The rapid development of Chinese golf in terms of prize money, sponsors and the increasing number of courses and players is creating the conditions for local players to join the world's elite.

Prize money for golf tournaments has risen remarkably in the past few years as sponsors aim to lure top players.

Take the Volvo China Open for example: this year's champion in Shanghai took home a top prize of US$333,330, a 45 percent increase over the past three years.

Last year there were six European Tour golf events taking place on the mainland and it is believed more elite ones will be introduced.

The BMW Asia Open in Shanghai last month moved to the Chinese mainland for the first time after two years in Taiwan.

The 2007 and 2008 World Golf Championships (WGC) World Cup will also be held at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen. The venue will also stage a WGC event every year after that until 2018.

It is the first time that a WGC event will take place in China. Shenzhen hosted the 1995 World Cup, which was won by American duo Fred Couples and Davis Love III.

Meanwhile, the country has seen the number of golf fans swell from a mere 1,000 a decade ago to more than one million enthusiasts today.

Inspired by the world's traditional golf series, some home-grown pro tournaments have risen to become the fastest-developing events in Asia.

The inaugural Buick China Golf Club League (CGCL), which tees off in May, has attracted a total of 102 golf courses from around China.

From April 20 to July 10, provincial-level competitions will take place, with winners advancing into five zones - North, Mid-west, East, Mid-south and South. After approximately four months of competition, winners from different zones will battle it out in national finals in December.

Organizers are expecting a record 20,000 players to take part in the nine months of competition.

The increasing popularity of the sport and opportunities for local golfers saw a group of Chinese caddies catapulted to star status, highlighted by the nation's first European Tour winner Zhang Lianwei and Liang Wenchong, who became pro tour competitors and title contenders in world-class events.

Sponsors are thronging to share the interest by supporting the sport.

Apart from the automakers or banks like BMW, Volvo, Buick and HSBC, golf equipment producers are also stepping up their efforts to expand their presence in the huge market.

The China Golf Association (CGA) signed a "milestone" partnership deal with equipment makers Taylormade in February. Under the three-year deal, Taylormade, a subsidiary of Adidas, will provide equipment, apparel and make a "major financial investment" in supporting young Chinese golfers.

The annual Beijing International Golf Trade Fair has become one of the leading exhibitions in the international golf exposition scene, as well as the most prominent golf exhibition in China after six years' development.

Twenty years since the first course was built in China, there are now about 400 golf courses in China, according to statistics from Golf Magazine. This is the second highest number in Asia and fifth in the world.

As many as 500,000 now play the sport, about 80 percent of whom are Chinese, compared to a small minority of locals when golf first made inroads into the country in the 1980s as a pastime for expatriates.