Golf students prepare to join the club

The growing popularity of golf in China has seen an increase in the number of students opting to study the sport at degree level in colleges. Report by Hu Yongqi and Pei Pei in Shijiazhuang.

While some of his high school classmates are still experiencing difficulty finding a job, Feng Jian has been just been promoted. He now manages 100 caddies at a golf club in Beijing, just 12 months after graduation, thanks to his four-year study of the sport.

Two months before the national college entrance exam in 2007, Feng realized that his academic performance was unlikely to gain him entry to a high-ranking university. So the young man reasoned that his athletic abilities might give him a better chance at a sports college, where less emphasis is placed on academic ability.

The native of Xianghe county in Hebei province set about applying to become a golf major, a study that friends said was likely to offer a green light for future employment. He was accepted to study at Hebei Institute of Physical Education in Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital.

"I had no idea of the potential market for golf, but I fell in love with the sport almost as soon as I started learning," said Feng. "Later, two years of internship at various clubs convinced me that golf would be my career."

Last year, Feng was hired by Beijing Sigesen Golf Club, earning 5,000 yuan ($790) a month, plus free accommodation and other daily necessities.

He said he's content, especially as many classmates who chose other majors are much worse off than him. "I have to say my choice was right and my training has provided a lot more opportunities than other sports majors," said the 26-year-old.

Currently, about 100 universities and sports colleges offer courses in coaching, course maintenance and club management. The Hebei Institute has the largest number of students, 1,370, and since 2007, 470 of its graduates have moved on to work in the industry. Meanwhile, the golf college at Shenzhen University has produced more than 300 golf professionals since 1995.

As the sport becomes more acceptable and accessible in China, a growing demand for professionals has ensured that almost all golf graduates can opt to work at a club after university.

Although there are no official statistics on the value of the industry in China, a 2010 report published by the Huidian market research website calculated that the market was worth more than 60 billion yuan in 2009, an increase on the 47.9 billion yuan registered in 2006.

China's cradle of golf

The Hebei Institute was China's pioneer in golf studies. In 1985, the Hebei Committee of Sports - now Hebei Provincial Bureau of Sports - sponsored 11 promising players to study in Japan for three years, with the aim of producing seasoned instructors and players. Cui Zhiqiang, who led the trainee group, began teaching golf on his return to China in 1989.

Meanwhile, Cui's fellow trainees also started their careers as professional players or coaches, and one of them, Cheng Jun, won the Chinese Amateur Championship in 1990.

However, Shijiazhuang had no golf clubs at the end of the 1990s, and most of the trainees moved to Guangdong province to work at clubs there. Once they'd gained enough experience and money, a number of them started running their own clubs.

Meanwhile, Cheng and his classmates maintained close contact with the Hebei Institute and expressed their ambition to establish a degree course. In 2003, the school obtained approval to create a major in sports, specializing in golf. The first year saw an intake of 24 students.

In 2008, the school enrolled 118 students for a bachelor's degree. That number doubled in 2010 and this year there are 370 freshmen golf majors, accounting for almost 28 percent of the newcomers to the institute's seven sports majors.