Now that his career on the Asian Tour has ended, Zhang Lianwei is doing what he can to grow the game in China. His immediate mission: To build affordable public courses, which the nation sorely lacks.
“I am keen to push this through,” he said in a comment published by the South China Morning Post, “as this is the only way to get more young golfers to pick up and learn the game.” Zhang, who’s considered to be one of the elder statesmen of Chinese golf, told the newspaper that he’s identified three potential sites for his courses but didn’t say where they were. Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman and others have said that they also desire to popularize golf in the People’s Republic. Do you think there’s any chance that they might be enlisted to design Zhang’s courses?