Where Is The World's Largest Golf Facility?

Golf is one of the world's most popular sports, having more than 450 million fans mainly in Europe, North America, and Asia. Golf traces its roots to Scotland where it was first played in the 15th century and later spread all over the world. In modern times, golf is played in a specially designed location known as a golf course. Among the world’s famous golf courses is the Mission Hills Golf Club situated in Shenzhen, China. One of the reasons why the Golf course is famous is because it holds the Guinness World Record for being the largest golf course.

The Mission Hills Golf Club

The Mission Hills Golf Club is a golfing facility owned and operated by the Mission Hills Group. The facility was officially opened in 1992 and was recognized as the world's largest golf facility in 2004. The facility is situated in Guanlan town, and its construction in the area was highly controversial. The controversy was centered on how the land to establish the golf course was acquired since evidence indicated that it had been stolen from the residents of Songyuanxia village. Initially, the villagers had been led to believe that the government acquired their land to construct an orchard, but that was proven false once workers began building the golf course. Although there was massive evidence that the property had been acquired illegally, the government completely ignored the case.

Golf Courses In The World's Largest Golf Facility

The Mission Hills Golf Club attracts a large number of golf fans since it has 12 unique golf courses. Famous personalities in golf designed all of the courses at the Mission Hills Golf Club. Eleven of the courses on the Mission Hills Golf Club are considered championship courses since many tournaments can be played on the facility. Despite the golf course being located in China, Zhang Lian-We is the only Chinese designer to have designed a course at the club. Other designers who worked on courses at the Mission Hills Golf Club included Jack William Nicklaus who came up with the design for the World Cup Course and Theodore Ernest Els who designed the Els Course. The only female designer in the club's history was Annika Sörenstam from Sweden who designed the Annika Course.

Facilities At The Mission Hills Golf Club

Apart from the golf courses, the club also has several popular facilities such as a country club and golfing academy. The country club at the Mission Hills Golf Club is unique since it is the location of Asia's largest tennis center which has 52 courts and a stadium court where 3000 fans can watch a match. The Mission Hills Golf Club also has a spa, clubhouses and 5-star hotels. The Mission Hills Group also constructed the Mission Hill Centerville which was planned to host a hotel, apartments and a theater.

Famous People Who Have Played At The World's Largest Golf Facility

The facility has attracted famous golfers from around the world such as Tiger Woods and Annika Sörenstam. Apart from international golfers, the Mission Hills Golf Club has also attracted politicians, celebrities, and businesspeople around the world.