Greg Norman shuts Sydney office, opens in China: report

Australia's richest sportsman Greg Norman has closed his only Australian office as he pursues golfing business interests in China, according to reports.

Greg Norman Golf Course Design shut its Sydney office in recent weeks, with at least three staff made redundant, the Daily Telegraph said on Wednesday.

The Telegraph said the design company has opened a new sales and marketing office in Beijing, signalling Asia as its key area of growth.

The office closure comes a year after Norman's chief Australian course architect for 22 years, Bob Harrison, parted ways with the two-time major winning golfer.

A company spokesman told the Telegraph that Norman's main golf course architects will now be based in the company's West Palm Beach headquarters in Florida.

Norman's spokesman, Bart Collins, told the newspaper that the company had "retrenched two or three executives" in Sydney.

"But we still have people who are full-time employees of us in Australia, who work from home right now," he said

Despite no longer playing golf regularly on the circuit, Norman remains Australia's highest-earning sportsman, with a business magazine recently estimating that he earned 15 million US dollars (12 million US) last year, largely because of his success in golf course design.

First established in 1987, Greg Norman Golf Course Design says on its website that it has completed more than 70 golf courses on six continents.

Norman, 55, formerly ranked number one in the world, won the British Open in 1986 and 1993.
The company was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

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© 2010 AFP
This story is sourced direct from an overseas news agency as an additional service to readers. Spelling follows North American usage, along with foreign currency and measurement units.