Top players to tee off in new golf tournament

The world's top players will tee off in a new golf tournament slated for next November, in hopes that golf will take off in the country, the tournament's organizers announced yesterday in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province.

The tournament, called The Goodwill Trophy, will pit a team of the best players from the Ryder Cup countries - Europe and the United States - against the "Rest of the World" team representing countries from Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America, according to the organizers, the Shenzhen-based Mission Hills Golf Club and The Celtic Manor Resort from the United Kingdom.

All the 16 players can only join the tournament through invitation in a bid to ensure the tournament boasts the highest possible standard, Terry Matthews, chairman of the Celtic Manor Resort, told the press conference yesterday.

The names of the players and the amount of prize money have not been released yet.

The resort is also the home of the Celtic Manor Wales Open, one of the premier events on the European Tour and will be the host venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup, dubbed as "The Olympic Games of Golf."

Both Mission Hills and The Celtic Manor Resort will take turns to host the Goodwill Trophy with the inaugural event taking place at Mission Hills, the world's largest golf complex according to the Guinness World Records with 10 18-hole courses.

In 2007, The Goodwill Trophy will be held at The Celtic Manor Resort with the golf event played on the newly completed course that has been specifically designed to host the Ryder Cup in 2010.

Off the course, the organizers will stage the Goodwill Business Forum, which will bring together top executives of global commerce, heads of state and leading business thinkers to focus on the most pressing issues facing the world economy.

The new collaboration comes after the two clubs signed a reciprocal partnership agreement in June, which allows the members of the two clubs to use each other's facilities freely.

For The Celtic Manor Resort, the new co-operation will greatly help raise its image among the rising number of Chinese golf fans, who are usually senior executives of the growing Chinese companies.

The number of Chinese members of The Celtic Manor Resort was on the rise and is expected to keep growing, said Jon Phelps, vice- president for marketing and resort strategy.

David Chu, chairman of Mission Hills Group, is also optimistic about the development of Chinese golf sports given the ever-growing economy.

He cited an estimate by Chi Fulin, a noted Chinese economist, that the number of golf players could reach 50 million in China in 2020 from the current 4.5 million.

The Mission Hills Golf Club, which was put into operation in 1994, had experienced a slumping business in its early days with less than 100 players a month, Chu told China Daily.

But now it could attract more than 2,000 people a day.

Source: China Daily