Hong Kong golf chief warns against destroying city’s sporting heritage, as sport qualifies for top funding tier
- Arianna Lau and Sophie Han team win at IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championship to seal points that earn sport Tier A status
- Golf association boss Danny Lai says sport needs more support not loss of Old Course in Fanling to redevelopment
Golf chief Danny Lai Yee-june has warned the government that destroying part of the city’s sporting heritage would be “unheard of in the international world”, and urged officials to think again about building on Hong Kong Golf Club.
Lai also made a heartfelt plea for more support for the game and said it was one of the only sports that government did little to help develop, despite it now being one of the most successful internationally.
Calling on the government to rethink its plans to develop 32 hectares of the Old Course in Fanling, he said it was essential to training the next generation of stars and pointed out that doing so would threaten the city’s chances of hosting the golf events during the National Games in 2025.
“The development of golf as a sport in Hong Kong is severely limited by a basic shortage of suitable courses,” said the Hong Kong Golf Association’s CEO. “We have a large number of talented young players wanting to join our junior squads, but lack of opportunity for essential on-course training is holding us back.
“When facilities are already in short supply, any move to further reduce them is fatal.”
A win by Arianna Lau and Sophie Han in the girls 15 to 18 team section of the IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championship in California this weekend, where the pair finished in a tie for second in the individual competition, earned enough points for Hong Kong Golf Association to be elevated to Tier A status at the city’s Sports Institute.
