Hong Kong SAR, China: The Hong Kong Golf Club (HKGC) will continue to align with Government policy while making the best use of the Old Course and the club’s resources and facilities to promote Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events.

The HKGC’s pledge came in the wake of news that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government has opted against appealing a court ruling that blocked a major public housing project on a section of the club’s Fanling site.

The decision came after the Court of Appeal upheld a lower court judgment that threw out the environmental approval previously granted for the housing development. 

In a statement released this morning, the HKGC said: “The Hong Kong Golf Club respects the decision of the HKSAR Government not to appeal against the judgment regarding the environmental impact assessment report for the development of public housing on part of the former Fanling Golf Course Site.

“The Club will continue to align with Government policy and Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan. Looking ahead, the Club hopes to deepen collaboration with the Government, making the best use of the Old Course and the Club’s resources and facilities to promote Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events.”

The long-running legal dispute centred on the environmental impact assessment report for the proposed housing site. 

Authorities said that they had decided against appealing after ‘holistically’ considering legal advice following the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the overturning of conditional approval for the construction of 12,000 flats on part of the golf course in Fanling.

According to a report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the ruling is likely to result in fresh public consultations over the development of the 9.5 hectares (23.5 acres) of land set aside for the project, which was initially slated for completion in 2029.

The plot was among the 32 hectares that the government had taken back from the 172-hectare golf course three years ago.

“Having holistically considered legal advice and conducted a cautious assessment, the government has decided not to appeal against the judgment,” said a government spokesman, adding that the judgment had clarified some important legal principles under Hong Kong’s environmental impact assessment process.

The clarifications included that authorities had to consider the nature of a case before deciding whether new information that updated the report should be mentioned in a follow-up consultation.

One of Asia’s most historic golfing venues, the HKGC has been home to the Hong Kong Open since the event’s inauguration in 1959.

It was announced last week that next year’s Hong Kong Open will return to the DP World Tour schedule for the first time since 2019 and will be co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour as part of a new tri-partite partnership, including the PGA Tour.

The Hong Kong Open was co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and Asian Tour 18 times in total after first featuring on the DP World Tour’s schedule in 2002.

*The Hong Kong Golf Club is a member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.