CHINA and golf — it’s a complicated relationship. The sport has never been able to shake its “game for elites” reputation and reports often pop up in the media about courses being shut down for various illegalities.

Despite this the game is growing and China is starting to produce talented professional players capable of competing and winning on international tours. Feng Shanshan leads the way as the first Chinese player to win a major, securing the LPGA Championship in 2012 at the age of 22.

On the men’s side the PGA Tour China is a partnership between the China Golf Association and the US PGA Tour and is now in its second year.

The incentive to produce players is stronger than ever as golf is being reintroduced to the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 after an absence of 112 years.

The Nanshan International Training Center in Shandong Province is designed to provide the facilities and coaching young players need to develop their talent, move up through the rankings and compete at the highest level. The center has been open since 2012 and cost 500 million yuan (US$80.57 million). On the grounds the Olympic rings have been formed out of hedges and is an obvious reminder of the country’s ambitions.

Several golf insiders say growth has been quick. They remain bullish about the sport’s future even though golf course construction has been banned since 2004 due to land and water scarcity or environmental concerns. At the time of the ban there were around 320 courses around the country, but state media now puts the number at up to 650. A new law is expected by the end of the year that will provide more clarity in the industry. One insider says up to 100 courses could be shut down under the law, but that he expects it to be less as some club owners will likely succeed when contesting the closures.

In a healthy sign for the sport, growth can also be seen at the grass-roots level, not just with professionals.

“For the past 10 years growth has been really fast,” says T. K. Pen, founder and chairman of the China LPGA Tour. “The last number I saw is that there are over 3 million golfers. Of those, 1.2 to 1.3 million are considered active golfers who play regularly.”

This represents remarkable growth considering the sport was banned in 1949 and the first golf course wasn’t built in the country until 1984.

Michael Dickie agrees with Pen’s assessment.

The Scottish native was the head coach of the China national women’s team from 2011 to 2013 and is now a technical consultant for both the men’s and women’s national teams.

“Golf has grown considerably in the 10 years that I have lived in China. I arrived in Shanghai in November 2004 and at that time there were around 10 courses in Shanghai and its neighboring cities, there are now around 25 courses,” says Dickie, 35, who speaks fluent Mandarin. “In the early days it was mostly Western and Asian expats along with Chinese who had lived abroad that played golf. Over the years we have seen much more mainland Chinese taking up the game and especially children. The game is constantly growing and becoming more accessible.”

Dickie is also the CEO of the Michael International Golf Academy, which is on Huqingping Road in Shanghai’s Minhang District. The academy features high-tech equipment and caters to players of all skill levels with a team of PGA instructors from around the world.

Some of China’s emerging professional talents, including Lin Xiyu, who is now playing on the US LPGA Tour, and Li Haotong, the country’s No. 1-ranked male player who won the inaugural PGA China Tour’s order of merit last year and is now on the Web.com Tour in America, have been coached by Dickie.

He has seen first hand how the government supports Olympic sports and says golf’s inclusion at the Rio de Janeiro Games next year is big news for the game in China.

“Sports that are included in the Olympic Games are viewed positively and supported heavily in China. The government will provide great support and resources for the athletes to increase their chances of performing successfully,” Dickie says. “For developing players this level of support is required in order to succeed. Every four years China stages the China Games, which is essentially a warm-up for the Olympic Games based on the same rules. This creates opportunities for players, coaches and support staff.”

Pen, who is from Taiwan, says one of the main challenges in developing the sport even further is creating a large fan base.

“For any sport to be successful, you need fans. To have fans you need live TV exposure,” says the 47-year-old Pen. “The biggest problem of any sport in China, I think, is that TV stations don’t want to broadcast sports. The local stations don’t know how to do sports and to them it’s a money-losing thing. They don’t know how to market sports and they don’t know how to sell sports to advertisers. There has to be an investment period of one to two years of regular broadcasts to develop storylines and to grow a fan base.”

Still, he believes the sport has natural appeal to people across China and he’s never had any doubt that Chinese players who start young and are trained properly will be able to compete in the world’s best tournaments.

“For Chinese people, the smaller the balls the better that sport is ... as it implies that you use more of your brain than your physique. Like ping pong and tennis, the balls are small and there is no physical contact with your opponent. Golf is 90 percent mental. It’s a mental game. In that sense there’s no reason that Chinese players can’t beat the Koreans, the Japanese or whoever. Also from a statistical point of view with China’s population there’s no reason China can’t have good players.”

There’s also the economic argument supporting further development of the sport along with kids being inspired by a new generation of professional golfers.

“Despite the current developments and restrictions on golf course development and construction, I believe that golf will continue to grow,” Dickie says. “As people’s disposable income rises they will look at ways to enjoy their leisure time and golf is a great game which can be played for their whole life with low risk of injury. Also as Chinese golfers perform successfully in major tournaments this will promote the game and encourage more players to take up golf. Golf has been included in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games with a view to longer-term participation, at least we can guarantee that there will be good growth in the next 10-15 years.”

So the next time a 14-year-old amateur Chinese player such as Guan Tianlang becomes the youngest player to ever tee it up at the US Masters, don’t be surprised because it’s no fluke.

Qualifying for the 2016 Olympics

A field of 60 athletes will compete in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Players will be selected based on world rankings. The top 15 players in both the women’s and men’s rankings will qualify automatically, with a limit of four players from one country. This ensures that golf’s biggest stars will be at the Rio Games.

Outside the top 15, players will qualify based on their world ranking, with a maximum of two players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15. Thus a Chinese player may be ranked around 150 or 200 and still qualify, depending on the nationalities of better ranked athletes.

Both the men and women will play four 18-hole rounds of stroke play with the top three winning the Olympic medals. In the event of a tie for podium positions, a three-hole playoff will determine the medal winner.

Michael Dickie, founder of the Michael International Golf Academy and former head coach of the China national women’s team, has seen tremendous progress among the country’s young female players.

“The players have made great improvements and their progress can be tracked in their rise in the world rankings,” he says. “When I took up my role coaching the China national women’s team, most of the players were amateurs, the first task was to prepare them to turn professional. The next task was to get them membership on an international tour (US LPGA or Ladies European Tour so that they could accumulate world ranking points which are required to qualify (for the Olympics). The players that our team has supported since 2011 are now playing on the LPGA, LET and JLPGA tours. Two of the players that are currently in the top four spots and likely to play in the Olympics, I have coached over the years.”

China already has four players inside of the qualification criteria. Currently the top ranked Chinese players are:

Men as of April 12 — Li Haotong (No. 194), Liang Wenchong (No. 226) and Wu A’shun (No. 228)

Ladies as of April 6 — Feng Shanshan (No. 5), Lin Xiyu (No. 74) and Yan Jing (No. 181)

Dickie says to watch out for Shi Yuting (No. 258) and Li Jiayun (No. 319).

“The qualification cut off point is July 2016 therefore this list may change slightly,” adds Dickie.

“However one thing is certain — China will have four players at the Rio 2016 Games.”