To be sure, the sport in China, perhaps more so than anywhere in the world, is an elitist pursuit - a status symbol, like BMWs and Beaujolais, for the nation's nouveau riche. Zhou's ascension from peasant farmer to golf professional, while remarkable, is not entirely unusual in this early stage of China's golf experience. 22 golfer on China's three-year-old pro circuit, the Omega China Tour. In 2007, Zhou (his family name, pronounced similar to "Joe") is finishing up his fourth year as a golf instructor. Zhou landed a gig as a security guard at something called a "golf course." Things would never be the same. He left police school early and hopped on a train to Guangzhou after hearing there were jobs to be had in the southern boomtown.
Now 22, Zhou had still never heard the word "golf."Ī year later, Zhou made a move that would alter the course of his life in the most unexpected way. Four years in a row he went through the motions, and four years in a row he failed. He had spent the previous four years studying to pass the senior high school entrance exam - his parents had hoped he would be the first family member to do so - but schooling was never Zhou's strong suit. In 1994, when China first acknowledged "golf pro" as a profession, Zhou enrolled in a military-operated police school, trying to find direction in his life. He didn't know a sport called golf existed.
At home, Zhou worked in the fields, cutting tall grass with a sickle. At his school, light came from kerosene lamps, heat from a coal furnace in the middle of the classroom. In 1984, when China ushered in its first modern-day golf course, Zhou Xunshu was 12 years old, living in an impoverished mountain village in the country's midsection. Zhou makes remarkable leap into professional golf You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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