Golf bosses unfazed by China crackdown

New European Tour CEO Keith Pelley says China's ruling Communist Party banning its members from golf should be seen as a "positive".

Pelley said on Monday the decision to introduce new rules which ban "extravagant eating and drinking", "improper sexual relationships" and "playing golf", would help change perceptions of the game in the world's most populous nation.

"It was an incredibly positive decision, an incredibly positive move by the Chinese government and one incredibly supportive of the game," Pelley said at the HSBC Golf Business Forum in Shanghai.

The Communist Party has long had an ambivalent relationship with golf, which has been a lucrative opportunity for local authorities and a favoured pastime of some officials but also closely associated with Western elites.

Pelley believes the latest announcement reinforces the belief golf is for working people and not a preserve of the wealthy.

"Eighty per cent of the working class in China is who that announcement was targeted to and who actually want to participate in the game," Pelley said.

He admitted the announcement had initially surprised him, with the European Tour holding two of its "Final Four" series in China this week and next with the WGC-HSBC Champions and the BMW Masters both in Shanghai.

"I went, 'Oh, my word. What is this?'," he said.

"But within about an hour we heard from our people on the ground here that this will be seen from the people of China as a support to the game of golf."

Pelley added that there had been no slowdown in building new courses, despite widely publicised closures of 66 illegally built facilities in March as part of President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive.

"They're committed to building 5000 golf courses here for the public," Pelley added of the vast country that currently has around 600 courses. A decade ago there were fewer than 100.