Industrial building revitalized into golf-lovers’ stronghold

Football pitches, baseball fields and skating rinks have gradually found their places inside local industrial buildings over the past few years under the 2011 public initiative to revamp the structures.
Some local golf enthusiasts have contributed over MOP3 million towards creating indoor golf driving ranges in the northern part of the city packed with aged industrial blocks, with the aim of popularizing the sport among locals.
More than just a training ground for golfers to brush up on their swing, the 3,700 square-
foot venue, where its owner Champion Sports kicked off its trial operation last December, is also devoted to selling homemade golf products, together with equipment fabricated by international brands. “We hope to create a Macau golf brand, like a series of products. Besides, there’s a need to test those golf clubs and balls in a place, to see whether or not they fit your personal needs” said Victor Wu, CEO of the sporting product provider.
Under the region’s existing laws which regulate activities that can be carried out inside urban properties, Wu acknowledged that their business ambition had been met with multiple restrictions before it came to reality, which finally compromised the company’s initial plan to open a public “golf course” inside the block. Currently, golfers are required to subscribe to the firm’s membership in order to be entitled to make use of the facilities available on the premises, which is the only way by which the business operators could keep their passion alive.
“Here’s not a public driving range but a sports goods company. We chiefly sell products. We can’t rent out our place to the public, which is illegal,” said Wu. “It’s an issue of licensing.  (…) The government promised to revitalize the industrial buildings on one hand, yet it has no laws and regulations to allow us to officially run the business.”
Upon their arrival to the store, which is located on the third floor of the industrial building, visitors will be greeted with an array of clothing and golf-related products from various brands placed in plain sight against the walls with a small parcel of green lying in the middle of the room. The company’s signature golf driving ranges, set in the other two rooms, are actually comprised of high-tech devices and sensors, which project a virtual environment on a giant screen, giving guests a highly simulative experience of golfing.
The head of the company told the Times that the principal objective of the venues was to unite golf enthusiasts of any age, who would interact with one another through physical activity, which he denied was thought to be only for the elderly and the elite. Yet Wu wished at the end of the day that his clients would develop an interest in their homemade products priced less than one third of the international brands.
“After all this is a business, it enables people to try and learn a sport in which they’d probably develop an interest through training and through purchasing some gear afterwards,” said Wu. “At least we have a platform on which you have a chance to get exposed to it.”
He is rather satisfied with their business and has understood that local golfers are no longer concerned by weather factors and manage their time more flexibly when they go golfing at golf-simulators, which are easily accessible. Nonetheless, he likewise pointed out a drawback: that it was difficult for drivers to settle their private cars in a district short of parking spots. In addition, the business operators are also facing some other common plights buffeting their burgeoning business.
“The major concerns are […] few people would visit industrial buildings, only those who have a grasp of the directions and ways would and also the exorbitant rent, all those are taking a toll,” said Wu.
Despite the fact that the project is recent, having begun around half a year ago, the company’s CEO revealed that not a lot of promotion was made. The only advertising on which the group has relied so far is social networking sites and messanging apps like Facebook and WeChat. Asked about their commercial plan for the near future, Wu said that he hopes to move step by step.
“With the two operation modes I mentioned, one’s about a training venue while another is about a brand, the former is basically unable to be opened, for the latter, it’d take quite a long time to develop. Therefore we’d work on it step by step,” said Wu, who also added that they would soon make their products available online for sale on  websites such as Taobao. The company has considered organizing outbound trips for its members to experience golfing abroad. Staff reporter