Golf’s New Frontier

Golf’s New Frontier

By Chris Fry
PGA of Canada


As you can well imagine, getting a hold of a PGA of Canada professional on a Saturday morning for a casual phone conversation is no easy task. People are busy, you know? But it’s even tougher when the guy I’m hoping to speak with is 13 time zones away and runs the largest golf academy in China. 

So you can imagine my delight when at 10 p.m. EST last Friday night, when I answer my phone and the voice on the other end says, “Hi Chris, it’s Dan Webb.”

“Oh wow, hey Dan,” I respond. “Thanks for calling me this morning—you’ve got to be just crazy busy at your Academy right now, eh?”

“Actually, not busy at all,” he tells while chuckling. “The academy is closed for three weeks for renovations, so I’ve got a little break in my schedule. But first things first—when is that nasty lockout going to get sorted out?”

Even in China, the lack of NHL hockey is being felt.

After I give him the not-so-pleasant news of an almost certain cancellation of the NHL season, we get down to business. After all, the reason we’re burning through long distance minutes has nothing to do with Gary Bettman or Donald Fehr.

The real reason we’re doing this cross-continental chat does, however, has everything to do with Webb and a kid by the name of Guan Tianlang.

You recognize his name, right? If you’ve been without an Internet connection, daily newspaper, television or away in the northern Alberta wilderness tracking elk and have no idea who this kid is, here’s the 411 on Guan Tianlang: He’s Chinese. He’s 14-years old. He won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship earlier this month. He’ll be the youngest competitor ever next April at the Masters. And PGA of Canada Professional Webb is his golf coach.

“I’ve known Guan and his parents for the better part of eight years,” Webb admits. “In some cases the coach makes the player but in this case, the player has definitely made the coach.”

Being humble is both a trait of Canadians and Chinese. But, I urge Webb to give himself a little credit. It’s not an accident the 58-year old Toronto native is one of the biggest deals in golf in China today.

His Quantum Golf Academy at Sand River Golf Club in bustling Shenzhen is four hitting decks high and 240 bays in total. It’s also home to a 27-hole Gary Player designed course and about 750 golfers come through on a daily basis.

People in China have fallen hard for golf.

At last check there’s somewhere in the neighbourhood of 500 golf courses in China and some 3 million people playing the game at some capacity. And the sport is growing at a rate of 15 % per year. So with a population of more than 1-billion people and the possibilities of gold medals in golf at the next Summer Olympics (and we all know about the Chinese government’s stop-at-nothing attitude for Olympic domination), China is the new frontier.

That would make Webb a trailblazer of sorts. But as most good stories go, it almost didn’t happen.

The 23-year PGA of Canada member first came to China from Toronto in 2004 after a business partner who owned a golf simulator business in China convinced him make the trek to the Orient.

The move didn’t exactly pan out as planned when the simulator business fizzled and Webb was left wondering where it all went wrong.

“Being successful here in China is all about having relationships with people,” he tells me. “When I first came over and the simulator stuff fell apart, it was interesting that’s for sure. But thankfully I had built solid relationships with a lot of people so I was able to bounce back pretty quickly and make the most of the situation.”

He would spend a few years at the PureSwing Performance Centre at the Tainhe Golf Club before one of the top 10 land developers in China made a play for Webb to run the academy at Sand River.

Webb says his last four years in Shenzhen have proved to be both exciting and challenging.

“It’s been a great opportunity to make a lot of money,” Webb concedes. “But the way business and government is in China has made things very volatile at times.”

Unlike Canada, Webb says there are no real business or tax laws. So, the Chinese government often raises taxes whenever they choose and in some cases have been known to come in during the middle of the night and completely bulldoze golf courses and driving ranges for failure to comply with their demands.

Don’t forget, this is the new frontier.

Business and government aren’t the only major differences between China and Canada, either. As you can imagine, pretty much everything is different in China than it is in Canada. But surprisingly, Webb says the Chinese have a tougher time adjustingto lifeve in the west than those who make the move to the east.

“People from China go to Canada and they have a really tough time with the lack of energy,” he says. “And by energy, I mean people. They’re used to people being everywhere they turn, not these big open spaces like an empty subway platform in Toronto or the vast wilderness of the Canadian Rockies.”

“But what they are really shocked at is the lack of drive people in the west have. The Chinese want to succeed at everything and they aren’t afraid at making sacrifices,” Webb says. “You look at Guan’s family for instance—when he was only six years old his parents decided that he was going to make it as a world class golfer so they’ve given him every opportunity over the past eight years to become one.”

An only child, Tianlang’s parents live for their son (and his golf game). The 14-year old is homeschooled and spends most of his day practicing and playing. Webb says he’s not like most Chinese kids who play the game because they “have to.”

“When I first met him you could immediately tell his love and understanding for the game was much more pure than other kids who were his age and much older,” Webb says. “I remember him imitating four golf swings—Tiger Woods, Chris Dimarco, Ernie Els and Jim Furyk—on command at six-years old. It was incredible.”

In the eight years since their first encounter, Tianlang has won nearly 100 golf tournaments all over the world (and apparently has all his trophies proudly displayed in his bedroom).

In case it wasn’t already clear, he’s got skills.

“Here is a kid with Sergio Garcia type lag and tremendous club head speed,” Webb gushes. “But where he really separates himself from everyone else is his confidence and ability to stay completely, 100 per cent focused all the time.”

At last year’s Volvo China Open, a then 13-year old Tianlang become the youngest ever competitor to ever tee it up on the European Tour. Webb looped for the kid that week and says it didn’t matter he shot rounds of 77-79 to miss the cut. What mattered most he says is how he handled himself and the pressure.

“He was rock solid and aware from the first tee,” Webb says as his voice takes on a more serious tone. “He absolutely belonged and it’ll be the same way come April for the Masters,” adding, “his goal is to make the cut and he’s not impressed with being the youngest to play. He’ll be impressed if he wins and he believes that he can.”

Webb doesn’t know if he’ll be on Tianlang’s bag again come April and thinks it might be a better idea to have a more experienced man in a white jumper guide the 14-year old around the world’s most famous golf course. He also says the Guan family will most likely head to Florida early in the new year to prepare for the much anticipated debut at Augusta National.

Webb however has no plans on making the prep trip back to the eastern time zone.

“Once the renovations are complete here it’ll be back to business as usual—more golfers, more lessons, more everything,” he says. “And then there’s the hockey thing . . .”

“Hockey thing? Are we back to lockout talk,” I question.

Webb laughs and answers, “No, I’m playing hockey three times a week here in China with a bunch of Russian, Chinese and Canadian guys. So I’ve got that going on too.”

PGA of Canada member who plays hockey? Sounds about right, eh?