How China is becoming the next golfing powerhouse?

Hi guys, came across this article while browsing the interwebs and I thought it's a rather interesting read...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/magazine/golf-in-china-is-younger-than-tiger-woods-but-growing-up-fast.html?_r=0

madness..... is all I can say

All I can say is there is only ONE tiger wood.....

the question i want to ask is why an 8 year old is driving.. haha! 
but wow, that is one heck of a story 

I think its a bit too risky to just forget about going to school and focus on golf only at such a young age.  Especially when the parents doesn't know if the kid will ever develop a passion for golf or just treating it as "my mum ask me to do this everyday, so I do".

Tiger woods have a lot of passion for this game. Passion drives motivation and mental strength. 

My 2c

My wish is to see more tkbs giving the Korean bus a run for their money.

I don't like the slant of this article. It suggests that the rich Chinese are all overzealous in goading their kids towards a career in golf.

I notice the article mentions a kid who was going to range in a Rolls Royce. C'mon, think about it, if the parents were so wealthy, what are the odds that this kid will ever become a golf pro? Isn't this just another opportunity for the rich to flaunt their wealth?

Golf, to many chinese, and in many parts of the world, is a lifestyle choice and status symbol. Having their kids learn and play golf combines the best of both worlds. It allows them to demonstrate how much money they have, and ensure their offspring only mingle with the progeny of the country's richest and most powerful.

Rather to let their son run their many farms or be army top man, why nt give a try to groom him to b the next Panda Woods! 
No harm tryg n if he cant, just go back to their family farmg life lor.. 
Win win situation.

hkhamateur wrote:

Rather to let their son run their many farms or be army top man, why nt give a try to groom him to b the next Panda Woods! 
No harm tryg n if he cant, just go back to their family farmg life lor.. 
Win win situation.

How many Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson are there? If they are not hungry, they'll not succeed.

I agree that it is a terrible shame that his parents allow him to decide at that age not to go to school
It's the fault of the parents in my view

At that age, what kind of logic and rationalization does the kid has?

What if he suffered an injury (which is common in many sports) which prevents him from competing? Where is the plan B?

He will be missing out on interacting with classmates and learning in a school environment, getting an education etc. 
it's a shame. I guess the parents being New Money has no clue

Sure of course he can be Tiger and Rory... If stars align themselves

kwannick wrote:

I don't like the slant of this article. It suggests that the rich Chinese are all overzealous in goading their kids towards a career in golf.

I notice the article mentions a kid who was going to range in a Rolls Royce. C'mon, think about it, if the parents were so wealthy, what are the odds that this kid will ever become a golf pro? Isn't this just another opportunity for the rich to flaunt their wealth?

Golf, to many chinese, and in many parts of the world, is a lifestyle choice and status symbol. Having their kids learn and play golf combines the best of both worlds. It allows them to demonstrate how much money they have, and ensure their offspring only mingle with the progeny of the country's richest and most powerful.

 I personally think this article is trying to present the situation as it is in certain ways. The rich are going all out to push their kids while the poor cant do so even though the poor kids might have as much talent. There's a part where the differences in the culture and infrastructure in China and US are compared and really in China you gotta be damn rich to be able to push ur kids to go play golf. Be it whether it is for a status thing or otherwise, the situation is like that I guess... It's a really interesting read

The Chinese will be the next golf powerhouse.
Their culture, their drive to be #1, their face value , their sheer numbers of up and coming golfers and their country support should see them up there within a generation or two.

zhikang wrote:

 I personally think this article is trying to present the situation as it is in certain ways. The rich are going all out to push their kids while the poor cant do so even though the poor kids might have as much talent. There's a part where the differences in the culture and infrastructure in China and US are compared and really in China you gotta be damn rich to be able to push ur kids to go play golf. Be it whether it is for a status thing or otherwise, the situation is like that I guess... It's a really interesting read

Interesting read for sure. All I'm saying is that the push towards golf in China might not be as strong as the article suggests. Many many variables at play here...Talent, interest, opportunities, etc...

Might not be the rise that it anticipated, although seeing more TKBs play golf may be very very interesting....

big population and people train very hard.

if you hit 1000 ball a day u can do it too