Tiger Woods to Redesign Beijing Golf Course in USD 16.5 Million Deal

Tiger Woods will redesign the Tian'an Holiday Golf Club in Beijing, as part of a two-course, USD 16.5 million deal, Golf.com reported Friday.

Just outside the Fifth Ring Road, the 27-hole facility will reopen as the Pacific Links National Golf Club upon completion, although no opening date was given. The course is owned by Pacific Links International, a Canadian company, which is planning a dozen courses in the Beijing and Tianjin area designed by golf greats including "Greg Norman, Ernie Els, Fred Couples, and Pete Dye," Golf.com reported.

The report did not indicate how much of that green would end up in Woods' pocket or on the course, or whether the second course would also be near Beijing.

Despite a moratorium on golf course construction in China, new courses continue to be built. What's fueling the continued construction?

“Money," Dan Washburn, author of The Forbidden Game, told the Beijinger in a November 2014 interview. "Interest in golf and new golf courses has been on the wane in many parts of the world. China, on the other hand, is seen as an untapped market. Big international tournaments are welcomed by local government officials in China because of the tax revenues they bring in, and foreign brands – especially luxury brands – see the events as good platforms for reaching China’s rich. It’s in the construction of golf courses where things get a bit tricky,” he said.

Photo: Keith Allison/Wikimedia