photo: a stunning vista at Mission Hills golf club

Tee in China

For an avid golfer, it’s not hard to find a course that’s already been tested by one of the country’s greatest golf champs. Finding fairways designed by one can prove a bit more difficult. And finding 10 courses in a row designed by champions? For that, you’ll have to dig a hole to China.

Located in the former fishing village of Shenzhen near Hong Kong, Mission Hills is the only place in the world where you can golf with Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Annika Sorenstam, Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal, David Duval, and Jack Nicklaus anytime you please. Okay, maybe you're not going to golf with them, but you'll be able to golf in their footsteps as you play on green after green designed by PGA TOUR greats. The biggest golf course in the world (according to the Guinness Book of World Records), Mission Hills also boasts China's only David Leadbetter Golf Academy and the largest pro shop in Asia, as well as perks for nongolfers, like the most tennis courts on the continent and a mammoth spa.

photo: a scenic course at Mission Hills golf club

Mission Hills is the largest golf complex in China - and the world.

But it's the peerless greens that draw club-toting guests from all around the world.

Whether it’s Duval’s treacherous water hazards or Faldo’s taunting island green, the sheer abundance of top-level golf makes Mission Hills a Mecca for those who just can’t seem to get enough. Scenes of golfers pinching themselves aren’t uncommon on these courses. Those who really can’t take such an inundation of greatness can always hit that aforementioned spa….

Geoff Parkes, a leader of a tour group that takes golfers around China, says some of his clients have gone so far as to call Mission Hills "heaven on earth." Indeed, it's also a place where the sun never sets, thanks to the fanatic-inspired amenity of night golf.

Day or night, the gems to be found range from the scenic (like the glorious rain forest and mountain views from the Annika course or the waterfall on the Leadbetter one) to the challenging (like the staggering 26 beach bunkers between tee and green on the Olazabal course). But the biggest gem of all is taking away an experience you’ll be able to remember with every stroke you take on any less-fabulous green for the rest of your life.

And if, while golfing at your local club, your monologue about golfing “with” Vijay and Annika just happens to take away your opponent’s breath, causing a duff? So be it.

Posted on January 02, 2006