China Deal To Bolster Growth In Asia

The Asian PGA tour, the precursor to the Asian tour in 1995, served as a catalyst for a pioneering batch of Chinese professionals such as Zhang Lien-Wei and Cheng Jun to venture into a new world of opportunity.

- Chuah Choo Chiang

The once-in-a-lifetime experience of being in the same era as the first generation of mainland Chinese golfers during the late 1990s and 2000s was truly a privilege to savour on a personal front.

And after eight long years, it is truly exciting to hail the Asian Tour’s new strategic partnership with the China Golf Association (CGA) which will see both parties working hand-in-hand to stage new tournaments in China this season and beyond.

Professional golf in the Middle Kingdom has always been full of optimism and promise, thanks largely to its economic might and a fast growing middle class.

Back in the day when golf was like cricket is to America, the likes of Zhang Lian-wei, whose first sporting love was to launch a javelin, taught himself to play the Royal and Ancient (R&A) game at a time when golf was showing signs of a boom in China.