The course
Private golf
above the city.
Hongta was an 18-hole, par-72 hillside course near the tobacco company’s headquarters in Yuxi. Brian Curley designed it for Schmidt-Curley; access was largely reserved for executives and their guests. Trees, flowering shrubs and water features enclosed the compact property.12
The design used changes in direction and subtly contoured greens to create its challenges. Planet Golf’s historical review singles out several holes, offering a rare account of golf inside this private estate.1
Land & ownership
A golf course
behind a park name.
Construction began in 2008 under the Hongta Sports Forest Park name. The 2020 investigation by China Real Estate Business traces the development to land around Shengli Reservoir and a March 2009 agreement to landscape the site as a park.2
The national audit of China National Tobacco Corporation’s 2012 accounts brought the golf developments under scrutiny. On 20 June 2014, the corporation’s published response stated that the relevant subsidiaries had been instructed to close completed courses and arrange their transfer.3
Hongta’s assets were repeatedly offered for sale between November 2015 and June 2019. The first listing described a 623,976 m² property and set a minimum price of RMB 487.88 million. According to the investigation, the listings ended without a buyer.2
The same report describes the obstacles: the golf use differed from the registered land uses, land parcels had not been formally divided, and buildings lacked ownership certificates. The park name, golf operation and property records therefore described different aspects of the same development.2
Yunnan’s published clean-up results of 6 February 2017 placed Hongta in the rectified category (已进行整改). This is a distinct official classification from the nine courses listed as abolished.4
