The Legal Weekly, run by the Ministry of Justice, chimed in by publishing a list of 15 party officials who have been punished in the last decade for golf-related transgressions. It included Sun Guoqing, head of the Ministry of Transportation’s planning department, who was suspected of using public funds to pay for rounds, and Han Jiang, a district official in Shenzhen, who was convicted of receiving nearly $1 million in bribes, the largest single portion of which was in the form of a membership to the Mission Hills Golf Club.

“Golf, because of its high cost and unique glamour, has been called the ‘aristocrats’ game,’ ” the newspaper said. “But an awkward truth is that because of ‘rotten’ golf, some officials have been punished or even jailed.”

An art dealer in Beijing, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss illicit activity, said that many insider deals were made over rounds of golf. “When we play golf, we invite officials, too,” he said. “This is not something ordinary people can afford.”

Some golfers have complained about the criticism of their sport, arguing that there is nothing inherently corrupt about it. “Around the world so many officials and even presidents play golf. Why is it that in one certain country that when an official plays golf, he’s corrupt?” Lin Xiang, a golf coach in Shanghai, wrote on Sina Weibo, the popular social media platform.

If time on the links is almost required of politicians in the United States, Chinese leaders zealously avoid the game. The one top-level official known to have regularly played golf, Zhao Ziyang, was deposed as party chief by hard-liners during the 1989 Tiananmen protests and spent the rest of his life under house arrest for his support of the student-led demonstrations.

Uncertainty about the future of the sport has led to a drastic slowdown in course construction. “It’s all drying up,” said Les Watts, a Hong Kong-based course designer. After two decades of work on courses in mainland China, he says he is planning to soon return to his native Australia.

Still, Chinese golfers are not ready to abandon their new passion. “I’m still playing,” said a 60-year-old golfer in Beijing who would only give his surname, Zhang. “It’s already in the next Olympic Games, so the state will definitely support it.”