Golfers across Hong Kong Island are celebrating the opportunity of being able to practice their swings between rounds after the opening of the only full-time driving range south of Kowloon.
The four-storey, 112-bay Island Golf Club at Sai Wan Ho saw a soft opening in early August, and now plans are afoot to stage the grand opening in November.
Facilities will include a pro shop, grass putting green, 600 lockers, changing rooms with showers, snack bar/restaurant and a car park for 100 vehicles.
While Kowloon and the New Territories have seen a dramatic rise in the number of ranges constructed over the past few years, golfers on the island have been forced to cross the harbour to practise their sport or to use the part-time range at the South China Athletics Association, which doubles as a football pitch during the day.
The new range, which cost more than $40 million to construct, is located just a sand wedge from the Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter and only a two-minute walk from Sai Wan Ho MTR station. On either side of the range, 50-storey tower blocks rise like the walls of a canyon to frame the development in what seems like the most unlikely setting imaginable for a golf driving range.
'Our initial research and site investigations revealed a huge catchment of people within a relatively small area, and a site that had been zoned as 'open space' by the town planning board,' said William Chan, business development manager at the club. 'The Eastern Island Corridor is located right behind us so plenty of passing motorists will see us and will hopefully come to use our facility.
