China's government closed down almost 70 "illegal golf courses as part of the high-profile anti-graft campaign being led and implemented by President Xi Jinping.

According to the official memo that was posted on the website of the ministry on Monday, local governments have already shut down several golf courses, ones that have been built illegally, and that “preliminary results have been achieved in clean up and rectification work.”

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News of the shutdown was later followed by an announcement from the commerce ministry, which said that senior official Wang Shenyang was under investigation for allegedly playing golf. This was reportedly in violation of President Xi’s “eight rules” on the behavior of government officials.

Although golf has been a favorite pastime among government officials, it has also been quite closely associated with money and the elites. Despite being regarded as one of the most lucrative sports played by local authorities, the current ruling Communist Party has always had a relatively ambivalent relationship with it, according to Yahoo! News.

Since memberships to golf clubs usually cost “far above the normal annual income level of officials,” playing the sport has been considered a form of extravagant spending. Members of the government who have become avid players of golf risk severing their ties with the masses.

Now that the government has actually started to shut down golf courses, some of the local authorities who are still keen on playing the sport have opted to do so under false names.

According to the report, they want to continue playing the spot that they love without being perceived as corrupt, as indicated by Dan Washburn, the author of “The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream.”

The spokesperson for the China Golf Association, who is supervised by the sports ministry, declined to comment on the matter at hand.

Tagsgolf, illegal golf course, Anti-graft