Shanghai, China: Representatives from China’s fast-growing auto industry took to the fairways at Shanghai Silport as Speed Weekly, the auto publication of the Shanghai Evening Post, hosted a tournament to celebrate its “hottest car brand award” ceremony.

China’s auto industry is undoubtedly the hottest market in the world as through the first half of 2003, about 998,000 cars were sold in the country, a 77 percent rise over the same period last year. The figure makes it well within the range of 1.8 million car sales being forecast in the country this year.

Participating in the “hottest brand” tournament were representatives from the Evening Post and top executives from Shanghai Volkswagen, the country’s dominant auto manufacturer with a 38 percent share of the market. Also attending were representatives of Shanghai General Motors, South Korean company KIA and BMW China, the luxury German automaker which will begin producing domestic cars later this year through its joint venture with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings.

A representative from Speed Weekly said the purpose of the event was to create a platform combining commerce and sport. As some of the participants were not familiar with golf Silport’s CityGolf professional Chen Xiaoma gave a clinic to the uninitiated, teaching the players the basics of how to swing a club, rules and etiquette.

On the course, Zhou Chaofeng of Shanghai Oriental proved to be the big winner of the day. In addition to capturing the long-drive contest, he was also named the low-gross champion with a score of 97.

Yang Shuhui of BMW China captured the ladies honor with a score of 101.