“China’s Communist rulers have turned against the exclusive sport of golf in China with the government saying nearly 70 “illegal” courses have been closed, seemingly enforcing a decade-old ban for the first time. The announcement by the ministry of land and resources comes amid a high-profile anti-graft campaign spearheaded by President Xi Jinping, which has seen crackdowns on banquets, lavish gift-giving and other official excesses.

The ruling Communist Party has long had an ambivalent relationship with golf in China, which is a lucrative opportunity for local authorities and a favoured pastime of some officials, but is also closely associated with wealth and Western elites. “Presently, local governments have shut down a number of illegally-built golf courses, and preliminary results have been achieved in clean-up and rectification work,” read the announcement on the ministry’s website late Monday.

Golf in China news of the closures was soon followed on Tuesday by a commerce ministry announcement that senior official Wang Shenyang was being investigated for playing golf in china in violation of Xi’s “eight rules” on official behaviour. With an eye on containing public anger over China’s widening wealth gap, authorities have in recent years banned an assortment of “extravagances”, such as private clubs — often frequented by officials — in historic buildings and parks.

The number of golf courses in China has flourished, from fewer than 200 in 2004 to more than 600 at. But such orders are often flouted. Last year the ruling party’s anti-graft commission in Guangdong announced that provincial Communist officials would face punishment if they engaged in any of nine golf-related activities, including joining a golf club. The notice urged the public to report any suspected golf in China violations through a telephone hotline. A commentary on the commission’s website declared that “all over the world, golf is synonymous with extravagant spending, and even in developed Western countries, it is considered a ‘noble’ sport”.

Golf club memberships in China typically cost “far above the normal annual income level of officials and the general public”, it said, and office-holders who become “enamoured” of the sport “risk losing touch with the masses”.  Government officials keen on joining golf clubs often do so under false names, wary of being perceived as corrupt or out of touch, according to Dan Washburn, author of “The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream”.

Read the entire article about golf in China here

Many people who play golf in Hong Kong also go to play golf in China and this probably won’t do anything to increase the amount of rounds played in China.

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