Symposium will offer a "Roadmap to Asia"

Interested in doing a little business in China or Japan? What about South Korea? Or Mongolia?

If the answer is yes, you might want to cough up some cash for "Roadmap to Asia: The New Golf Frontier," a symposium that will be held in San Diego, California on Friday, February 12, 2010 -- the day after the Golf Industry Show ends.

The symposium is being sponsored by Golfweek, Asian Golf Monthly, and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

The partners say their program is "revolutionary" -- a word not often heard on the trade show circuit. (Curiously, it's the same word Steve Jobs used to describe the new iPad. You compare.) They also promise to provide "valuable insider information" so you can "capitalize on the Asian boom," but we all know that such phrases are just a bunch of marketing baloney.

The list of speakers that appeared on a press release we recently received doesn't include any Asian golf developers, course designers, or builders. The headliner appears to be Wong Khen Lee, the president of the Asian Golf Industry Federation, whose board of directors includes representatives from such companies as IMG Golf, Nicklaus Design, Toro, and Callaway Golf.

Also on the bill are Mike Sebastian, the publisher of Asian Golf Monthly, who's also a member of the federation's board, and Bruce Charlton, the president of Robert Trent Jones, Jr.'s architectural company, which has been designing courses all over the planet for decades.

The event will be held at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel in San Diego.

The cost: $395 if you register before February 5, $495 afterwards. The press release says that the price includes a lunch and -- hold on to your seat cushions -- "two coffee breaks."

For more information, visit Golfweek.com/Roadmap-to-Asia.