There has long been talk within the golf industry of a "100-course future" for China's Hainan Island. With only about 25 courses around the country's southernmost province to date, such talk seemed far-fetched only a few years ago. But with the current boom in course construction, it could soon become reality.

New designs are already under construction around the island by such golf greats as Jack Nicklaus, Peter Thomson, Greg Norman and Tom Weiskopf, as well as by designers Robert Trent Jones II, JMP, Knott-Linn and Joe Obringer, among others. The Mission Hills Group, owner of a 12-course complex outside of Shenzhen, is also expanding its empire with a new project near Haikou. Though the company is tight-lipped about its plans, rumor has it that the project will feature upwar ...

... throughout Asia with his company GolfPlan, agrees. He says Hainan is the only viable growth point for golf in China. "The Chinese government sees Hainan as their Hawaii, maybe even Florida," Fream says. "It's the only place with reliable warm weather, warm seas, and beaches for their tourists." Fream, designer of the acclaimed Nine Bridges in Korea, predicts that as course development continues in Hainan, it could mean that China-based golfers may never need to leave the country again.