[Michael Moore]

I was researching some competitors this evening and ended up delving into Mission Hills.

I found myself totally fascinated by this 216 hole resort in suburban Hong Kong. A pass with Google Earth showed a verdant and thoroughly modern golfscape in what appears to be a spectacular location.

Should I ever make it to China, I am fairly certain that I am going to leave the sticks at home and find something more interesting to do over there.

But I am bristling with questions about this megaplex.

What is the target market?
How many rounds are played there?
Is David Leadbetter really an architect?
Has anyone here visited?
Are twelve courses too many?
Are the Chinese as go-go for golf as the Japanese, or is this a tourist destination?
Is this the largest assemblage of golf in the world?
How long has this place been around?
What do the locals think?


What's the word on Mission Hills?

[Mike Nuzzo]

10,000 employees
680,000 sft clubhouse -- one of them, the others are smaller
1,800 rounds a day -- 50% guest of the resort -- $120-$200 per round
3,000 caddies -- three months of training prior to their first day

Schmidt & Curley did all the design work.

Yes it is the biggest in the world.

[B. Mogg]

Target Market - Mainly HK but also China mainland golfers. A growing market.

David Leadbetter - All courses designed by Brian Curley of C&S with the exception of the original Nicklaus course and the Norman course.

Are 12 courses too many - they seem to fill them up especially on weekends - during the week plenty of space available.

Chinese go-go for golf - yes - golf though still a businessmens sport.

The largest golf course - for the moment, they have an ongoing fued with a place in Northern China (sorry cant remember the name) that has 11 courses (mission hills built the last couple to beat it), but the course in Northern china has more land. The northern china course however has mainly in-house designs though Monty did one there I think (I believe his might be called the Purple Elephant course). Mission Hills Group also planned a 12 (I think) course setup in Kunming but it has been placed on hold - & they have another multicourse setup (were talking 20 plus courses) in Hainan.

How long has it been around - over 10 years, started with the Nicklaus course.

What do the local think - the ones with money think its OK, the ones without money (the majority) its the equivilant of driving a rolls royce on the moon. I dont think it is considered the premier golf facilty - just too many people and players for that, which is why they have changed the marketing structure to give those that pay the most $$ exclusive use of 1 or 2 of the courses.

[Matt_Sullivan]

From my local perspective (China resident and frequent visitor to HK) it is not particularly enticing as a golfing destination. From all accounts, it is crowded, expensive and the courses are reputedly pretty average. We always look at it when we are thinking about a golfing getaway, but there is always something that looks a bit better, which is why we haven't made it there in 7 years.

Having said all of that, it's still on my list of golfing things to do, just because of the scale of it

Matt

[Tim Leahy]

The resort was featured on a Golf Channel show last night and I'm sure you can catch a rerun this week several times. The holes featured looked interesting but they did say that they were getting 3000 rounds a day, which comes to about 250 rounds per day per course.

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