Playing a Round in Hong Kong's Spectacular Environs
Hong Kong is becoming a golf lover's paradise with more options than ever to play a round.
From a golf course right at the airport to the spectacular and challenging Kau Sai Chau Island course, golf in Hong Kong is accessible to all.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Golf Course, situated on an island and renowned as one of the most scenic public golf courses in the world, recently opened its third 18-hole course.
The new East Course will quite literally take the golfing experience to new heights, as its signature hole, the elevated par-four 14th, dramatically follows the cliff top for spectacular views of the South China Sea.
The East Course opening also marked the further development of golf as a sport in Hong Kong. Future operational cash flows from the course will be channeled into a new fund, the Kau Sai Chau Development Trust, for reinvestment into a series of long-term, golf-related developments. These include the establishment of Hong Kong's first multi-discipline Golf Academy, providing career training for young people in areas such as turf management, course operations and hospitality management.
Club Chairman, John C.C. Chan, explained that the first two courses at the Jockey Club-funded Kau Sai Chau were established 13 years ago with the aim of bringing the sport to the people. "Until that time, golf in Hong Kong was only offered through private clubs, which were quite unaffordable by the general public," said Mr. Chan. "But in keeping with the club's mission of enhancing the quality of life of the Hong Kong community, we wanted to make the sport accessible to all. Hence, the club decided to fund the construction of a public golf course on Kau Sai Chau, which to this day, remains Hong Kong's only public course."
Mr. Chan added that the establishment of the Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course had brought many environmental benefits to the island. "It is the fifth in Asia and the first golf course anywhere in China to be classified as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, recognizing the high standards of environmental management we have put in place," Mr. Chan said.
Course Management Committee Chairman, Brian Stevenson, who is also Deputy Chairman of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said specific measures had been taken to maintain this high standard of environmental stewardship during construction of the East Course.
"The closed drainage system, the protection of sensitive streams and the restoration of eroded slopes have all ensured that the new course leads the world in standards for golf course construction," he said. "It will protect the ecology of the island in perpetuity."
At the SkyCity Nine Eagles Golf Course, located at the Hong Kong International Airport, even visitors passing through have the chance to practice their swing.
Since opening in September 2007, the course has received international plaudits, including a feature in Asian Golf Explorer. Designed by Scottish golf course architect Alexander Duggie, the course features undulating greens, an artificial lake and extensive sand bunkers. It is also Hong Kong's first nine-hole golf course featuring an "island green."
Owned and operated by Airport Management Services, a subsidiary of Thailand's King Power Group (Hong Kong), SkyCity Nine Eagles Golf Course is fully lit for night play.
The Nine Eagles Golf Course is part of the new SkyCity development at the Hong Kong International Airport, located next to Terminal 2 and AsiaWorld-Expo.
The course can easily be accessed by all the major road transport services, including by MTR to Tung Chung or by Airport Express direct to Asia World Expo.
Kau Sai Chau Golf Course: http://www.kscgolf.org.hk/index-e.asp
SkyCity Nine Eagles Golf Course: http://www.nine-eagles.com/
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