American golfer Phil Mickelson announced this weekend that he will build a par-3 course for children with a golf academy in Kunming to promote the sport at the grassroots level, according to an AFP report.

Speaking on the sidelines of the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai this weekend, Mickelson, the current number two golfer in the world, said that his goal was to build a base for golf in China among the country's youth.

The sport of golf, which is suffering elsewhere in the world due to the global economic downturn and other factors, has high hopes for China, one of the few places in the world where courses are still being built.

The course and academy in Kunming and the upcoming The World Course in Tianjin, which is inspired by great holes from around the world, will be Mickelson's first golf projects outside of the United States.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to help develop the game in the largest emerging market in the world," he told reporters in Shanghai.

For Kunming, Mickelson's announcement strengthens the city's status as China's golf city. In last year's rankings of China's best golf courses by Golf Digest magazine, three of the top six courses in the country were located in Kunming. Both of the top two courses were located at Spring City Golf & Lake Resort, whose lake course edged out its mountain course for top honors.

Getting more than just children from wealthy families in Kunming to embrace golf will be a challenge, as no public courses exist and green fees at clubs such as Spring City and Lakeview Golf are more than US$100 for one round of golf.

Former Spring City general manager Arthur Yeo recently told ESPN that golf still has a long way to go before it achieves widespread acceptance from Chinese society – and the government.

"It is still an elitist sport, and for over 25 years it has been discouraged," said Yeo. "Right now, the government doesn't know how to respond because they still have to worry about the general public. Their power base is the general public."

Phil Mickelson image: Telegraph

US-based Golf Digest magazine has released its annual list of what it considers to be the China's top ten golf courses. According to the magazine's editors, if you're looking for China's best courses, forget Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen – the best golf in China is in Kunming.

Kunming took three of the top six spots on Golf Digest's list, here are the results:

1. Spring City Golf & Lake Resort (Lake course), Kunming, Yunnan province

2. Spring City Golf & Lake Resort (Mountain course), Kunming, Yunnan province

3. Sheshan Golf Club, Shanghai

4. Shenzhen Golf Club, Shenzhen, Guangdong province

5. Tiger Beach Golf Links, Haiyang, Shandong province

6. Lakeview Golf Club, Kunming, Yunnan province

7. Jian Lake Golf & Country Club, Shaoxing, Zhejiang province

8. Trans Strait Golf Club, Fuzhou, Fujian province

9. Pine Valley Golf Resort & Country Club (Old course), Beijing

10. Mission Hills Golf Club (Norman course), Shenzhen, Guangdong province

Kunming ended up beating out the big coastal cities with the top two courses – both at Spring City Golf and Lake Resort. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, Spring City's Lake course was named best in China, beating out Spring City's other championship course, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Mountain course.

Kunming reappears at the number six spot on the list with Lakeview Golf Club, which has been the site of the Yunnan stops of the Omega China Tour as well as the Faldo Series Asia.

Shanghai's Sheshan Golf course rounded out the top three.

Shenzhen is the only other city with multiple courses in Golf Digest's top ten – Shenzhen Golf Club was named number four, while Mission Hills Golf Club's Greg Norman-designed course came in tenth.

Editor's note: This story was cross-posted on China Sports Today

Image: Spring City Golf & Lake Resort

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Lu Wen-teh's one-over-par 73 earned him the US$115,000 Kunming Championship and made him the Omega China Tour's first non-mainland champion this weekend at Lakeview Golf Club. The Taiwanese golfer said winning his first title was a "dream come true".

Equally notable was the strong showing by two teenage amateurs. Lu's playing partner, 16-year-old Benny Ye Jianfeng, finished second after winding up the day four over par, while 18-year-old amateur James Su Dong's even-par 72 lifted him to third place. The high finish by two teenagers suggests that the next generation of Chinese golfers is starting to come into its own.

After Lu was presented with a trophy and check for 150,000 yuan on Lakeview's 18th green, the three golfers were drenched by spectators and caddies in honor of the Dai Water splashing festival (泼水节), which was celebrated throughout southern Yunnan yesterday.

"I was able to hold on to my lead because I've been there before, but I was really impressed with what I saw this week," said Lu, who posted a five-under-par total of 283 to finish seven ahead of Ye and 10 clear of Su on a windy day at the Nick Faldo-designed course.

"The Chinese players are much more professional now than when I first played here more than 10 years ago. The younger generation are exceptional."

Lu went professional in 1992, the year after Ye was born, and has since won over US$1 million on the Asian Tour alone. The golf veteran had nothing but praise for the younger Ye.
"Ye Jianfeng hits the ball really well, even though he's so skinny," laughed Lu. "He played very well and is really a good player, one to watch. I had a lot of fun playing with him."

Ye closed with a 76, a full 10 strokes more than his course-record 66 on the third day. However, the Shenzhen Nanhua High School student said he was pleased with his highest finish on the Omega China Tour, improving on his tied-fourth place in last year's Sofitel Golf Championship.

"I'm so excited. I never thought I'd be here. Every time I play in professional events, my aim is to just make the cut, so this is just great. Yesterday's 66 was my best score in a pro event and I'll remember that round forever," he said.

Ye will play in next week's US$2.2 million Volvo China Open after winning last year's Volvo China Junior Championship.
Vancouver-based Su said he was surprised to finish in the top three with a 72, but acknowledged the effect that the unpredictable Kunming winds were having on everyone at Lakeview yesterday.

"It was tough today because the wind was changing every second. However, I really like this course as it encourages you to drive long," added Su, who hit his tee-shot on the 472-yard 13th hole almost 400 yards.

With Ye and Su picking up flowers instead of paycheques, Jim Johnson, Chen Dinggen and Kunming-born Liu Anlin each won RMB54,000 for sharing fourth place on six-over.

The Omega China Tour was inaugurated in 2005 with four events, and since then two tournaments have been added each season. This year's 10-event Omega China Tour offers total prize money of RMB8 million (US$1.15 million). After a 'southern swing' of six events from March to June, the tour takes a break for the Olympics before a 'northern swing' of four events in September and October.

Lu Wen-teh/Ye Jianfeng images: David Paul Morris/World Sport Group

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If you want to see China's best professional golfers, now's your chance, as the Kunming leg of the Omega China Tour comes through town this weekend. It began yesterday with a pro-am tournament at Lakeview Golf Club. The professional event begins today, with the final rounds played Saturday and Sunday. Play commences at 8 am and finishes at 4 pm both days.

Kunming is the fifth of seven stops on the tour, which concludes in Beijing in October. The pros like to play here, according to Lakeview director of golf Dave Goh, because it is the only course on the tour that uses bentgrass from tee to green. This type of grass is used on golf courses because of its deep green color and its density. But it is sensitive to extreme heat, which is no problem here in the Spring City. "I think every professional player would like to experience bent grass, because especially on the putting green you get a very true roll," Goh says.

This is the tour's third year, and the third time it has included a stop in Kunming. Lakeview is located near Dianchi Lake, across the road from the Yunnan Minorities Village. It is the final stop for buses number 44 and 73.