After three years of silence, hungry founder Zhang xuhao has a new entrepreneurial action. His new project is called playgolf, which focuses on golf courses and training. It is not small and burned 150 million at the beginning. From the introduction of his circle of friends, it can be found that the promotion of playgolf has the shadow of being hungry in those years. He hopes to break people's stereotype of golf as a luxury sport through low prices and attract users with a low price of 268 yuan per section. The reason why Zhang xuhao chose golf, leaving aside the love factor, may also be due to the development potential and popularity of the sport in China. "Now, every golf course in Beijing is full of people every day, sometimes they can't get in line, and the traffic jam to the golf course is very serious," a golf enthusiast told pencil. In addition to the popularity of outdoor golf courses, indoor golf courses are also quietly rising. According to statistics, the number of indoor golf clubs in China has been close to 1000. In addition, the consumption data of surrounding industries, whether clubs, balls, jerseys and ball cars, are increasing year by year. Golf is becoming more and more popular in China because of the reduction of the threshold and the improvement of everyone's consumption level. According to statistics, the scale of golf market increased from 8.64 billion yuan in 2016 to 10.26 billion yuan in 2020. Although both indoor and outdoor golf are improving, the prospect is not as optimistic as expected. An investor told pencil road that in terms of the domestic golf industry and surrounding industries, it will be a stable development industry in the future. "It will grow, but it can't break out as quickly as the Internet industry. There won't be much fluctuation in golf teaching, equipment, venues or others." Hungry? The founder's new business After selling the company, Zhang xuhao gradually became invisible. In April 2018, Alibaba acquired hungry Yao for us $9.5 billion, and founder Zhang xuhao no longer served as CEO. A few months later, Zhang xuhao stepped down as the legal person, shareholder and senior executive of many related companies. After wealth and freedom, Zhang xuhao's name rarely appeared in the Jianghu. Recently, Zhang xuhao seems to have started a new career. A few days ago, Zhang xuhao sent a circle of friends to promote the training course of a golf course called playgolf. Statistics show that the company behind playgolf is called "Shanghai Geke Sports Technology Development Co., Ltd.". Statistics show that Geke sports is a golf complex operator, integrating entertainment, training, youth training, social networking and other functions. Enterprise investigation shows that the legal representative of the company is Li Dongping, which was established in September 2020. However, in the enterprise change record, the legal representative of the company is Zhang xuhao before May 31, 2021. In the company's equity penetration, Zhang xuhao's final income share is 99.4118%, which is the actual controller of the company. This means that playgolf is actually Zhang xuhao's personal entrepreneurship project. Playgolf staff also confirmed this to pencil track. From the introduction of Zhang xuhao's circle of friends, the promotion of playgolf has the shadow of being hungry in those years. We hope to break people's stereotype of golf as a luxury sport through low prices. The price of 268 per session is also "close to the people". You should know that the price of a children's piano class or violin class has reached four or five hundred, not to mention that the potential user group of golf class has higher consumption power. From the takeout platform to sports events, Zhang xuhao's span is really a little big. However, after understanding Zhang xuhao, it is not difficult to understand his choice. If hungry is to display his ambition and ambition, playgolf may be mostly due to love, because Zhang xuhao is also a sports maniac. In the article introducing Zhang xuhao, there is always a label mentioned countless times, that is "national secondary athlete". According to media reports, Zhang xuhao has loved fierce sports since childhood, such as boxing, basketball and racing. He loved all kinds of basketball and joined the basketball team. He also completed the racing driver training course and obtained the qualification certificate. As for whether he is hungry, it is also a "entrepreneurial movement" that makes him feel stimulated. Now, entrepreneurship and sports are finally integrated. Like hungry, Zhang xuhao still chose to start a business in Shanghai this time. The difference is that Zhang xuhao's wealth is not what it used to be. In May this year, Zhang xuhao ranked 490 in the 2021 New Fortune 500 rich list with a wealth of 9 billion yuan. Zhang xuhao also wrote a lot in this venture. The outdoor golf course has high requirements for the venue. The site of playgolf is the original Shanghai Huangxing Park Golf Course. Statistics show that this golf driving range was once the largest venue in Asia. It once set a Guinness record of 300 people swinging at the same time, but it was closed in 2019. According to the official introduction of playgolf, the transformation cost 150 million and took more than 300 days. After the transformation, it has 240 automatic service positions and 1400 square meters of green practice area. It is reported that this is "the only long shot real grass playing position and the largest green in Asia". Zhang xuhao's Golf entrepreneurial ambition is quite great. Playgolf officials mentioned that they want to be "the best golf driving range in Asia and even the world". Meanwhile, playgolf has also built many supporting measures, such as bars, steak houses and all day restaurants. In addition, there is a full range of customized entertainment services. It seems that Zhang xuhao is serious about starting a business this time. Domestic golf course ups and downs The reason why Zhang xuhao chose golf, leaving aside the love factor, may also be due to the development status of this sport in China. In the past, in the eyes of the public, golf was a minority sport and