Top 10 Golf Courses in China
China's golf story is one of the most dramatic in the sport's history. From a few dozen courses in the early 1990s, the country grew to host thousands of layouts by the 2010s — an explosion of construction driven by developer-led resort communities, international investment, and a rising middle class that associated golf with status and modernity. In 2015, the Chinese government halted new course construction and ordered the closure of many layouts deemed to be on protected land or in violation of water-use regulations. Hundreds of courses were shuttered. What remains is a more consolidated, if still very substantial, industry clustered around Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hainan island, and the major inland cities. The courses that survived the cull tend to be the better-maintained and more legitimately sited properties.
1. Shanghai Sheshan International Golf Club, Shanghai
Shanghai Sheshan is China's most celebrated course and has hosted the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament since 2005, making it the country's most scrutinised layout in professional terms. Designed by the Japanese architect Nelson and Haworth, the course climbs through the Sheshan hillside southwest of Shanghai with significant elevation change unusual for the Yangtze Delta. The conditioning demanded by WGC standards is maintained year-round, and the course is accessible to visitors with resort hotel connections. The par-five 18th, played downhill to a green in front of the clubhouse, is one of the more exciting closing holes on the Asian circuit.
2. Mission Hills Shenzhen, Guangdong
Mission Hills near Shenzhen holds a world record for the number of holes operated on a single property — twelve courses, with various names given to each layout. The signature course from this vast complex is the World Cup Course, a Jack Nicklaus design that hosted the World Cup of Golf in 1995 and 2000. Other notable layouts on the property were designed by Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Vijay Singh, and several other player-designers of the 1990s and 2000s. The resort includes hotels, a convention centre, and spa facilities on a scale that has no equivalent in golf anywhere.
3. Spring City Golf and Lake Resort (Mountain Course), Kunming
Spring City in Kunming, Yunnan Province, sits at approximately 1,900 metres above sea level, and the altitude adds meaningful distance to shots while the year-round mild climate of Kunming — the 'City of Eternal Spring' — makes it one of the most comfortable places to play golf in China. The resort hosts two courses: the Mountain course and the Lake course, both designed by Jack Nicklaus. The Mountain course, in particular, uses the volcanic terrain of the Yunnan plateau with precision, and the combination of altitude, scenery, and climate makes Spring City a genuine destination for visiting golfers.
4. Mission Hills Haikou, Hainan Island
The second Mission Hills complex, on Hainan Island in the South China Sea, is even larger than the Shenzhen original and adds tropical setting to the massive-scale formula. Hainan is China's only truly tropical island and the government has invested heavily in developing it as a destination resort zone. The courses at Mission Hills Haikou include layouts by Nicklaus, Norman, Pete Dye, David Leadbetter, and others. The Blackstone course, co-designed by Brian Curley, has hosted the China Ladies Open and is considered among the best resort courses on the island.
5. Shenzhen Golf Club, Guangdong
The Shenzhen Golf Club, one of the oldest in the Pearl River Delta area, predates the resort development that transformed the region and retains a more classic club identity than the massive resort complexes that dominate regional golf. The course has hosted Chinese domestic tournaments and serves the established business community of Shenzhen, where golf connections to Hong Kong business culture remain strong. Private.
6. OCT Shenzhen Golf Club, Shenzhen
The OCT (Overseas Chinese Town) club in Shenzhen is associated with one of the largest cultural and real-estate development groups in China and offers a course that has benefited from the investment resources of a major corporation. The layout is maintained to a standard consistent with the group's emphasis on prestige amenities and has been a regular venue for domestic corporate events and competitions.
7. Genzon Golf Club, Shenzhen
Genzon in Shenzhen is a Nicklaus-designed facility that has hosted the Shenzhen International and other events on the Asian Tour. The course plays through varied terrain with the river and mountain scenery of the Pearl River Delta providing context, and the Nicklaus design pedigree delivers strategic variety and consistent quality. Resort hotel facilities support visiting golfers.
8. Beijing Country Golf Club, Beijing
The Beijing Country Golf Club, in the northern suburban ring of Beijing, is one of the capital's more established private clubs and serves the diplomatic and business community that has surrounded the city's golf scene since the market-opening era of the late 1980s. The course occupies parkland terrain with the hillier landscape to the north of the city providing some natural character. Playing conditions are best in spring and autumn; Beijing's summer humidity and winter cold compress the comfortable season.
9. Tianjin Golf Club, Tianjin
Tianjin Golf Club, in the port city sixty kilometres east of Beijing, is among the better-regarded clubs in the Beijing-Tianjin region and has served the foreign business community of Tianjin since the city's emergence as a major industrial and free-trade zone. The course plays flat — the North China Plain does not offer the topographic drama of Shanghai's Sheshan or Yunnan's Spring City — but the conditioning is professional and the course provides a solid round for golfers based in the region.
10. Guangzhou Luhu Golf Club, Guangzhou
Guangzhou's Luhu Golf Club, in the urban parkland of the Luhu area, is one of the city's most established courses and has historical significance as one of the first clubs in Guangdong Province accessible to international visitors during the early reform period. The course has hosted domestic events and provides a reliable, if not spectacular, parkland experience in one of China's most economically dynamic cities. The adjacency to Guangzhou's urban centre and transportation links makes it accessible for business visitors.
China's golf climate varies dramatically by region. Hainan is playable year-round in tropical conditions. Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta offer best play in spring and autumn; summer is hot and humid, winter cold. Yunnan's Spring City is genuinely year-round due to its altitude and latitude. Beijing and northern courses are closed or uncomfortable from November through March. Open the map to find courses across China's vast territory and plan your tee times.