Golf development: Time to learn from other countries

*as appeared in the June 2016 issue of Golf Digest Malaysia

Malaysia has many well-funded junior and professional development programmes. Only thing is, they were not planned to have long-term sustainability.

Hands-up, how many of you know if there is a career-ladder in golf?

It is easy to watch the Golf Channel and think that the events you see on TV could be a career for your child.

But that is farther from the truth.

To get to those big events, most of the professionals that you see on TV have gone through a very long and difficult road to get where they are.

Most would have started at an early age, playing in junior tournaments and eventually progressing to collegiate golf before playing in Q-schools to earn their tour card.

The respective PGAs also require candidates to undergo a three-year apprenticeship in club management, marketing and etc.

It requires a lot from the parents too, in terms of time and financial sacrifice.

Furthermore, that blueprint or system towards a career in professional golf was charted by the respective amateur and professional bodies a very long time ago, working together with education departments and colleges.

They have a national system in place and they work cohesively to continue the process of churning out world class players every year.

All those involved are very dedicated and very united in the quest to continue what the founding fathers have left for future generations to come.

By having a ‘machine’ that runs continuously without any political or royal intervention, this golf development system in turn, creates job opportunities for those already in the corporate sector.

Qualified professionals bring with them a new dimension of professionalism to the game of golf.

It adds class and progress to a game steeped in honour and integrity.

And, it inculcates productivity.

While it has taken a long time for the American and European countries to set-up and fine-tune their system, there are many ways where our country can improve.

The funding and governmental support is already there.

But the attitude and aptitude of those in office has to change first. And it starts from the very top.

It will take a concerted effort by the respective parties too.

Golf course owners in all states must start allowing the kids on the course and not just look at profit.

You just need to let them play 9 holes or less. If you have more kids playing, you will have a continuous supply of golfers for many years to come.

Simple enough?

And, we need to learn more from other countries who have a successful system.

Just look at the number of successful Koreans on the LPGA Tour.

They have a very effective development system in place that produces champion after champion every year. There is always a new Korean name winning a major tournament (See page 78 for an insight of the Korean development system).

Right now, the introduction to golf is not far-reaching with only a handful of schools and colleges adopting a golf programme. It is a long way for these programmes to bloom into a national blue print.

Meanwhile, the first step to tournament golf for juniors is the SportExcel tournaments and the recently set-up MyFutures Golf Tour.

But even those are not enough.

I believe it is high time for the officials of respective agencies to “turun padang”  or make a “lawatan sambil belajar” visit to Florida or Korea.