At 14 years old, Guan Tianlang will become the youngest-ever player at the Masters this week.
The 8th grader has an incredible individual story.
But his presence at Augusta is also an indication of the rising popularity of golf in China.
After being officially banned until 1984, courses are being built, upper-middle class people are playing, and the state is spending money on identifying young players.
China is on the edge of a golf boom, and Tianlang is at the center of it.
First of all, golf is in it's baby years in China. The sport was banned until 1984
Source: Telegraph
Golf was considered bourgeois by the communist government, while ping-pong was the peoples' sport
Source: Telegraph
But the birth of China's upper-middle class has spawned a golf boom. The number of courses has gone from 40 in 1990 to 580 today
Source: NY Times
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