Hong Kong: Danny Lai has celebrated his first 100 days in office as the Hong Kong Golf Association (HKGA) Chief Executive Officer.
A veteran of the sports industry, Lai assumed the position vacated by Tom Phillips in mid-December.
Lai said: “I am extremely fortunate to have the support of an excellent Executive Committee and a team of highly motivated and professional staff.
“I hope to continue and build upon all the great work done by the HKGA up to now. 2016 was an exciting year for golf, with it returning to the Olympics, and it was even more exciting to have Tiffany Chan, a local-bred player from Hong Kong, competing in it. Yet this is only the beginning.
“I would like to thank our current sponsors who have been supporting our initiatives and sharing our beliefs. We at the HKGA will continue to do our utmost to serve the game, its players and all who follow it here.
“As a keen amateur golfer myself, it is an honour to be part of the HKGA professional team.
“I have to thank my wife who bought me my first set of clubs. Whenever I golfed in exotic places like Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, the Middle East, Nepal and Sri Lanka, I never dreamed that golf would one day become my career.”
Lai, who possesses degrees in Economics and Law, is well known in the local sporting community. He began his career in sport in 1989 with the then Jubilee Sports Centre which was later renamed as the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI).
During his 11 years at the HKSI he headed its commercial arm. At the time of his departure from the HKSI in 2000 he was the Commercial Operations Manager of the elite training centre and was responsible for generating over HK$18 million income a year for the athletes.
Lai then joined the Hong Kong Cricket Association (HKCA) as its first Chinese General Manager to head operations. He remained with the HKCA for 10 years and was involved in all the internationally popular Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes events during his time.
He accumulated extensive experience in large event management and sports development.
Alongside the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the International Cricket Council (ICC), Lai was also one of the major figures in bringing cricket into China in the last decade.
During his period in office, the HKCA successfully obtained funding from the Mega Event Fund, M Mark, the Sir David Trench Fund, the ACC and the ICC to facilitate its various events and development programmes.
When he stepped down in 2012, he was elected lifetime Vice President of the HKCA to honour his contributions to cricket in Hong Kong, a position he holds to this day.
Before joining the Hong Kong Golf Association, for three years Lai was General Secretary of the Hong Kong Amateur Hockey Club, the largest ice hockey league operator in Hong Kong.
He initiated a three-year development programme for more than 200 talented young players with a view to them becoming potential national players.
The programme, Generation Next, attracts HK$4.7 million funding from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.