Man of the Hour

Luk also found how the social aspect of the game could not only help reinforce business relationships and friendships, it could be channelled into being a catalyst for doing good in the greater community.

“The more I learned the more I wanted to learn and once I started going throughout China, I started to play with my friends and with my customers,” says Luk. “In the late 1990s this was still very rare. But it develops relationships. It is not customer-client it is friendship.”

And Luk soon decided that one great way to help those friendship to flourish would be to gather everyone together out on the course. From initially organising trips to play together in Thailand, Luk has developed the annual Cartier Golf Tournament, which was first held for a field of 30 at Fanling 11 years ago and last year attracted 160 when it was held at Mission Hills' new complex on Hainan Island.

“It’s a lot of fun. Everyone looks forward to it every year. We play and drink and talk and laugh,” says Luk.

But there is a serious side to proceedings, too. “Auctions for charity have now become a major part of the event and now raise more than HK$10 million to help build schools in China,” Luk explains.

Luk is a member at both the Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club and the Xili Golf & Country Club in Shenzhen and though an arm injury suffered while skiing in January has curtailed his play somewhat this year, he has been back out on the course in recent months as he prepares for the Cartier event in November.

“You know, I find golf a challenge,” he says. “And it brings my temper down. Before, if I could not hit a ball I would hit a tree. But eventually I said ‘Hey, this is a game.’ So now I laugh. Even if I hit 120 or 130 [in a round], I laugh all the way through. I enjoy the companionship, the sunshine and the fun you get out of the game. Everyone is the same on the golf course and I like that, too.”