Vice president of the Golf Association of Hong Kong Kenneth Lam is on Straight Talk this week.

He talks about the importance of golf in developing Hong Kong in terms of general public interest, as well as commercial interest, and what it takes to build on the success and growing support.

Check out the full transcript of TVB’s Straight Talk host Dr Eugene Chan’s interview with Kenneth Lam:

Chan: Good evening, and welcome to Straight Talk. I'm Eugene Chan. Our guest this evening is Kenneth Lam, the current Vice President of the Golf Association of Hong Kong, China. Lam is the past president of the association, and was Hong Kong's golf team leader at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He has also been chairing the Hong Kong Golf Club’s Championship Committee since 2014 which is responsible for organizing all our top international events, including the upcoming Hong Kong Open, LIV Golf Hong Kong, the Aramco Team Series, which is why we have asked him to share with us on Hong Kong as an international golfing destination. Welcome again, Kenneth!

Lam: Thank you, Eugene! Thanks for having me.

Chan: Ken, you were on the show about three years ago in 2021 just after you returned from leading our golf team at the Tokyo Olympics. Today, we are at a very special golfing venue that you have kindly arranged for us. Maybe I'll let you tell the viewers about where we are and why this place is so special.

Lam: Thanks for being at the home of the Hong Kong Open. We've been running the Hong Kong Open since 1959 and where we are, we are overlooking the 18th green and the fairway of the championship. A lot of drama has taken place right here, because it is a very challenging hole. For example, one of the most popular champions and golfers, Miguel Jimenez, has said that this is the best finishing hole in golf as a very experienced professional.

Chan: Why is it very challenging?

Lam: You can see there's a very narrow fairway, so you need to hit a good first, you know, tee shot. Depending on the risk level you want to take, it can be shorter or longer. And of course, if you hit it longer and straight, then you will have the easiest shot to the green. And on championship Sunday, we usually have the pin tugged right behind me on the front, right of the green, so you will be rewarded ... you can be rewarded for a good shot. But any errors could be, it could be in the bunker, or you could roll into the water.

Chan: Really?

Lam: Yes.

Chan: You also told me earlier, before we start the show, that this course is very special. The same opening has been running here for quite some time.

Lam: Yes, it has been since 1959. As a matter of fact, we've been doing this for more than 60 years every year consecutively. According to the record that we've seen, it's only us and the Masters at the Augusta National would have this distinction of having the same professional event at the same venue for over 60 years. For example, say the US Open, the British Open. They can have it every year, but they would take place at different courses.

Chan: Right. So, why is this Hong Kong Open such a special event on our Hong Kong golfing calendar?

Lam: If they say the history and tradition, I think it also says a lot about our commitment and our love for golf. And we would love to use golf to promote Hong Kong and to promote sports in general.

Chan: Ken, since you have been the chairman of the club's Championship Committee since 2014, what other international events have been held at this golf course?

Lam: Well, you have mentioned that for the LIV Golf coming to Hong Kong, which is a very significant international event they have chosen to host it here. We are also on the ladies side of the Aramco Team Series. We also have our own Hong Kong Ladies Open, but that's only on the professional side. But more importantly, over the years, we also host a lot of events on the amateur side, including some of the biggest amateur tournaments in the world, for example, the World Amateur Team Championship, that would involve basically all countries around the world to come here.

Chan: Ken, since you mentioned all those big names events, as we had LIV Golf last year, it has attracted a lot of attention. Why did they choose Fanling as the venue? I understand there are other golf courses in Hong Kong as well. Why in particular Fanling?

Lam: Well,  to answer that, maybe a follow-up, you know, on what you have, and you have mentioned, we are about to host the national game golf event, you know, for the GBA Edition 2025 here as well. It’s chosen to be the value because we have the experience in doing so. But really, frankly, in terms of the people behind it, we just have a lot of heritage, history and a lot of ambition, commitment to run good golfing events, and we want to use the golf to promote sports, and we want to use golf to promote Hong Kong.

Chan: When you want to promote Hong Kong, I mean, like LIV Hong Kong, it's different to normal golf events. It's got sort of an entertainment section, family section, etc, etc. So, is it the reason why they need such a big venue? Because in Hong Kong, we have others like Kau Sai Chau, we have the golf course at the Shek O. We have one in Clearwater Bay and one in Lantau Island. Why can't they have those events over there as well?

Lam: Well, I would think because, personally, because of the experience, and I also want to emphasize that, you know, in Hong Kong, we are very thankful towards all the stakeholders allowing us to use their premises, including Clearwater Bay, Discovery Bay, Kau Sai Chau and Shek O. But they are all … there are all kinds of different reasons in terms of logistics, again, in terms of the experience, you know, of hosting events. That's why this place has been chosen. And, if I may say, you mentioned the innovation of LIV Golf, which I think is something very good for the golf scene as a whole. And it brings the different elements, but it is the same kind of mentality that we would like to seek improvements. For example, for this year's edition of the Hong Kong Open because we have a new title sponsor LINK that has interests in all the 18 districts in Hong Kong, every hole we would be every hole in tournament, 18 holes would be named after a district in Hong Kong, images of the district will be the showcase in every hole and will be showcased around the world.

