That’s Greg Norman and Elin Woods, mind you.
A couple days ago, Australia’s Daily Telegraph reported that the country’s highest-earning sportsman was closing his only office in Australia to “chase the Asian golfing dollar through China.” The paper continued, “[T]he design company has opened a new sales and marketing office in Beijing, China, signalling Asia as its key area of growth.”
This is just the latest sign that China is the golf course construction industry at the moment. As nearly every designer or project manager I talk to says: If you aren’t working in China, you probably aren’t working. Not bad, considering their line of work is technically illegal here.
The Greg Norman Golf Course Design website lists three completed Norman designs in China, the most recent being the 2004 Norman Course at Mission Hills in Shenzhen. Although Norman was in China last March for the grand opening of Mission Hills Hainan, his site does not list any China courses under construction or planned. I assume that is about to change.
But don’t hang your heads, Aussies. According to Norman’s spokesman: “Greg’s a proud Australian: that’s why he had an office in Australia. Greg’s always going to be passionate about Australia.” So, you’ve got that going for you.
In unrelated news, gossip rags are reporting that Tiger Woods’ “fully independent” wife Elin is “planning an extended trip to China within the next few months.” Call it a hunch, but I bet she won’t be waiting in line at the Shanghai World Expo’s Swedish Pavilion.