NY Times story stating most golf courses in China are illegal.

[B. Mogg]

Tom Doak,
If you think I'm anti-China you're mistaken, and I really didn't think you'd resort to the 'you haven't been there' argument. This isn't the 19th century Tom, and I don't think you're a China scholar either.

B.Mogg,
I'll say the same thing to you, I'm not anti-coal, and Americans have dealt with the safety and pollution issues pretty well.

Jim - True - but then America is at a different level of development as well. Put yourself back in the 20's and compare the situation to that of China. Nevertheless I believe that the China authorities currently recognise that the environment is the biggest challenge (perhaps after corruption) they face and they are working hard to resolve the situation, harder than many here may recognise. They will probably end up leading the world in terms of production of "green energy" in short order. Cheers, Brett...

[Buck Wolter]

I'll stay out of the socio-economic stuff but was looking for a reason to post this.

http://tinyurl.com/ycwq6pt

This course is on the ocean within 5 miles of the downtown of a city of 8 Million people, pretty sure there's a replica of the 16th at CPC.

Couldn't find a word in english about the course but it looked good from the plane.

Buck

[Ian Andrew]

If everything stopped in China tomorrow - the impact on golf designers would be staggering.

[Craig Sweet]

Well at one time we relied on coal for 90% of our energy as well..with terrible pollution and environmental destruction...I would think that number today is probably closer to 50%???

Never the less...personally, I find it interesting, and refreshing,  that China see's the need to protect farm land...after all, no farms, no food.  So I do not see this ban, or this discussion to be about "class".....this whole idea of protecting farm land is catching on in many parts of this country as well....know your farmer, support local farms, the local food movement, is growing, as is people's knowledge of how energy intensive, how chemical dependent, some farming has become.

[Norbert P]

. . .    personally, I find it interesting, and refreshing,  that China see's the need to protect farm land...after all, no farms, no food.  . . .

 The massive failure of Mao Zedong's  "Great Leap Forward" apparently has not been forgotten.  Due to their policies of shifting to industrialization and displacing farm workers, 9 million of their own people starved to death in 1959.

 

[Tim_Cronin]

Check out this report by Dan Washburn on Slate.com:

http://www.slate.com/id/2246914/pagenum/all/

Reminds me of Mayor Daley's bulldozers wiping out Meigs Field in one night.

[B. Mogg]

If everything stopped in China tomorrow - the impact on golf designers would be staggering.

And the scary thing is it could - if they really wanted to all of the courses would be stopped - they have done it before. But I think they have become a bit more realistic nowdays about the benefits that golf brings, both directly and indirectly.

[Bill Rocco]

I have seen posts on this site seeking China to have a top 100 course in the world...I don't see that happening with stuff like this going on

[Rob Miller]

The only thing that may stop (or delay) development is a real estate crash.   

Eventually there will be golf courses developed for the golf instead of profit and speculation, and China will have world-class courses.  I would bet that in five years there will be a few on top 100 lists.