From omegachinatour.com: The show, which will air on NBC’s popular Nightly News show in the coming weeks, follows up from a series of stories by Dan Washburn highlighting the growth of the Tour and the fascinating background of many of its players.
Read MoreInterviewed by NBC Nightly News
From danwashburn.com: So my first-ever TV interview is complete, and, if edited correctly, I may end up not sounding like a complete boob — if not edited correctly, the jury is still out. Interview was with NBC Nightly News about the China Tour and golf …
Read MoreZhou Xunshu tied for 4th in China Tour’s Guangzhou leg
Par for China‘s primary subject shot a 1-under 71 on Thursday and currently stands four strokes back of Taiwan’s Chan Yihshin and one stroke back of playing partner Hsu Mongnan, also of Taiwan, who is tied for second place. Zhou got a big write-up (his …
Read MoreIn Golf We Trust: Par for China “promises to be a must-read”
From ingolfwetrust.com: Here is a brief guide – in great deal thanks to the tireless efforts of China-based golf tracker Dan Washburn, whose forthcoming book on the rise of our game in the world’s most populous nation promises to be a must-read.
Read MoreESPN.com: Q&A with Zhang Lianwei, China’s pro golf pioneer
This is the last installment of my series of stories on pro golf in China.
Read MorePUTT.com: “Zhou Xunshu is an inspiration”
… a fantastic story of what it means to play our great sport of golf to some around the world that don’t have the same benefit people in our country have … Zhou Xunshu is an inspiration … and it should make for motivation to …
Read MoreZhou makes remarkable leap into professional golf
That’s the headline of my story for ESPN.com about Omega China Tour golfer Zhou Xunshu, who I have had the pleasure of spending a considerable amount of time with over the past seven months or so. Here’s the first few paragraphs: In 1984, when China …
Read MoreGolf in China: All growing, all new, all raw
Check out my latest for ESPN.com here. A taste: But while buckets of cash can build record-setting golf facilities — at 216 holes, Mission Hills is the world’s largest — and bring in top-shelf talent — the HSBC event boasted the strongest field ever assembled …
Read MoreStill in the rough
The success of golf tournaments in China belies the tepid state of the country’s golf business This story originally appeared in the November 21, 2005 edition of Business China, published by The Economist. Download a PDF version of this story here. by DAN WASHBURN Tiger …
Read MoreHSBC Champions: Golf still an elitist pursuit in China
This story originally appeared on ESPN.com.
by DAN WASHBURN
Sheshan International Golf Club, site of this week’s HSBC Champions tournament, is about an hour west of Shanghai — if you are lucky. The only way to get there from downtown is a start-and-stop ride along the Hu Ning “Expressway,” an overcrowded stretch of asphalt that cuts through a grim part of the city you won’t find mentioned in any tour book. Most spectators are bussed in and bussed out and never set foot outside the picturesque private grounds. And if you were part of that crowd on Thursday and Friday, it would be easy to draw this conclusion: China loves Tiger Woods.
In a nation of 1.3 billion, crowds are not hard to come by. But on a golf course? That’s something new in a country with only an estimated 200,000 people who play the sport, a country that didn’t have a golf course until 1984. The gallery following Woods for the tournament’s first two rounds easily topped 1,000. Some guessed it was closer to 2,000. That’s more than four times the number of fans who followed Ernie Els during the final round of the BMW Asian Open here in May.
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