What we learned from this year's Hong Kong Golf Open
Having a title sponsor back on board helped lift the atmosphere at Fanling but the government made a real meal of it
It's the small things that count, the little issues that prove so revealing. In the firmament of world affairs, and even in the firmament of sporting affairs, the UBS Hong Kong Open is not that big a thing. It's a golf tournament that boasts a long tradition.
However, it's a tradition that came perilously close to disappearing last year because of the lack of a title sponsor and government support.
Even with the Swiss bank back aboard and the government's Mega Events Fund returning after a two-year hiatus, the total purse of US$2 million in prize money is in the lower quarter of the European Tour's 40-plus events, which is kind of ironic because few people think of Hong Kong as being a low-money place. But that's OK because this tournament was never meant to be the most lucrative stop on tour.
There is one group which seems to play by its own rules and that is oblivious and delusional in regards to its place in the food chain. That would be the government of Hong Kong
What it will hopefully continue to be is a nice, medium-sized event featuring a few of the world's top players competing on a classy, old-school golf course in one of the most dynamic cities in the universe. I think we can happily live with that going forward and kudos to all involved this year for making that happen.
Yet despite the humble scope of the event it still served as a perfect microcosm for the way things work both in the world of sport and in Hong Kong. At the top end of the food chain are the star players, and not surprisingly there is a high end and a bottom end. The reality is that more players in the tournament were doing their own laundry than not.
Next is the title sponsor and its own corporate stars, most of them being high net-worth clients enjoying the ample hospitality the host puts on.
Because UBS has close to US$2 trillion in assets under management globally, they are rightfully protective of the brand. Every quote of any employee has to be approved in the corporate culture and at this event it is no different when they are dealing with the lowest end of the food chain, the media.
Unlike most of the people at UBS and their clients, the overwhelming majority of media members did not choose their profession based on money. So any time the sponsor or organisers put on a spread featuring free booze, you can absolutely, positively count on the media being the last to leave.
It is simply the way things have always worked and despite the varying levels of status in an event like this, if one link of the food chain is broken then all of them are. Regardless of who or what you are, if you were involved in the event you were responsible for making it work and don't let anyone tell you differently.
But there is one group which seems to play by its own rules and that is oblivious and delusional in regards to its place in the food chain. That would be the government of Hong Kong. In 2012, it provided US$2 million from its Mega Events Fund to help bring then number one in the world Rory McIlroy to the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling.
McIlroy missed the cut and was poolside in Dubai by the time the politicos arrived on the weekend to meet him. Not surprisingly, the funding disappeared for the next two years and hopefully officials remembered to come out earlier this year to meet star attraction Dustin Johnson, who was also gone by the weekend.
By late Sunday, though, secretary for commerce and economic development Gregory So Kam-leung was on hand to award the trophy to Justin Rose. That's all fine, except for the fact that So's long-winded speech was part of an awards ceremony that went on for a ridiculously long time. It was laborious, tedious and totally unnecessary.
At the Masters and the Open Championship, arguably the two biggest golf events in the world, it takes no more than 10 minutes. But neither of those events features public money, nor politicians speaking. If this is the price you have to pay to get funding, I guess we will all have to suffer.
It will likely go in one ear and out the other, but it bears repeating nonetheless.
The Hong Kong government has no popular mandate whatsoever to delegate those funds. It is not your money. Repeat: it is not your money. Gregory So is a political appointee who was appointed by another political appointee, the chief executive.
However, why should things be any different at the Hong Kong Open than they are in Hong Kong? No, it's not a big golf event. But more often than not, you learn so much from so little.