Chan: Well, that's a very good start for more Hong Kong, for the 18 districts happen to be 18 holes as well.

Lam: Well, if I may, it's actually … the event is broadcast to 130 countries and regions, and the viewership is 650 million people, and it's over four days. And a lot of times it's live, right? So, we are basically, you know, showing the best of Hong Kong to the rest of the world consistently.

Chan: Right. I'm sure that when they live … when the Hong Kong Open is on the coming weekend, I'm sure you want people to come to watch it. How easy is it for people to access Fanling as compared to Kau Sai Chau or even Clear Water Bay?

Lam: Well, I think you would know the answer. For example, the two venues that you mentioned, probably ferries would be the best access, you know, to the courses. Each day, we have about 15,000 spectators, especially on the weekends. So, you can imagine that the traffic, and the logistics support is very demanding and important. And we have to take into account safety measures as well.

Chan: So, people, you have spectators walking along the course as well. So that makes Fanling a sort of obvious choice for Hong Kong, isn't it? As compared to other cities in the world, does Hong Kong have enough golf courses?

Lam: Well, we have about seven and a half million people, and we have, frankly, less than 10, 18-hole golf courses. And we do a lot ... And by way of quick comparison, for example, our neighbor Singapore, which also has a lot of ambition, they have less people, about 4.5 to 5 million people. They have 20 courses. And let me give you an extreme example, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland combined, also about 7 million people. They have more than 400 golf courses.

Chan: 400?

Lam: Yes.

Chan: Well, so Hong Kong has done very well, given the so few number of courses we have, because we know that we have a female golfer, Tiffany Chan, who has been to the Olympics twice, and another young star, Taichi Kho, has done pretty well. So, given the very few number of golf courses and also our population, will you say we have done very well?

Lam: Well, I think we have done quite well together with a lot of the initiatives, the promotions by the government along the way, it’s a good example of public and private partnership. So, from youth development to cultivating our athletes, to staging international tournaments, to be quite honest, wherever we go, the world, international golfing community hold us in high regards.

Chan: One question before we go to the break, are we seeing any growing number of people participating or joining golf as a game?

Lam: On a worldwide basis, the numbers are growing. It is one of the most ... top 10 most popular sports being watched or being played, and it’s still growing. And in Hong Kong, I think we are limited a little bit by the facilities, driving ranges as well golf courses, but if we have more assets, I'm very sure that the game will grow.

Chan: Let's take a break now but the viewers stay with us. We will be right back.

Chan: Thank you for staying with us. Mr. Kenneth Lam from the Golf Association of Hong Kong, China, is our guest this evening, and we have been talking about Hong Kong as an international golf destination. So Ken, you have explained to us why the Fanling Golf Course is sort of special, and how important the Hong Kong Open is, especially as sort of attracting international players coming to play here over the last 60 years. Let's move on to Hong Kong in general. We know that the government has spent HK$7.9 billion on sports development in this year, 2024-2025, more than double compared to a decade ago. How would you see that helping the development of sports in Hong Kong?

Lam: Well, this is very encouraging. The government has all along, at least for the past 10 years, firmly has the policy of popularizing sports, cultivating all the international players, and staging international events. And lately, there are two additional directives of professionalizing the sports, and also the industrializing and commercializing, meaning to bring the private sector even closer to supporting golf. Those things are very important, both from the financial aspect of things, and also accumulating the resources to put things together.

Chan: Right, I have also read that out of the HK$7.9 billion, about HK$941 million will be allocated to the Hong Kong Institute of Sports. From the golfing perspective, how is that paying off that amount of money paying to the institute, in terms of training our athletes? Do you think that is the right direction?

Lam: It is very important that we have the necessary resources. But if you think about it, HK$900-something million, for quite a number of sports under the Sports Institute, it still requires a lot of efforts from the private sector to work together. For golf, we are tremendously grateful that we are going to be included as a tier-A sports in the next cycle, owing to the results that we have achieved. And those are benchmarks set by the Sports Institute in allocating resources. This is very important because we will be exposed to more support, not only directly for the tournaments, golfers on a day-to-day basis, but also the training, the sports science support, the psychological part, and just opening up to more support and resources.

Chan: Right, I think by listening to you, I want to make this comment to you. Because of all the resources by the government, especially also from the private sector, I am sure the golfing society, community, also do a lot of work, out of this 7.5 million population with so few golf courses, we have done so well now, and even be included in the National Games. So, we must be, or we should be, very proud, shouldn't we?

