Leaderboard Golf’s Chinese connections
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Leaderboard Golf, which owns and operates some of the best-known golf courses across the South of England, is to teach Mandarin to staff members and caddies.
It is the first UK sporting organisation of its type to attempt to woo the burgeoning Chinese tourist market and acknowledge mainland China’s position as the fastest-growing international territory for golf.
From this month, key staff at Leaderboard’s Courses – Chart Hills (Kent), Sandford Springs (Hampshire), Dale Hill (East Sussex), and The Oxfordshire – will receive tuition from linguistics guru Paul Noble, whose unique conversation-based, paper-free language-learning method was recently launched by Collins Language.
Leaderboard will also be adding Chinese language pages to its new site at www.leaderboardgolf.co.uk
Noble will provide key Leaderboard staff with a grounding in Mandarin conversational structures and greetings, as well as phrases more specific to the game of golf.
A particular focus will be on training at the Leaderboard courses with hotels – The Oxfordshire and Dale Hill.
Example phrases to be taught include:
“What’s your handicap?” – “Qing wen nin de pingjun meichang ganshu shi duo shao?”
“Wouldn’t a 9 iron be more appropriate?” – “Yong jiutie hui bu hui bijiao shihe ne?”
“Excellent shot, sir!” – “Da de hao!”
Paul Gibbons, Chairman of Leaderboard Golf (and co-founder and former owner of AutoTrader Magazine), explains the rationale behind the initiative: “The Chinese have developed a love for golf and in a tough economic climate when British golf courses are fighting hard to get new members, we felt it logical to reach out to this new tourist group and make it clear that they are welcome at our courses.
“This is more than a symbolic gesture: British businesses of all types should welcome the opportunities that are presented by the new visitors, and, though there are some fantastic new golf courses in China, we want the Chinese to understand that nothing can come close to playing a round in the UK, the country that invented the sport.”
