In his new book, The Great Golf Courses of China, Robin Moyer showcases the best of China’s golf facilities, some twenty-nine in all. Moyer spent a year traveling China in search of these clubs and logged over 60,000 km by air and countless more on the road in order to report on nearly one-third of all the courses in China, among them Shanghai Silport and Tiger Beach Golf Links. Moyer, a professional photojournalist for over 35 years, can boast of an even longer golfing career: 50-plus years of hitting the little white ball. His knowledge of golf is complemented by a keen interest in Chinese history, hence the inevitability of this book.

Moyer introduces Silport by noting that the club is at the forefront of golf development in China. The Volvo China Open was held at Silport for the first time in 1999, and for six consecutive years thereafter. In 2007, Silport will again play host to the Volvo China Open, and has become known among enthusiasts as the event’s “spiritual home.”

He points out that Silport has made a great contribution to “the spirit of golf” in China. Due to the superb clubhouse and easy access from downtown Shanghai, Silport is a very popular venue for corporate golf outings, with a client roster that includes Merrill Lynch, Forbes, Martell, and BWM.

Moyer further describes Silport’s 36-hole course as excellent due to the fact that the course designer resisted the temptation to “mound up” the design. Instead, Silport offers subtle, side-to-side movement along fairways and greens that are slightly elevated and presented with foreshortening camouflage. The course at Silport has a good flow of holes, with fairway bunkers in just the right places, and no “tricked-up hanky panky.”