Hong Kong ‘risks losing chance to host Aramco Team Series golf tournament if it presses ahead with public housing plan’
- Aramco Team Series championship director says building on part of Old Course in Fanling could make site less attractive for future events
- Three-day LIV golf event held in Adelaide in April forecast by organisers to generate economic benefits of more than US$70 million, Vicky Jones adds
Hong Kong risks losing the chance to host a Saudi Arabia-backed golf tournament if it presses ahead with building public housing on a section of its oldest course, the event organiser has warned.
The city is scheduled to host the Aramco Team Series (ATS) in October, but championship director of the tournament Vicky Jones said it might be moved to another city if the facility changed significantly.
“The Hong Kong Golf Club is currently the only venue in the city that has the facilities to stage the events of the scale of the forthcoming Aramco Team Series,” she told a public hearing of Hong Kong’s Town Planning Board.
Jones also warned that the city could risk losing millions of dollars in economic benefits if it misses out on an opportunity to host one of the LIV golf circuit’s 14 tournaments in 2024.
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According to Jones, the three-day LIV event held in Adelaide, Australia, in April generated an estimated US$70 million (HK$548.8 million). She is also the championship director of LIV Golf in Singapore.
Jones told the media after the board meeting it was “extremely likely” that future tournaments would look at other locations if Hong Kong’s housing plan went ahead.
The hearing follows the government’s decision on June 5 to change the zoning for a proposal to build 12,000 homes on part of the Old Course to “undetermined” to give the city more time to amend the housing density, as requested by environmental authorities.
The golf circuit could be the second event backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to be held in Hong Kong, after the ATS event.
Jones warned that setting aside 32 hectares (79 acres) from the 172-hectare course for redevelopment would halt the city’s bid to host the tournament next year.
“[Losing the 32 hectares] would significantly impact Hong Kong’s ability to host large-scale professional golf tournaments. And it would also put an end to any chance of hosting a LIV event,” she said.
Jones said any reduction in the size of the course would affect parking space, as well as the capacity for organising side activities and hosting VIPs.
At Monday’s hearing, Asian Tour CEO Cho Minn Thant said Hong Kong was a very important destination for the men’s professional golf tour, adding that losing part of the course to redevelopment would be “very detrimental” for the future of the sport in the region.
Hong Kong Golf Club captain Andy Kwok Wing-leung said the site was an “icon to showcase Hong Kong’s status as an international city” and hosting such prominent events could help connect businesses and sports leaders from around the world.
“Why can’t we find a substitute for housing? It is impossible to find a substitute for the Fanling golf course,” he said.
The government will take back the 32-hectare Old Course in September, including a nine-hectare site for housing and the remaining for conservation and recreational uses.
What next for controversial plan to build housing on Hong Kong golf course?
The club will still have 140 hectares of land, including two 18-hole courses plus 10 holes for a third course on 67.5 hectares of land.
District planning officer Anthony Luk Kwok-on from the Planning Department on Monday said the club still had enough land to host tournaments, and the government could offer the areas that would not be used for housing to organisers of international tournaments in the future.
Former planning director Ling Kar-kan also said the club could lay out proposals for holding large-scale events on the remaining areas instead of blaming the redevelopment plan for “killing” the golf course.
“Isn’t the golf club responsible for the dichotomy? … The club still has a few years to rearrange,” Ling said.
He dismissed using alternative sites as any new development plan would involve lengthy procedures and relocating occupants from newly selected areas.
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“There is no quick immediate solution. Even if we find one, we should urge the government to implement it as well so that we have an additional flat supply,” he explained.
Ling also opposed the government’s decision to rezone the proposed housing site, saying it would create delays and increase the burden on town planning professionals who were needed to implement the city’s two megaprojects in the coming years.
Advisory panel backs public housing development on Hong Kong’s oldest golf course
The original plan to build 12,000 flats on part of the course was expected to be a short to medium-term source of land and completed by 2029, with authorities saying amending the housing plan would delay it by two years.
Government figures showed the average waiting time for a Hong Kong public rental flat was 5.3 years.
The Town Planning Board has scheduled at least five meetings to gather feedback on the housing proposal. The board, a statutory body that assesses land applications, received 6,788 responses from the public last year, with an overwhelming 99.6 per cent against the plan.
