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Al Campbell

The rush to build spectacular courses and opulent clubs in the city of cool means golf lovers are spoilt for choice

The growing affluence of Shanghai is reflected in the 20-plus golf courses that dot the city and its neighbouring provinces.

Luxury golf courses abound in this mega city of 15 million people, and it is essentially owing to what seems to be a game of brinkmanship.

While the early developers of courses in Shanghai were Japanese, the owners and developers nowadays are the golf-loving Taiwanese and nouveau riche mainlanders. Competition to be the best in town is rife, with each new club aiming to top the last.

Enhance Anting Golf Club, to be opened early next year, promises to uphold this trend when golf finally comes to the district that houses the Shanghai Formula One facility.

The US$72 million facility, owned by Taiwanese neon king Jackson Ling, will include a Grand Hyatt resort and an 18-hole Robert Trent Jones II course that already looks set to give the competition a run for its money.

This club will be so exclusive only 80 players will be allowed on the course a day.

Enhance will tee off just over a year after impressive newcomers Sheshan  International Golf Club and Lake Malaren opened for business.

Mainland property developer Zhang Youchai immediately set out to establish a reputation for his US$50million Sheshan development by hosting the US$5 million HSBC Champions tournament this month.

The European Tour event, from November 10 to 13, offered the biggest prize money of any tournament in Asia, and featured some of the sport's present and past champions.

The Neil Haworth-designed 18-hole course at Sheshan is built around an old quarry, and features some good elevation change - a rarity in flat Shanghai.

The Tuscan-style luxury mansions that adorn its fairways have inspired a boom in demand for the rustic Italian look around the city.

Lake Malaren, in the northeast, easily wins the prize for being the city's most opulent club.

The clubhouse entrance is so ornate, it is on a par with the grandest entrances of any European theatre house.

Hong Kong-listed Shanghai Real Estate took a huge step in September when it simultaneously opened the 300-room five-star Lake Malaren Golf Hotel and a second golf course called North Forest. A  staggering 70,000 trees dot the course, and the result is a much-needed  oasis.

Another new course worth checking out just for the sheer spectacle is the Suzhou Sun Island in Qingpu district. For the first time on the mainland a golf club has built an Irish links-style course. An extreme dune environment awaits.

Wyndham Heyring, former general manager of the Hong Kong Golf Club for more than a decade, says the advent of the mega clubs makes it an exciting time to be on the mainland.

For the past two years, the Englishman has been guiding operations at the 36-hole Binhai Golf Club near Pudong International Airport. By late next year, Binhai, with its excellent links-style courses, will expand to 54 holes, making it the biggest club in the city.

'It is very exciting living near Shanghai, which is one of the most progressive cities in the world,' Heyring says. Shanghai is growing so fast changes are occurring almost daily, he says, and can be seen in the range of golf courses available and in every aspect of life.

Unlike Hong Kong, member clubs in Shanghai usually allow the public to use some of their facilities, and it is quite easy to get a game for about 500 yuan on week days, Heyring says.

Binhai Golf Club is a more than worthy candidate to visit, as is Shanghai Silport, the six-time host of the Volvo China Open.

Other public-friendly courses include Tianma, Sanyang, Shanghai Riviera, the Sun Island courses and Shanghai West.



Fairways to Shanghai