MISSION HILLS - CHINA
Mission Hills - China - Luxury Travel Magazine
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The Seventh Wonder Of The Golf World | |||||
| By: John Digby, Issue 42 – Autumn 2010 | |||||
| (Mission Hills – Hainan, China) | |||||
| THE WORLD’S LARGEST GOLF RESORT IS MAKING ITS MARK ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE FOR ANOTHER REASON: IT WILL HOST THE ANNUAL GOLF WORLD CUP FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS. MISSION HILLS IN SHENZHEN IS ALSO ABOUT TO LAUNCH 300 MORE SUITES. STORY BY JOHN DIGBY. | |||||
| If there were seven wonders of the golf world, how would you list them? Pebble Beach in California or St Andrews in Scotland might be top of mind for many, but there’s a resort closer to home which deserves consideration. It’s in China, only a short drive from Hong Kong and it is the world’s largest golf resort. Mission Hills in Shenzhen is a golfing Mecca for players from many parts of Asia. The resort opened in 1994 with a single course designed by champion golfer Jack Nicklaus and has grown to an astounding 12 courses designed by some of the major names in the golfing world. Alongside the 216 challenging holes and the golf-teaching academies that accompany them, there are now up-to-the-minute facilities including modern hotel rooms – with 300 new suites due to be opened later this year – a huge tennis centre, spas, restaurants, golf shops and swimming pools. Mission Hills’ proximity to Hong Kong’s international airport and the major highway that runs from the border means travelling time is short. Many of the golf club’s members travel each weekend from their businesses and offices in Hong Kong for their weekly rounds. The resort’s statistics are impressive. The $US1.5 billion investment over 25 sq kms includes cart paths that stretch 360km, the equivalent of the distance from New York to Boston; there are 1200 bunkers; nearly 10,000 employees including 3000 female caddies, 1500 golf carts and 36 holes of floodlit golf available until 2am. At the height of the building programme, about 30,000 people were employed helping to create the courses. But it’s the courses themselves that are the most impressive part of the set up. They are based in three locations: five around the Shenzhen hotel including the Nicklaus course and those that carry the names of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Jumbo Ozaki and Zhang Lianwei. There are two at Mid-Valley designed by famous British golfer Nick Faldo (now Sir Nick) and Pete Dye, a renown US golf course architect and another five courses at the Dongguan complex, about 25 minutes by bus from the main hotel. (Shuttle buses run every half hour to Mid-Valley and Dongguan.) At Dongguan, where the 300 hotel rooms are due to open soon, there are courses by Annika Sorenstam, David Leadbetter, David Duval, Jose-Maria Olazabal and Greg Norman. These courses are centred on the world’s largest clubhouse, at 65,000 sq m. All players must take carts and caddies. Clothed in their red and yellow outfits, many with scarves under their hard hats to ward off the sun, the caddies are invaluable. With many blind tee and fairway shots, especially on the Norman course, the caddies not only tell you where to aim but also help read putts on some very tricky greens. On many of the courses, except Olazabal and Norman, the greens are rather slower than Australians might be used to, but the caddies encourage players to take this into account. Another advantage of the caddies is that they keep the game moving and starters tell all players that they have limited time to complete their rounds. On courses where they play up to 2000 rounds a day and 3000 at weekends, they make sure no one drags their heals. The club has more than 9000 members, with full membership rights to play all 12 courses costing about $300,000. For this the members expect the courses to be kept in top condition, which they are. The most popular of the courses is the Ozaki, named after the Japanese champion. As in many of the courses, this has some long carries from many of the tees, and some challenging water carries, including one double carry. When you stand on some of the tees, especially on the Dongguan courses, it is easy to understand why it’s called Mission Hills. On the Duval and the Olazabal tracks, the latter is used for the World Cup, there are some extremely elevated tees offering spectacular views of the surrounding areas. Here players hit over sometimes dense undergrowth to fairways stretching out far below them. Perhaps the most challenging of all is the Norman course. Here punitive rough and some narrowing fairways combine to put an emphasis on accuracy while at the same time needing all the length you can muster. Norman was apparently given the choice of land at Dongguan and plumbed for an area of great natural beauty where water features on many holes. One par 5 contains at least three water carries and on a serene par 3 players must hit over a lake to a green which also has water beyond it. At Mid-Valley, Sir Nick has created a course with an English/ Australian feel, even down to the gum trees on some of the fairways. The easiest hole on his course is a par 3 with an island green. It’s short, but has a somewhat daunting tee shot. And Mission Hills doesn’t end here. The company behind it is planning another resort on the island of Hainan in southern China, and more huge complexes are reportedly being planned with three courses expected to be opened later this year. Details: Mission Hills encourages Australians to book through Australian travel agents rather than direct. China Golf Tours packages individual trips including accommodation, golf bookings and transfers. | |||||
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