Close to our house is a golf course, the Hongqiao Golf Club, with a 9-hole course and a driving range. When we moved to our current compound I thought I would finally be able to play golf more regularly, but I did not play golf there once over the past 4 years… All my own fault, I was just too focused on work, but that will probably change. The reason is that Scott will now learn to play golf and today he had a short introductory lesson.

Upper level of driving range at Hongqiao Golf

We walked over with both kids this morning and they were excited to see all the golfers hitting golf balls from the 2-level driving range tees. We went to the upper level where the golf academy is located. It’s a school with some excellent PGA professionals and they also teach kids. We signed Scott up for 10 lessons and he immediately received a short introduction by one of the pros.

Elaine looking at her brother hitting a golf ball

Scott got a short iron (these short kids golf clubs look cute!) to hit his first balls with, then got a quick instruction from a pro and within 5 minutes he was hitting his first balls. Elaine was watching him and seemed to like it as well. But because she is only 3 we want to wait at least another year for her to start playing.

If you are in Shanghai and like to play golf, the course is on Hongmei Lu (entrance just south of City Supermarket), more info see here.
If you want to brush up on your golf skills or send your kids here check out the golf academy at www.qiuyigolf.com. It’s not cheap though, because this is the closest golf course to downtown Shanghai. Prices start at RMB 680 (USD 110) per hour for a Chinese professional and RMB 880 (USD 140) for a PGA coach. If you buy 10 lessons and prepay you get about 20% off, other packages are also available.