Hong Kong Golf Club’s legacy of excellence continues at HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong

Established in 1889, the Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling stands as one of Asia’s oldest and most revered golf institutions. With more than 135 years of history, it has evolved into a cornerstone of professional golf, hosting more elite-level tournaments than any other club across Asia. For more than six decades, championship golf has been at the heart of HKGC. 

In addition to hosting HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong for the third consecutive season, the club has proudly hosted the Hong Kong Open every year since its inception in 1959, making it Hong Kong’s oldest professional sporting event and one of the continent’s most prestigious titles. Since 2023, the course has hosted an event in the Asian Tour’s International Series. 

Anthony Kim, who recently won LIV Golf Adelaide, summed up the challenge well. 

"It's one of the shorter courses we play but it's strategic," he said. "You have to pay close attention to every single shot." 

Nick Pugh, caddie for Ripper GC's Lucas Herbert, has deep familiarity with the course from his years on the circuit. 

"It's beautiful," Pugh said. "I've been coming here for years and years. I started out caddying here on the Asian Tour in Hong Kong with the old Hong Kong Open and it just has a real traditional feel to the golf course. It's more of an old school tree-lined layout. The golf course is short but it's not possible to overpower it. There's a lot of doglegs and precision is the key around this place."

The emphasis on accuracy over power perfectly captures what makes Fanling special. It's a thinking golfer's track where placement and strategy trump brute length, rewarding those who respect its classic design.

Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith knows the course well and has had success here, finishing as runner-up at LIV Golf Hong Kong in 2024 after falling just short in a playoff to Abraham Ancer. For Smith, the real test (and thrill) comes from the green complexes. 

“You've got a lot of putts that you don't really get anywhere else,” he said. “Some of the 10-footers around here are going to break 2 or 3 feet, which doesn't happen every week. I feel like when I'm creative and see the ball dripping in on the sides of the holes, it's a feeling that I like and almost gets me more kind of focused and more set before I hit the putts. Yeah, it just feels good around here.”

What really makes Hong Kong Golf Club stand out is its incredible staying power. Along with Augusta National, the iconic home of The Masters, it's one of just two golf clubs anywhere in the world that has hosted the same professional tournament for more than 60 consecutive years. Its remarkable longevity stands as proof of just how deeply tradition runs through every fairway and green at HKGC.

The course’s recognition also goes beyond the fairways. In 2023, the Fanling Golf Course picked up the Award of Distinction from the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. This honor celebrates the club's dedicated efforts to protect its one-of-a-kind landscape—think ancient trees, the peaceful Butterfly Garden and Tortoise Sanctuary, and those historic buildings—all while facing relentless pressure from the city's ever-expanding urban sprawl. It's a reminder that this place isn't just about golf; it's a living piece of heritage that's being thoughtfully preserved for future generations. 

Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm put it simply in his pre-tournament press conference: "I wish every week we played was a venue as fun as this one."

In a sport full of elite venues, that's high praise — and exactly why Hong Kong Golf Club endures.