The Gate April 2015 | Page 6

Golfuture International Golf Academy Entering its seventh year as one of the most famous golf tours in China, the committee of Golfuture announced the establishment of the BGGA-Golfuture International Golf Academy in Haining City, ZhejIang Province, China. Although golf has developed rapidly in recent years, there are only 559 professional golfers in China, a group made up of 336 males and 223 females, and approximately 3000 amateurs. This ratio of amateurs to professionals is much lower than the ratio in other countries. In this environment, as Yanmei Wang said during the press conference, it is important to have Golfuture as a tool to help train and secure talented golf players. Wendy Wu, Secretary General of Golfuture, said Golfuture started its collaboration with BGGA in an effort to cultivate excellent junior players. In June of 2014, BGGA became Golfuture’s official training partner, and as part of the Player Development Program, players fro m Golfuture spent 6 weeks in a Golfuture-BGGA Winter Training Camp in Florida, strengthening the partnership between Golfuture and BGGA. Following BGGA’s M.A.P. training philosophy, BGGA-Golfuture International Golf Academy will give players access to BGGA’s coaching team. Going beyond the traditional model of the mental, technical and physical elements of the game, BGGA’s coaching team strives to help each individual player unlock his or her full potential on and off the course. BGGA-Golfuture International Golf Academy will let more Chinese children enjoy the highest-level training system in China. It is important to note that this international academy has not been established just to focus on improving technique. The goal of BGGA-Golfuture International Golf Academy is to be an incubation center to cultivate top players with global vision and transfer good players to national and international tournaments.