Golf club rules handicap access for the masses

On a nice day the views from the Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club, perched on a headland jutting into the South China Sea, are second to none.

The vista across the island-studded waters is a multimillion-dollar spectacle and it comes at an appropriate price - membership costs up to HK$4.2 million for a company or HK$2.8 million for an individual.

But even the hoi polloi can make their way onto this playground for the rich and famous, although most probably do not know it. Written into the deal under which it obtained almost 130 hectares of prime land for zero land premium is a requirement that it 'shall permit the public to use the golf course within the lot on every day other than Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays'.

The Conditions of Exchange, signed by the club and the Lands Department in December 1978, state that this access is subject to payment of a green fee and limited to 10 per cent of the capacity of the course for the day. It further calls on the club to allow a person aged 25 or under to use the course 'as often he may play'.

It sounds like a golden opportunity for the young and less well-off to get a taste of the good life. But the club has rules reducing the chances of its well-heeled members having to rub shoulders with unwashed hordes on its land, which is equivalent in size to seven Victoria Parks. Staff say non-members can use the course if they tee off between 9.30am and 11.30am but only if they have a handicap card issued by a recognised club affiliated with the Hong Kong Golf Association and book no earlier than three days in advance. 'If you don't have a handicap card, please don't worry about sending us the application form,' a receptionist said, although there is no such requirement in the land lease.

Another employee said: 'There is not much chance that three non-members could play ... at the same time at our club even on weekdays.'

A golf coach complained that the handicap requirement had hindered youngsters from learning. 'It's a typical chicken-and-egg problem: you can't get into the course without a handicap card, but you can hardly really learn golf and get the handicap card without practising at a course,' HK Pro Golf Club director Al Morales said. 'In the US only professional golfers have handicap cards for tournaments; 99 per cent of American golfers don't need a handicap card to get into public golf courses.'