From Financial Times:
A few weeks ago, some young Chinese women wearing identical red uniforms were walking across the countryside near Beijing. It was a fine afternoon but a bitter north wind whipped across from the mountains in the distance and they looked cold as they paused every few yards to listen to a man in white overalls giving instructions. A couple of decades ago they might have been party members receiving education.
But these young women weren’t being indoctrinated with the teachings of Mao. The fields they were crossing were perfectly manicured and the rites they were learning were those of a very capitalist recreation. At Beijing Willow Golf Club, not far from the Summer Palace, caddies train for three months before they carry anyone’s clubs and they receive two more months on-course supervision before they are allowed out on their own with golfers.
Plenty of clubs elsewhere in the world are less fastidious about the caddies they inflict on paying visitors. This professionalism, backed up by plenty of hard cash, is characteristic of the People’s Republic‘s approach to golf. It may also be why the first ever match between a team of American and European golfers against the Rest of the World is taking place next week at Mission Hills, near Shenzhen in mainland China. [Full Text]
