Circling Back To My Roots

Sean Hung has been patronising the FCC, and knocking balls around the golf course, since he was a wee lad. He tells Hayley Wong how two very important strands in his life came together.

A fter trying his hand at a variety of jobs, Sean Hung – whose British, Chinese, Maori and Parsee bloodlines make him one of the FCC’s more multicultural members –returned to his true metier. Today, he is School Golf Partnerships Manager at the PGA Development Center –Waterfall in Kowloon.

You’re a golf pro, so how did you learn about the FCC?

I started coming here when I was around 10 years old. My dad, who has been a member since the 1980s, brought me for lunches and dinners with my mum. So I was always in and out of the club.

I feel attached to the FCC because this club represents old Hong Kong and my dad came from that era. I feel proud to belong to at least one of his favourite clubs.

One year we celebrated my dad’s birthday here. I was amazed to see how a whole bunch of people who weren’t even invited to the party came up and wished him happy birthday.

After I reached my 30s, I thought this would be a great place to meet people and decided to join last November.

When did you get into golf?

Even earlier! I started playing when I was about ve. My dad used to take me out for lessons every Sunday, as I attended a junior clinic out in Fanling.

What attracted me to golf as a kid was getting outdoors. I loved how we drove to the golf course, the smell of the grass there, and just touching it. I also really enjoyed hitting bunker shots and seeing my friends out there, having something in common with them.

After practice, I loved going on the course with my dad to show him what I’d learned and trying to beat him. As I grew older, I became addicted to the process of just getting better and better.

When I went to the UK to attend public school, I tried out for the golf team. I was very surprised that I was one of the best, even though I was a bit nervous. at’s when I started feeling a golf professional’s life might be interesting.

As I got older, my priorities changed. ere were other things I wanted to pursue. ere was a stage when I wanted to get into highlevel basketball, but then I tore the meniscus in my knee at 21 and that was the end of that.

I went back to golf and dreamt of playing golf on the tour, but thought if I could not, at least I could teach golf and become a coaching professional, which is essentially what I do now.

How did you eventually combine passion and work?

After my bachelor degree in New Zealand, I went to China to learn Mandarin and did a stint in hospitality with Marco Polo Hotels. Later, I was able to get a business development job at an interior design company in Hong Kong, which meant my language ability was an asset. But two years into that, I just settled on my interest in sports and golf. So I decided to take a risk and I applied to as many companies as I could. I was fortunate to get a hit with one of them, even though the job involved all types of sports and not just golf.

At least it was a start and I got one foot in the door. ings evolved quickly then, and the trajectory went upwards.

After organising international golf tournaments in China for two years with the same company, I got more into the teaching side of golf, delivering and managing programmes for international schools.

What do you love about your job?

I think when I teach kids and see them improve, it makes me feel like I’m doing something important to help them pursue something in the future. And as you become invested in the kids’ development, you see their character build, their con dence increase and they start hitting better shots.

I think golf is about repetition –you have to keep repeating in order to get the moves right and it’s quite humbling.

A golf swing is not that straightforward. You have to worry about your hands, think about your shoulders, your hips, your knees. You’ve got to separate what you’re doing with your torso from what you’re doing with your hands and your arms; it’s more complicated than just hitting.

It’s really satisfying to be able to see rst-hand that a very green kid comes in at the start and then after 10 lessons, he or she shows visible and tangible improvement.

Do you see golf growing in Hong Kong?

I think it’s been getting bigger, especially during the pandemic, as golf can still be played under a socialdistancing environment.

In Hong Kong, the main issue is scarcity of land, which makes most of the golf courses private. So the majority of people don’t have access to a golf course. Unless you’re a member of a private club or you are really talented and get into the Hong Kong Golf Association squad as a junior, it’s quite di cult to gain access to a golf course.

To play on most courses, you need a handicap, which is a kind of socioeconomic problem. A handicap is like a grade you’re given, which tells you how good you are – the lower your handicap, the better you are. But in order to get a handicap, you rst need to play on a golf course. So unless your parents belong to a golf club, or you’re accompanied by someone who is a member, it’s di cult to start playing on a golf course.

Places like the public golf course on Kau Sai Chau allow people who are not members of private clubs to enjoy the game. Hong Kong needs more of these. We are also trying to nd ways for these kids to be able to compete or get access to a golf course.

How are you trying to help?

Last December, I set up a virtual golf tournament with the International School Sports Federation in Hong Kong so people who are not able to get a handicap but are pretty good at golf could have an opportunity to compete. I think it was pretty successful, so we are now looking at local schools, trying to also give them an opportunity to come in and use our facility.

I teach a lot of kids who live around our driving range in Olympic. ey are amazed how much progress they can make and realise that there are plenty of opportunities out there if they are seriously dedicated.

So, giving beginners a chance and creating more virtual tournaments is something which I’m trying to help with here in Hong Kong.

My other vision is to assist schools in Hong Kong establish more solid golf teams with selection and training, as happens in the US and the UK, so they don’t have to scramble for players every year.

Having grown up around the world, where do you see yourself in the future?

When the pandemic hit us, everything became a little bit uncertain. But now that everything is opening up again, I don’t see myself going anywhere else as Hong Kong is my home and I feel very comfortable here. My dad is here. My sister is here. My friends are here. My work is here. I don’t see any reason to go anywhere else.

My aim now is to nish my certi cation with the Professional Golfers’ Association of America, and as the trajectory has been going up and I love what I am doing, I would want to stay in this industry.

I feel pretty lucky that I don’t have to sit in an o ce all the time, but can teach golf in the open air for a few hours a day. It’s really satisfying. n