Fanling courses must stay, warn Hong Kong golf silver medallists
Team hold off pros from Guangdong and salute Hong Kong Golf Club for aiding development
Hong Kong's golfers captured a third silver medal for the city at the National Games after fighting off a late challenge from Guangdong, then warned that the sport would be seriously harmed if the Hong Kong Golf Club's courses at Fanling were turned over for housing development.
Recently there have been calls for the land to be surrendered but coach Tang Wai-chun warned this would be a huge setback.
There are already very limited golf facilities in the city and if the Hong Kong Golf Club does not exist anymore, it will be a big blow to the development of the sport
"We have been using the Fanling course free of charge over the last two months," he said. "Not only to prepare for the Shenyang Games, the club also provides facilities for our junior development programmes and training for our senior squad.
"There are already very limited golf facilities in the city and if the Hong Kong Golf Club does not exist anymore, it will be a big blow to the development of the sport."
Wong Woon-man, the only team member based in Hong Kong as his teammates train in the United States, said the result would be a big boost to the sport in Hong Kong, and voiced his fears over the mooted Fanling plan.
"We can now tell Hong Kong people our standard is not too bad," said Wong. "Golf has been included in the National Games for the first time and we have been able to return with a silver medal. It's not a bad performance.
"But we also need to remember venue facilities play an important role for the development of sport. The Hong Kong Golf Club is the biggest in Hong Kong with a long very tradition. If it is closed, it will hit the sport seriously as we already have very limited venues.