In 1982, there was not a single golf course in China. In fact, golf didn't exist in the nation that is home to 20 percent of the world's population. Then came modified capitalism, a flood of money, a craving for Western-style status among the newly wealthy—and a great leap forward for the old "good walk spoiled."

Today there are more than 300 courses around the country. Oops, make that more than 350—the game is growing that fast. There are 40 courses in Beijing alone. Four years ago, there were an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 Chinese golfers. Today there are more than a million—still less than a tenth of 1 percent of the population. China's golf-addicted nouveau riche call the game "green opium."

"The upside is huge," says Mu Hu, who at 18 is one of the first world-class junior golfers China has produced. "But there's a downside too. You don't want to play my dad's home course on a Saturday or Sunday, 'cause you'll be waiting for a million people ahead of you."

Unfortunately for all but the affluent, China has adopted an American model of golf, with the green addiction flourishing at expensive country clubs, rather than the egalitarian mode seen in Scotland, where most courses are open to everyone. Nowhere is that posh model on more dramatic display than at Mission Hills, the world's largest golf resort. Half an hour from Hong Kong in the town of Guanlan, the resort features courses designed by noted architects Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus, as well as rookie architects David Duval, Vijay Singh, and Annika Sörenstam—a dozen layouts in all.

Mission Hills boasts a 300,000-square-foot clubhouse, Asia's biggest spa, a staff of 10,000 (including 3,000 caddies), and a 100-foot jade statue of the Buddhist goddess of compassion, Guan Yin. Play begins at dawn and ends at 2 a.m. under floodlights. Still the place can't keep up with demand, with more than 60,000 rounds on a typical weekend leaving the fairways gouged and the greens pocked by spike marks.

Developer David Chu expects his fairways to stay crowded as the game grows. "Over a hundred million people live within a two-hour radius," he says of Mission Hills. Chu, 53, whose toupee resembles a wide divot of black hair, is best known as the man who led Beijing's successful effort to land this year's Summer Olympics. With his backing, China has begun hosting world-class golf events like last month's HSBC Champions in Shanghai (won by Phil Mickelson) and the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, a $5 million international team event that will be held at the club through 2018.