Lam: Oh, absolutely, we should be very proud. And I think it is also probably the reason why when we stage tournaments like this, we can find people to sponsor us. And for example, the Hong Kong Open, we have started with the Hong Kong Golf Club as the underwriter of the events. And by the way, a tournament like this would require something like HK$50 million to stage. And it is even more for LIV Golf, but we don't have to underwrite that bill. But on top of that, for example, we need commercial sponsorships. And this year, we have a commercial sponsor signing up to a multi-year contract. So it is very encouraging that we have more private sector involvement.

Chan: Right, if that being the case, that means there will be a lot of corporate sponsorship, and that means a lot of sort of telecast coverage by different countries. We will be able to see Hong Kong as a golfing destination.

Lam: Absolutely. And our TV coverage is very important to us. And of course, each of our sponsors would also use their best endeavors to promote Hong Kong golf and Hong Kong, together with the brand.

Chan: So, let's move even further back now. Hong Kong has done very well recently in the Olympics, even Asian Games. However, I’m sure you being a parent yourself, you've got kids, people still treat academic results as very important as compared to their sporting achievements. What would you say to the parents?

Lam: Well, firstly, Eugene, I think the attitude has changed, and I think parents now all want to cultivate their children as global citizens. And sports, culture, those are very important aspects. And for golf, parents actually love the sport. We, actually before kids can get on the course, they will have to learn the proper etiquette, safety measures, and a lot of discipline, and this goes hand in hand in how they should achieve their academic career, as well as their approach in life. We actually have a lot of good feedback from the parents, in terms of how golf can cultivate the kids in line, especially with our Chinese culture.

Chan: Right. Since you are definitely a promoter of golf, since you are on the show and we have government officials watching us all the time, what would be your suggestions to the Hong Kong government that will be sort of a very efficient but having a very high KPI, in terms of promoting Hong Kong as a golf hub or actually as a sports hub?

Lam: Well, obviously, we have to look at the numbers of how the outreach is, and how many more local golfers that we cultivate. But I would urge the government to work even harder with us to build the golfing pyramid that I call, to have a wider base of participations. So, with a wider base of participations, then we have a better chance of getting our top athletes and better chance of staging top tournaments.

Chan: Right. So, Ken, amongst the viewers, we have got people of different backgrounds, and I am sure some of them will say to us golf is often seen as an elite sport. And we had Andy Kwok here also last year, he told us we have over 100,000 golfers in Hong Kong. So, what have your association or the club done in terms of increasing the base or increasing exposure so that more people will be able to enjoy this game?

Lam: Eugene, I briefly mentioned that, you know, we are sometimes limited by the hardware that we have. So, it is a challenge to grow the game. To grow the game, I think we have to work even harder within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, so that we have more assets to the courses and driving ranges. I firmly believe that there is a lot of interest in Hong Kong. And I think getting the private sector involved is important. And maybe one suggestion is to say that, this is not only for the golf, but I would urge the government to consider giving tax breaks, just like the tax break, the tax deduction that we have for the charitable donations. If those sponsorships are going into the qualified events or the tournaments or programs, the private sector sponsoring should also receive some incentives. So, in this way, I think the private-public cooperation will grow, and will put us even more firmly on the world map.

Chan: Right. Ken, since you have done so much for the golfing scene, I think you are the best person to answer me this last question I am going to bring up. Hong Kong's golf has gone a long way, until today we even have the LIV Hong Kong here, we have got people played in the Olympics. What will be your future aspiration of the golfing scene in Hong Kong if everything goes with your wish? But keep in mind, we have got other neighboring cities, like Singapore and other ASEAN countries, they are also eyeing on this big project of golf. What would you do?

Lam: Well, thanks for the question. It is really encouraging. Ten years ago, we were probably just a frequent participant in the tournaments and international events. And now, for example, Taichi won the Asian Games individually, and the team won bronze. Recently, in the World University Championship, we won bronze as well. On the ladies' side, our players are winning some significant regional tournaments, as well as going to the US, winning some of the equivalent World Junior Championships. Those are all very encouraging, and I hope that this is going to cultivate our next generation of winners, champions, for National Games, for the Asian Games, and also for the Olympics.

Chan: You know, recently we have a Chinese player winning Olympics Gold in the ladies' open, We have our Cheung Ka-long winning fencing, and Vivian Kong also in fencing. Do you envisage one day that we have a golfing champion coming from Hong Kong?

Lam: Yes, for sure. And just to give some references, for the last three Olympics, on the ladies' side, Feng Shanshan won bronze in Rio, and Janet Lin Xiyu just won in the Olympics, a bronze medal. And they are both Guangdong natives, and they have also been playing at Fanling in Hong Kong for many years, before they turned professional, in a very good collaboration between Guangdong and Hong Kong. So, it has shown that within this region, we have the talents.

Chan: Thank you, Kenneth. I am wishing you all the best to your golfing profession. With world-class facilities, government support, and iconic events like the Hong Kong Open, our city is indeed well-positioned to be an international golfing destination. Thank you for joining us and have a great evening.