Beijing, China: The future of golf and the use of technology within the game will be under the spotlight at today’s Virtual Golf Conference.

Being staged at Beijing’s Grand Metro Park Hotel, the one-day gathering is being hosted by the Asia Golf Leaders Forum (AGLF) in co-operation with The R&A.

AGLF Secretary-General Paul Park predicts that golf is on the cusp of big changes with the rapid growth in popularity of virtual golf.

He said: “The dream of having world-class players like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy going head-to-head in virtual golf is just around the corner. We expect a big market transformation to get underway next year, with explosive growth, especially in temperate countries.”

Park said it’s the aim of the conference to showcase and discuss the status of various virtual golf platforms in their respective regions and the future of virtual golf as a new competitive sport.

It’s also important, he said, to be proactive in preparing for the future of the virtual golf market in the Asia-Pacific region.

Other points of discussion will include a quantitative analysis of the behaviour and attitudes of virtual golfers in the Asia-Pacific region, the handicap management system Golf Handicap & Information Network (GHIN), and future directions for calculating handicaps for virtual golfers.

Among the speakers are Karen Lyttle, Director of Technology at The R&A, and Jerome Ng, Director of Business Development at The R&A and former General Manager at the Singapore Golf Association.

The conference is being sponsored by Golfzon China, organisers of the Golfzon China Open with the China Golf Association since 2021. One of Golfzon China’s key objectives is to build a solid foundation for the indoor virtual golf market in China.

Last year’s event saw more than 5,000 players participating from more than 150 Golfzon China stores across the country. The tournament was broadcast exclusively on China’s largest OTT platform and China Mobile affiliate, Migu.

This year, more than 200 Golfzon China stores have been holding qualifiers with approximately 10,000 participants.

A total of 52 have won through to this week’s finals at which a prize pool of 2.5 million yuan (about US$350,000) is on offer. First prize is worth one million yuan (about US$140,000).