Having grown Mission Hills into a global sports and leisure powerhouse, Tenniel Chu tells us about how golfing changes people and the reasons being present is crucial to the game of life
“I just got back from Italy,” Tenniel Chu said at his interview with Tatler back in July. “I was at a friend’s 20th wedding anniversary celebration. You might know him—Donnie Yen?”
As the vice-chairman of the Mission Hills Group, which has golf and leisure resorts in Shenzhen, Dongguan and Hainan, Chu’s celebrity connections include A-listers like F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, basketball player Stephen Curry and golfer Rory Mcllroy, who flock to his courses like golf balls to a perfectly manicured fairway.
The course at Mission Hills’s original location, in Shenzhen, opened in 1994, and in 2006 the club was recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest golf facility in the world, featuring a dozen 18-hole courses.
Before joining the company in 2001, Chu studied professional golf management and worked at the PGA Tour’s US headquarters. Here, he tells Tatler how the company changed the sport in China and why female golfers are on the rise.
Describe what you do in one sentence.
My philosophy is that I make sure that whatever I do, I’m either the first to do it or have the biggest [version of it out there]. I got this from my father [the late David Chu, the founder of Mission Hills, known as “Mr Golf”], who was an innovator and pioneer. This has always been ingrained in me.
Where does the company name come from?
The name Mission Hills comes from the fact that it’s been [my family’s] mission to bring the world together through sports. The resort is also built on land that has a lot of hills and lush greenery nearby.
How did you develop your golf skills, and who were your biggest influences along the way?
Tiger Woods was a big influence on me, especially back in 1997 when he won the Masters Tournament.
I was playing golf already, but that was a huge boost for me because he made it [acceptable for young people to love the game]. I picked up golf when I was in high school. It probably started with minigolf, then the driving range, then the courses. It was step by step. I used to play other sports, but once I discovered golf, I dropped most of them. I have such an addiction to it.
I am so fortunate that my family is in the industry. I’m the biggest envy of all my friends when it comes to my work. I’m the number one person on their speed dial when they need a tee time. I’ll receive calls at odd hours of the night saying: “Tenniel, I need a tee time urgently: I’m playing with Jack Ma!” It’s nice to be in that position. [laughs]
