Guangzhou, China: The launch of the Asia Golf Congress has been placed on hold.
In a statement, the event’s organisers, Reed Guanghe, said: “When the idea of the Asia Golf Congress was conceived, to be launched at Mission Hills in Dongguan, the golf industry was anticipating the issue of new regulations that would assist the industry in charting a path towards the re-start of golf course development in China.
“Unfortunately, there is no clear date as to when these regulations will be released for implementation. This delay has caused those who are involved in the design, development and construction of golf courses to make the decision to put on hold efforts to promote their products and services in the China market.
“In light of this situation, Reed Guanghe has decided to do the following:

• The portions of the Asia Golf Congress programme that have been prepared and are designed to deal with golf course operations maintenance, environmental standards and water conservation will be added to the programme of the China Golf Industry Expo in Beijing in March 2016.

• While new golf course development remains on hold in China, it is well under way in other markets in Asia, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. In order to serve the market and Reed’s vendor partners, especially those involved in golf development master-planning, golf course design and construction, the decision has been made to postpone the Asia Golf Congress, gather further feedback from our customers, partners and key stakeholders and launch in another market where the golf course activity is currently robust.”

In the statement, Reed Guanghe thanked its industry partners including the PGA of America, Golf Course Builders Association of America, Golf Course Superintendent Association of America, R&A, American Society of Golf Course Architects, Asian Golf Industry Federation, Golf Environment Organisation and Mission Hills for their support and said it looked forward to announcing a new site and dates for the Asia Golf Congress in the coming months.