conditions, the lowest round of the tournament, to lead Hong by two. On the second day, the two were pitted head-to-head in the final group with Ou remaining steady enough to shoot a 76, compared with Hong's second consecutive 75.
Ou's winnings include the boys' under-18 gold medal, the overall trophy and the opportunity to spend time with six-time Major winner Nick Faldo at the Grand Final.
Ou, who has a handicap of two, only began playing golf seriously three years ago at the age of 14. His next stop is the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen.
"Nick Faldo is my idol and I can't wait to meet him." Ou said. "I was a bit nervous this week and not happy with my game but I'm very happy to win."
Ou will be joined at Mission Hills in March 2009 with five other qualifiers from the field in Shanghai: Li Motao (boys' under-21 winner); Li Haotong (boys' under-16 winner); Zhao Peiyun (boys' under-16 runner-up); Yuan Xiaojun (girls' under-21 winner) and Yang Jiangxin (girls' under-16 winner).
The Shanghai Championship was the second of 12 Faldo Series Asia events in 2008/2009, including four in mainland China plus one each in Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
In addition to the series' Grand Final, Shenzhen's Mission Hills will also host the Faldo Series Asia on the club's Faldo-designed course during the 23rd and 24th of this month. Last August, the Faldo Series Asia also made a stop in the southwestern city of Kunming, where Yunnan's top golfers battled it out at Lakeview Golf Club.
Ou Zhijun image: Faldo Series Asia
Tags: Faldo Series Asia, golf, Hong Wei, Lakeview Golf Club, Mission Hills Golf Club, Nick Faldo, Ou Zhijun, Silport Golf Club