Catching the bull by its horns

WORLD golf, hit be a series of setbacks, is going through a revolution. Golf clubs are closing, courses are being drastically cut down and there have been concerns about the long duration of the game.

In Singapore, from 12 mainstay clubs, it will be 10 next July with Jurong Country Club giving way to the North-South rail system and the impending closure of Raffles Country Club next year which will result on the loss of three 18-hole layouts.

In China, once an emerging power in golf, the progress has been checked because of the loss of courses due to the government's ruling that farm land and forest stretches be returned and some sites being used for industrial and building development.