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Going Pro

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As the Venetian Macao Open continues to grow in profile, the game of golf itself is becoming more popular in the city.  And of course with each new casino resort that opens, comes more executives and professionals who are used to using golf not just as a way of relaxing, but also networking.  But despite this, and the fact that there are two golf courses in Macau, if you want to find high quality gear here in town, there are not many places to go.
 
This was the main reason local golf enthusiast Joe Liu decided to open his very own golf pro shop in Macau, Professional Golf Macau, around two years ago.  After studying in the UK for many years, he returned to Macau to work and decided to take up golf primarily as a way to get to meet new people.
 
“I’ve only been playing since I came back to Macau about four years ago.  I should have taken it up while I was in the UK, but at that time I only played football because I’m a hard core football fan,” he says. 
 
“I’d played football all my life but eventually I had too many injuries and operations, to the point that I couldn’t really continue. I picked up golf for one reason only at the time and that was for work and networking.”
 
Joe, who is also the director of MOME Media and Marketing, quickly developed a passion for the game though, and within two years he was opening his own pro store, together with qualified ‘Class A’ clubmaker and club fitter, Joey Chan.
 
“I actually started off being Joey’s customer in Hong Kong and I realized how good he was. People would come from China and around the world to seek his advice about the latest clubs.  Fortunately I was able to persuade him to come to Macau and become a partner in the business.”
 
And as an avid golfer trying to get better, there were obvious advantages to owning his own pro shop.
 
“For me it was a great incentive to improve,” admits Joe. “I had access to golf professionals, professional gear, and people to talk to. But the main reason for opening the shop was more about promoting the sport in Macau and getting more people playing. It has also helped me to form a very good social circle, so in that aspect it’s been very successful.”
 
Joe admits that the market for professional golf equipment in Macau is small and the business is by no means a “cash cow”, but he nonetheless believes there is a real demand for this type of shop, especially as golf becomes more and more popular.
 
“Playing golf in Hong Kong takes nearly a whole day because you have to travel to the club, arrange a tee time, and wait for the other teams in front of you, and then each game takes about five hours,” he notes.  “But in Macau the club is just a ten-minute drive away so you can actually play a game early in the morning, and then be back in the office by 10.”
 
“As a golfer in Macau we are very lucky, so despite the fact that it’s a small market, there’s a lot of golf going on.”
 
And it’s not just local players who come to his shop.  He also has a good base of customers from Mainland China.
 
“There are a lot of Mainland Chinese visitors who also try to catch a game when they come here if they can because they love golf,” says Joe.  “Playing in Macau is actually much cheaper than in China. Buying equipment in China is also expensive and there are a lot of non-genuine products, so you don’t always know what you are getting.  And the level of professionalism of the shops is not as high, so you don’t always get a very experienced pro who can really advise you on how to improve.”
 
At the time Joe set up his shop, there were no dedicated golf pro shops in Macau.  There were stores where you could get off-the-rack brand name products, but nowhere that could customize to individual requirements.
 
“Joey Chan is a qualified club fitter and we have a golf simulator with sensors, which can detect your weight distribution, how your body rotates, how you swing and transfer your weight and carry through,” explains Joe.
 
“You can really see how each club behaves, where the club head is, how fast it’s moving, where the impact point is when you hit the ball, what sort of spin you are generating, the speed of the spin, speed of the ball – it’s absolutely accurate.”
Depending on each person’s weight, height and swing speed, the technology measures what club is most suitable for each individual.  
 
“We can determine the best club head size, profile, shaft length, how much it bends, how heavy it is, different grips, every single small detail and then we can make it. It was a big capital investment but we believe in the technology.  A lot of pros use it and we are the only ones in Macau who have it, so it helps us differentiate ourselves,” Joe adds.
 
The shop also sells off-the-rack equipment specializing in premium items, straight from the factory.
 
“We also do a lot of hand crafted Japanese brands which are always more luxurious, better quality and better performance.”
 
 
 Av. do Ovidor Arriaga No 16, Hou Yuen Rés-Do-Chão B, Macau  |   Ph: +853 2877 0877
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