Golf has green future in China (2)

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Most of the youngsters pursuing golf at a high level in China are from wealthy families who can afford tuition at private academies. Many top young Chinese golfers are enrolled in elite sports colleges in North America or Australia while others are in local academies attached to exclusive country clubs.

"Golf is still considered a rich people's game," says Chang Kai, deputy general manager of Tianma Golf Academy located near Shanghai. The academy trains teenagers in golf, but works with Shanghai Xiwai International School to ensure the young athletes also receive an education.

"We saw a lot of juniors who dropped out of school for their sports, dreaming of becoming top professionals, but they do not know how tough it is in the pro field," says Chang.

Chang believes the government push to have more youths play golf will lead to more good players, but now the parents of his students at Tianma see golf as an investment for the future.

"Going to a US college with a Division I golf scholarship is their goal," Chang says.

How do you build a champion? That is the question being asked by parents who are spending thousands of dollars hiring the best coaches and sending their children to the best sports schools.

Llewellyn thinks money may actually work against the goal.

"Rich people's kids don't become champions, their life is too easy. Tough people become champions," says Llewellyn. He may have been talking about his own student, Liang.

The 35-year-old golfer is a bona fide champion, the only Chinese in the world golf ranking's top 100. He is expected to compete in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics and many aspiring champions look up to him.

"His parent didn't know anything about golf. In the village they are farmers, so they actually didn't put any pressure on Liang," the golfer's manager Jacky Peng says.

"He had some talent, but most important, he worked very hard," says Peng.

Of course, rags to riches stories are not always the case.

Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old wunderkind currently wowing the golfing world spends three months a year training in California. When he is China he can be found putting in the hours at the exclusive Troon Golf Academy at Lion Lake Country Club in Guangdong.

He also obviously has remarkable personal drive and talent.

Llewellyn says a true champion, whether they have the best training in the world or a second-hand set of clubs and a lot of time, has something special, an added determination which cannot be taught.

"You get parents who, when their kids are 3 or 4 years old, are pushing them into this. There is no space to form the initiative or imagination required," says Llewellyn.

"Most kids don't become champions."

Chang from Tianma thinks the promise of golf in China lies in its accessibility to the masses.

"The challenges will be how to lower the standard to make it more affordable to others."

The future seems bright. The Olympics are just around the corner and Guan's win has inspired many.

"Golf is definitely growing up," Chang says.

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