Alma Lopez Figueiras writes in El Mundo: Para Dan Washburn, que ha documentado este controvertido boom en su libro ‘El juego prohibido: golf y sueño chino’, el golf no sólo refleja el rápido crecimiento económico de China en las últimas tres décadas, sino que también revela las tensiones que enfrenta el país, particularmente la desigualdad […]
Le Monde: Le golf, sport à hauts risques en Chine
Harold Thibault writes in Le Monde: Ce sport « cumule » d’autres caractéristiques gênantes. L’entretien des parcours nécessite un fort arrosage alors que le nord de la Chine souffre d’un manque d’eau chronique ; leur construction se fait au prix d’expropriations de paysans dans des conditions souvent troubles. Le tout alors que le pays le […]
The New York Times: China Cracks Down on Golf, the ‘Sport for Millionaires’
Austin Ramzy writes: HONG KONG — President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on vice and corruption in China has gone after drugs, gambling, prostitution, ill-gotten wealth and overflowing banquet tables. Now it has turned to a less obvious target: golf. In a flurry of recent reports, state-run news outlets have depicted the sport as yet another […]
Listen: BBC World Service’s ‘Business Matters’ program on golf in China
BBC’s Roger Hearing talks to Dan Washburn, author of The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream, about China’s complicated relationship with golf. This segment aired on April 9, 2015.
The Telegraph: Tiger Woods caught up in China’s war on golf
James Corrigan writes in The Telegraph: The warning signs have been there for more than a decade. In 2004, the national government banned the building of new courses because of environmental concerns. It proved a bit like the High Court banning D H Lawrence. In the next 10 years, the number of courses grew from 200 […]
Listen to my appearance on Jeremy Schaap’s ‘The Sporting Life’ show on ESPN Radio
Climbing Sherpas, the Nepalese men who risk their lives to help visitors climb Mt. Everest. A crackdown on golf in China. Travis Hamonic sharing his grief to help children. Listen to Jeremy’s April 10, 2015, episode here. You can download the show from that page, as well.
My story for CNN Money: China declares war on ‘forbidden game’ of golf
There are no Chinese golfers participating in The Masters this week, and perhaps that is fitting. It’s already been a rough spring for “the rich man’s game” in China. On March 30, Chinese authorities announced the closure of 66 “illegal” golf courses — roughly 10% of all courses in the country — in an […]
Interviewed by USA Today about China’s crackdown on golf courses
Calum MacLeod writes: “China is full of many contradictions,” said Dan Washburn, an analyst and author of The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream. “You never know what to expect in China, especially when related to golf. It’s a difficult place to try to figure out.” The Communist Party banned golf and ripped […]
Forbes: Why China’s ‘Illegal’ Golf Boom Is Coming To An End
Johan Nylander focuses heavily on The Forbidden Game in his piece for Forbes: So how can something be booming and illegal at the same time? “Golf is a politically taboo topic and tightly linked to corruption,” Dan Washburn said during a speech at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong. “No golf course is […]
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