Booming time for golf

Thanks to the influence of star players as well as the growing public awareness of fitness, female participation in golf as a recreational and social activity has been on the rise in China.

At the Buick Championship, a professional Ladies European Tour tournament held earlier this month in Shanghai, a pro-am team event during the final two rounds with professional golfers paired with female amateurs playing for a team title - stole the limelight from the main competition.

The event marked the first time that amateurs competed side-by-side with professional stars on the tour while presenting a glimpse of golf's popularization among urban women in China.

"The flourishing of women's tournaments in recent years shows that the number of female participants in the game has enjoyed a sharp rise. Golf is no longer a game that only belongs to men and the rich," says Wang Liwei, vice-chairman of Chinese Golf Association.

According to the association, there are 21 professional female tournaments, 27 women's amateur events and 33 junior competitions scheduled in China on the 2015 calendar.

"Females practicing golf at commercial clubs in major cities is nothing new nowadays, as we can tell from their active registration to play competitively at our tournaments," Wang adds. Chinese stars' groundbreaking performances at the international level has also inspired more women to pick up golf clubs.

Once an obscure golfer, Feng Shanshan became a sensation in China after winning the 2012 Ladies Professional Golf Association Championship, becoming the first player from the Chinese mainland to win a prestigious major golf title.