Price takes on marketing role in Guangzhou Masters project

NICK Price may have failed to make an impression in this month's US Masters at Augusta, Georgia, but the price is right as far as his involvement in Guangzhou's Masters Golf and Country Club is concerned.

Big-name course architects are now common in China with Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player among those who have undertaken design projects.

But at The Masters they have taken on a famous golfing name in a different capacity.

Zimbabwean Price, the world No 1 and winner of last year's British Open and US PGA championships, has been signed up as honorary chairman of the Guangzhou venture.

In that role, Price will visit the course and participate in the club's regional and international marketing efforts.

Price will also work closely with International Management Group's (IMG) Brit Stenson in 'fine-tuning' the design of the course, according to Jason Fong Chi, the club's chairman.

The course is close to the centre of Guangzhou and will have a Scottish flavour. Meanwhile, the clubhouse and condominiums bordering the site will take on a Mediterranean feel. Mr Stenson, the director of design at IMG, said the 6,250-metre, par-72 layout will be a blend of the 'old world charm of Scotland, with the pragmatic and contemporary influences of the modern age'.

The signature hole will be the 263-metre par-four 13th that is sure to prove lucky for some . . . and unlucky for others.

Big hitters will be able to go for the green in one, although to do so they will have to skirt the lake that runs down the left side of the fairway.

The course is in the Fangcun district, an area known as Guangzhou's garden of flowers and potted landscapes.

It is accessible via the recently completed Pearl River tunnel and, when the city's railway is finished in 1997, there will be four stations within a short distance of the club.

By then, all of the club's facilities will be open.

A 68-bay driving range is scheduled for completion next March with the front nine coming on line three months later.

The back nine and the main clubhouse will be finished by the end of next year.

Mr Fong said: 'The planning process has taken a little longer than expected, due mainly to lengthy negotiations with the local authorities to increase the size of the land from 73 hectares to 96 hectares, or 30 per cent larger.

'The additional land has afforded us greater flexibility in the design of the course as well as provision for future expansion of club facilities.' The development has been estimated to cost more than US$100 million, which includes the two-storey clubhouse providing sports, leisure and dining amenities, and residential complexes offering luxury villas and serviced apartments.

Phase one of The Masters properties will comprise more than 300 condominiums situated in a triangle formed by the seventh, eighth and ninth holes with individual land title deeds and a 70-year leasehold tenure.

The first tranche of individual memberships and corporate memberships for one nominee are being offered at US$40,000 and US$76,000 for corporate memberships with two nominees.