He was
particularly high on the Peter Thomson and Michael Wolveridge-designed
Gunung Geulis Country Club, a 36-hole layout where he was member.
The club, located about 60 kilometers outside of Jakarta in Bogor,
West Java, was carved out of the side of a mountain, 500 meters
above sea level.
Yang said it was never difficult to get a game in Jakarta as the
capital boasted 43 courses within an hours’ drive.
“I started playing golf when I was about 33 when I moved to
Indonesia in 1979. As a child in Taiwan, golf was something foreign
and the cost and accessibility at the time was far beyond the average
citizen,” he said.
“When I went to Indonesia, it went from very primitive to
grow, grow, grow, into a nice metropolitan. Then suddenly, it was
hit so hard by the 1997 (economic) crash. I remember 15 or 20 years
ago, we paid something like US$40,000 to US$60,000 for a golf club
membership. Now they are worth less than US$10,000.
“The quality of the golf courses, however, is very good. Bali
and Jakarta both have very nice courses and it is a safe place to
travel. My handicap is about 24 now but I was down to about 18 when
I was in Indonesia because I was playing twice a week.”
Yang said he had played various golf courses in Los Angeles, Hawaii,
Las Vegas, Japan and Taiwan and he enjoyed having a game with friends
wherever he was.
He was one of the early members of Shanghai Silport, joining the
club in November 1995.
“I have played all over the world and there are many good
clubs, but this is one of the best. Silport is challenging, the
view is good and it is professionally operated. The trees and flowers
are pretty and it’s like playing in a very nice garden.”
Away from the course, Yang is kept busy with the operation of Grandtour
Tyre, the mainland’s largest tyre manufacturer with an estimated
15 percent of the domestic market. It also exports tyres to more
than 70 countries from its five plants around the country.
It currently has plants in Heifei, Anhui Province, Fujian Province,
Yinchuan in Ningxia Autonomous Region and Heilongjiang Province.
Shanghai is home to its operation center, head office, sales office
and purchasing division.
“Now we are number one in China and we have a very aggressive
plan for this year and next year to have something like US$1.2 billion
in annual sales. Last year, we had about US$800 million in sales,”
Yang said.
To fuel the expansion, Reuters reported on March 30 that the company
planned to raise roughly US$400 million from an initial public offering
on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by the end of June.
Previously, the tyre maker fueled its expansion by buying existing
state-owned tyre manufacturers that Yang said made things much faster.
“What we got were operations that were set up and established.
What we did was adjust the structure, improve the quality and the
production equipment and implement some management arrangement.
Within three months we had product out,” he said.
“We will list on the stock market in Hong Kong very soon and
with the infusion of cash we can grow even bigger. We want to be
the biggest tyre maker in the world.”
As the company supplies tyres for trucks, motorcycles and cars to
about 40 automakers, Yang said they would purchase more plants in
future. It was also looking to purchase suppliers that were important
in raw materials for tyre manufacture, such as steel cord, carbon
black, nylon and polymerization.
Away from the business, Grandtour has sponsored pre-Formula One
and rally car race teams in past years. Undoubtedly, its profile
will be significantly raised in future years as it has entered into
a sponsorship of China’s first world-class motor racing team.
Last July, through an agreement with Shanghai International Circuit
Co and the Guangdong-based Formula Racing Development, the Shangsai
FRD Grandtour Tyre Team was established with the aim to become the
first Chinese F1 team.
Grandtour Tyre will sponsor the team to a tune of up to 75 million
yuan (about US$9 million) over a three-year period.
“This is one of our most important investments in public relations,”
Yang said. “We want to carry out the tyre’s brand name
but at the same time, help Chinese racing to develop. We want people
to know we are here.
“We have been a very successful company so we felt it was
important that we gave something back in return.”
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