Losing control of land at Hong Kong Golf Club will not hurt city’s chances of hosting major events, sources say
- Sources within LIV Golf and Asian Tour say decisions regarding future tournaments are most likely to be guided by financial considerations
- Insider adds ‘it is simply not true’ that losing the space would inevitably lead to the loss of high-profile events such as the Hong Kong Open
Hong Kong’s chances of hosting major international golf in the future would not be affected by the government taking back control of a strip of land at the city’s course in Fanling, several influential figures have told the Post.
In contrast to repeated suggestions that losing 32 hectares of the Old Course at Hong Kong Golf Club would harm the city’s standing in the sport, multiple sources within LIV Golf and the Asian Tour said decisions regarding future tournaments were most likely to be guided by financial considerations.
The argument from those opposed to developing the land is that it is essential to support the infrastructure needed for large-scale events, such as parking, television compounds, space for volunteer areas, and other facilities.
That is in addition to the objection to the potential destruction of a historic area of environmental importance.
But while expressing the belief it should stay as part of the golf course, insiders, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, said there were ways of making an event work should it eventually become impractical to use the space.
One source said discussions over the area’s future “were not something we [LIV] were involved in directly”, and the view within management was that conversations over this sort of development “happen relatively regularly in Asia”.
