This Associated Press story caught my eye last night because it is in such stark contrast to the explosion of golf courses in the United States.  The Chinese government is currently surveying the country to identify golf courses that have been constructed illegally on land that is intended for other uses.

Construction has been occurring at such a rapid pace that the government doesn't even know the number of courses in the country.  But, the AP reported a 2015 estimate of some 2700 courses - up from zero in 1984 and 500 at present.

It boils down to a land problem.  China has 1.3 billion people in it, compared to some 330 million here in the United States, and needs all the land it can get.

Golf is very elitist in China, as well, considering that an average round of $150 is approximately the monthly income of the normal Chinese factory family.

There are some 3 million golfers in China, which is obviously a very small percentage of the population.  That is one golf course for every six thousand golfers.  Compare that to the United States, which has nearly 16,000 courses for some 29 million golfers (from the National Golf Federation).  That leaves US golfers with a ratio of 1812 players to one course.

To put the Chinese construction into some further perspective, the golf facility count in the United States increased by some 3200 facilities between 1990 and 2005 - the peak of the trend.

Though the US has approximately 90,000 more square miles of land than China, there are approximately four times the number of people competing for Chinese space.  That requires more land for agriculture and domiciles.

Using the US as a baseline for the future growth of golf in China, one might expect that the number of golf courses there could top out at some 4000 - one-fourth of the number here - in order to preserve needed land.