China has ordered the closure of a sixth of the country’s golf courses since 2011, its top economic planner said, in an ongoing crackdown on a sport that is controversial for its links with the wealthy elite. The ruling Communist Party has an ambivalent relationship with golf. Local authorities have profited from selling land for courses, but they are seen as venues for shady deal-making between the elite and politicians. Central authorities ordered a nationwide freeze on new golf courses in 2004, which was largely ignored. Since a fresh crackdown was launched in 2011, 111 of China’s 683 golf courses nationwide had been ordered to shut, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the central planning agency, said in a statement posted on its website on Sunday.
