Mission Hills Dongguan
world-class brand and a pioneer in the global leisure and
tourism industry.
2. Your Father had a huge ambition to be the greatest
in the industry and his vision became a reality. What
inspires you both the most? What vision do you have
for Mission Hills?
Ken: When I first joined the company, I was fortunate to
have my father acting as a mentor, instilling in me the core
values of “No pain, no gain; and you sow what you seed”.
Therefore,
when I had to take over the lead in the company, I
worked hard to be recognized as a “hardworking second
generation” and not a “rich second generation”. There is a
Chinese saying that goes “Sustaining a business is harder
than starting anew” and I strongly believed that if you
don’t advance, you’d fall. With this realization, I moved on
from being a “hardworking second generation” to become
an “entrepreneurial second generation”. That is when, as a
whole family, we decided to transform the business based
on the leisure philosophy of “Golf and More”. With this, we
took Mission Hills beyond golf.
Tenniel: On the golf front, our mission is to grow the
game so it’s available for everyone, beyond how it is seen
traditionally as a prestigious and elite game. Each year
40
Destination Golf .TRAVEL
over 25,000 juniors go through our doors – we have the
world’s largest youth golfing program. We also have three
golf courses that are free to juniors globally to access and
experience golf.
3. Tenniel, you studied golf management at University,
did you always know that you would work in the golf
industry?
Tenniel: Golf is an international language; it is a sport like
no other that has the means to connect with everyone
in the same way. I’ve been playing for more than 40 years
now, so yes, I have always wanted to work in the industry.
Therefore, I took up a postgraduate program in golf course
management at Humber College. This was followed by
working at the PGA Tour headquarters in Florida. Beyond
that, I also wanted true on-the-ground experience to
complement my studies. That’s why my first job was
picking up golf balls at the driving range for Vijay Singh. I
really learned from the bottom up.
4. Do you both have a favorite course to play in the
resort? If yes, what course is it and why do you enjoy
playing it so much?
Ken: This is like asking me to choose my favorite child!
What I can tell you is which courses are the most played at
Mission Hills. These are Jack Nicklaus’ World Cup Course,
Jose Maria Olazabal’s Olazabal Course and Greg Norman’s
Norman Course.