a game for the rich. But at home, the minority movement is now becoming popular. "Now, every golf course in Beijing is full of people every day, sometimes they can't get in line, and the traffic jam to the golf course is very serious," a golf enthusiast in Beijing told pencil. In some promotional videos, some members also shared their feelings about practicing golf. In addition to exercising, many people think that they have greatly changed their character, got rid of the shortcomings of being impatient and worried about gain and loss in the past, and can look at other people and things in a greater pattern. Golf in China has gone through a long process from being modest to having loyal fans. In 1984, many golf courses were built in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places. But golf was really popular in China after 1990. At the Beijing Asian Games, Chinese Golf teams got a good place. At this time, golf is a very popular sport in Japan and South Korea. Due to the frequent business exchanges between China and Japan and South Korea, this trend gradually flows to China. Some of the stadiums built at that time are still in use. The golf industry grew fastest in China from 2008 to 2014. According to agency statistics, during this period, the core Golf population increased from 300000 to 410000, and the number of courses expanded rapidly from 380 + to 650 +, reaching 683 at the highest. Insiders told pencil that before that, golf courses were mostly developed by real estate developers. "If you grant a piece of land, first build a circle of villas, and then build a golf course in the green land." This means that golf is a standard "sport for the rich", which is expensive and has a very high threshold. "Golf was originally a membership system. If you are not a member of the golf course, the golf course will refuse to accept you. In other words, non members have to pay four times the fee to play on the golf course. However, the membership fee is expensive, basically about one million yuan, and you have to pay about 100000 yuan of membership management fee every year." Xiao Yi, founding partner of Aoying capital, told me, He is also a veteran golfer. While the sport is developing in China, many golf venues are being eliminated, mostly due to compliance issues. It is reported that many golf courses waste land resources, illegally occupy nature reserves, occupy green land and other problems. After 2014, the state will carry out national golf course renovation. By 2017, 187 stadiums had been closed in three years. By 2020, the number of domestic golf courses will be reduced to about 449. "Later, the life of the golf course became more and more difficult. Those who began to abolish the membership system or retain the membership system also began to open to the outside world. Slowly, the golf course has three pricing methods - member price, guest price and non member price." Xiao Yi introduced. With the cancellation of high membership fees, the threshold of golf has been reduced, and more consumers began to pour into the golf course. "At present, good golf courses in China must be expensive. They cost about 2000 yuan a game and tip the staff. But some cheap courses cost only four or five hundred yuan at a time, which is acceptable to many working-class people," Xiao Yi said. In addition, the improvement of domestic consumption level and epidemic factors have also promoted the golf fever. He explained, "in the past, people with money may travel abroad or abroad. Now they can't travel casually. There must be a premium flow of everyone's funds. Golf is one direction." Over 10 billion industries are difficult to break out When queuing in the outdoor golf course, the indoor golf simulation driving range is also rising, quietly sharing the passenger flow. According to statistics, the number of indoor golf clubs in China has been close to 1000. Indoor golf courses are popular mainly because of the low entry threshold. Taking Beijing as an example, the price of indoor golf courses is less than 200 an hour, and the price of some venues can be as low as less than 100 yuan. If calculated by the time of playing 18 holes, the consumption may not be lower than that of outdoor courts, but the entry threshold is more friendly to beginners. In addition, indoor golf courses are not affected by seasons. "In the north, the temperature is low in winter and the land is frozen. If the ground is too hard, you can't play golf, so everyone goes indoors to play," Xiao Yi said. In conclusion, the prospect of indoor and outdoor golf is good, and the industry may usher in an outbreak period. However, this may not be the case. For outdoor golf, the most fatal is the limit on the number of courses. As mentioned above, for various reasons, the previous outdoor golf course was closed or renovated. However, the situation may not be more optimistic than before. Insiders said that there are still some illegal golf courses that are facing demolition. According to media reports, a golf course in Kunming was eradicated a few months ago because it occupied the land in the reserve. Some practitioners mentioned that it is difficult to approve golf courses in China, and it is almost impossible to add new venues. In addition, golf courses are expensive, and the most common cost is about 200-300 million yuan. This means that the supply of outdoor golf courses will gradually exceed the demand, and the price may face an upward trend. If outdoor golf is blocked, is it feasible to switch to indoor sports? It may be feasible for new players, but for old players, they don't buy it. "Indoor golf is still a minority, and the experience of playing indoors and outdoors varies greatly. Many people prefer to play in down jackets rather than indoors." Xiao Yi said, "golf is also a hobby and has certain social attributes. Most people play for their hobbies, and there are still a few early adopters." This means that indoor golf is only a temporary substitute for senior players, and it is difficult to capture their hearts for a long time. In Xiao Yi's opinion, the domestic golf industry and surrounding industries will develop steadily in the future. "Yes