Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course: New 18-hole course opens to the public

13 March 2008

The golf-loving public in Hong Kong will soon be able to brandish their skills on a new 18-hole golf course where they can enjoy spectacular scenery and a challenging game.  The Hong Kong Jockey Club announced today (13 March) that Hong Kong's only public golf course at Kau Sai Chau, Sai Kung, which was established by the Club in 1995, will open its third golf course from 29 April 2008.

Under an innovative funding structure, the future operational cash flows of the three golf courses will be channeled into a new development fund, the Kau Sai Chau Development Trust, which will reinvest the money into a series of long-term, golf-related developments including the establishment of Hong Kong's first multi-discipline Golf Academy.

The Academy will provide training to youngsters who wish to pursue a career in the field of golf such as turf management, course operations and hospitality management.

The Club's Executive Director, Charities, William Y Yiu, notes that there is a shortage of trained and experienced staff in the industry as a result of the large number of new golf courses that have opened on the Mainland and elsewhere in the region over recent years. "As a not-for-profit organisation that is also a pioneer in sports development, the Club would like to fill that gap with the establishment of the Golf Academy," he explained. "This is in addition to providing excellent and affordable facilities for all golfing enthusiasts in Hong Kong."

"The training provided by the Academy will provide professionals for the golf industry and underpin the city's future golfing developments, as well as export its golf management skills to other parts of China and the region," Mr Yiu added.

The Academy will also aim at taking the sport to all walks of life in the community by providing training to children whose families are less privileged, while youngsters showing talent will have the opportunity to progress to elite training programmes.

Other projects to be funded in the future include the development of "adaptive golf", offering therapeutic and recreational opportunities to those with disabilities, and the provision of additional sports and recreational facilities on Kau Sai Chau.

Kau Sai Chau's existing North and South golf courses have been operating at full capacity since their opening 13 years ago due to growing popularity of the game in Hong Kong and the lack of other public golfing facilities.  The two courses have already clocked up over one million rounds of golf and the pace of growth is only accelerating.

Construction of the new East Course cost HK$300 million of which HK$184 million came from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, with the balance being injected from surplus cashflow of the management company that operates the existing two courses.

The Club's concern for the environment is shown in the great care that was taken during construction to ensure that the new East Course would not only complement the beautiful natural setting of Kau Sai Chau, but also provide positive environmental benefits. Of the HK$300 million project cost, HK$50 million was provided specifically for conservation measures.

The scenic island of Kau Sai Chau was an artillery practice site for the British military stationed in Hong Kong for some 40 years, while the northeast tip of the island was historically used as burial site. Decades of such land use had caused fires and damage to the vegetation, leading to widespread erosion on the island. Construction of the golf courses has helped recontour some of the eroded sites and improve the overall ecological state of the area. Apart from the lush greenery regenerated, numerous animal species have recolonised the island. According to studies carried out by the Golf Course's consulting ecologists, the number and diversity of wildlife species has increased rapidly since the current golf courses opened in 1995: butterflies have increased from four to 30 species while dragonfly species have grown from eight to 38. These efforts have been further rewarded by the recent discovery of barking deer on the island, taking the mammal species count on Kau Sai Chau to 11.

A desalination plant has also been constructed to provide irrigation water, as well as a closed drainage system to conserve and reuse the run-off water. 

The new 6,640-yard par 72 East Course has been designed to utilise fully the dramatic natural features along the eastern coastline of Kau Sai Chau. The signature hole on the site is the 366-yard, par 4, 14th hole. Golfers will play from an elevated tee to a fairway doglegging to the left and heading straight out to the picturesque South China Sea. From the fairway they will see rugged islands in the distance behind the green, providing the classic photo opportunity of the round.