Three Asia golf industry shows in one month was apparently one too many. The Asia Golf Congress, which was scheduled to be held at Mission Hills in Dongguan, China, October 29-31, is on hold.
The AGC, run by Reed Guanghe, was slated to compete with the Asian Pacific Golf Summit, which will be held in Singapore, October 14-15, and the HSBC Golf Forum, which will be held in Shanghai, November 1-4.
Reed Guanghe blamed the Chinese government for the cancellation.
“When the idea of the Asia Golf Congress was conceived, the golf industry was anticipating the issue of new regulations that would assist the industry in charting a path towards the re-start of golf course development in China,” it said in a statement. “Unfortunately, there is no clear date as to when these regulations will be released for implementation. This delay has caused those who are involved in the design, development and construction of golf courses to make the decision to put on hold efforts to promote their products and services in the China market.”
Reed Guanghe said portions of the program related to golf course operations maintenance, environmental standards and water conservation would be added to the China Golf Industry Expo in Beijing in March 2016.
“While new golf course development remains on hold in China, it is well under way in other markets in Asia, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand,” Reed Guanghe said. “In order to serve the market and Reed’s vendor partners, especially those involved in golf development master-planning, golf course design and construction, the decision has been made to postpone the Asia Golf Congress, gather further feedback from our customers, partners and key stakeholders and launch in another market where the golf course activity is currently robust.”