I have a very appealing diary for the next three months or so.  In ten days I’m off to Augusta for the Masters;  then in the middle of May I fly to New York for the PGA;  mid-June brings more air travel all the way to the west coast of America and glorious Pebble Beach for the US Open;  finally, in July, only a little hop across the Irish sea is required to go to Portrush for the Open.  It’s major season, after all, and I’m very fortunate to get a front row view of those at the very pinnacle of the game.

Last week I was in a very different arena but was no less fortunate.  I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the Diamond Jubilee celebration dinner of the Liverpool Society of Lady Golf Captains.

While these ladies would readily agree they are not at the pinnacle of our sport, I would argue that they and their society, and their ilk, are, indeed, the very bedrock of golf.  Back in 1959 the idea of a society for clubs in South West Lancashire was mooted and, not wishing to be outdone by the men captains who had already formed their own Liverpool Society, the women embraced the concept and wasted no time in getting organised.  The early correspondence between the clubs makes for fascinating reading and the alacrity with which a special meeting was organised at the Bradford Hotel in Liverpool was testament to their determination to get going.  Today there are 21 member clubs and with the first 60 years under their belts the LSLGC can lay claim to being the oldest female golf society in the country, outside of London.

This year’s captain of the society is Jackie Bickerstaffe from The West Lancashire Golf Club, a course to test all of your skills, if ever there was one.  With the help of her able committee all arrangements went well, with perhaps her trickiest moment, I suspect, being the choice of venue for the dinner.  It was very important to the members of the society to have an iconic venue in the city after which they are named and Evertonian Jackie did an admirable job in sanctioning the choice of “The Beautiful Game Suite” at Liverpool Football Club!  Being a supporter, myself, of a red team from another city not a million miles away, I had never visited Anfield before and wasn’t sure what to expect.  It was the perfect venue.  The huge European Cup was on display and readily carried around the tables so anyone who wanted to have their picture taken with it could do so.  And an amazing number of the 297 women present did just that.  A whole wall of windows looks down on to the fabled pitch and it was quite sobering to consider all the famous players who had performed there down the years and been connected with the club.

 

The aims and objects of the LSLGC were clearly stated in the Society’s first rules and they remain the same today.  They include doing everything in the best interests of the members’ clubs and the game of golf in general, and an integral part of the society is the annual organisation of several competitions and social get-togethers.  It was so apparent to me at this joyful gathering just how much golf has enhanced the lives of everyone present and how keen they all are to spread the word to others.  There was a willingness to be inclusive and I left that evening feeling more positive about the future of the game than I have in a while.  Yes, it’s marvellous to swan off to the majors, but if all professional golf tours and players ceased to exist tomorrow the game would still survive.  They are only the tip of the iceberg.  If, however, clubs and societies of the nature of the LSLGC, ceased to exist, we, and by “we” I mean golf, would be in real trouble.  The game would eventually wither and die altogether, not a pleasant prospect.

My speech was generously received, but it is I who should really be thanking the LSLGC.  Thank you for reconnecting me to “proper” golf and golfers and reminding me what’s really important in the game.

Footnote.  A huge thank you to Ray Farley of Raymond Farley Photography for all the photographs.

My heart was undoubtedly warmed this past week by Rory McIlroy’s wonderful one-shot victory over the seemingly ageless Jim Furyk at the Players’ Championship at TPC Sawgrass but there was, for me, a performance that trumped even that.  Diksha Dagar won the Investec South African Women’s Open at Westlake Golf Club in Cape Town.  Remember her name.

Diksha is from New Delhi, is 18 years old, a leftie, a professional for only a few months…..and she was born deaf, as was her brother Yogesh.  They now both have cochlear implants which give them near normal hearing and both are passionate about the game of golf.  That passion was nurtured by their father Narinder whose own introduction to the game had come through his army career. Colonel Dagar got down to low single figures and subsequently began to coach six-year old Diksha simply because there was no other option available.  His unshakeable belief that his daughter had a world-class talent has played a huge part in Diksha’s journey and it was a special moment at the weekend when, with Dad on the bag, she became the youngest Indian woman to win on the Ladies’ European Tour – and in her rookie year, to boot.

It’s interesting how patterns can repeat in sport.  Remember Aditi Ashok?  The gracious, charismatic player from Bangalore who was the first ever Indian woman to win on the LET?  Her first tournament win was the 2016 Hero Women’s Indian Open in her rookie year – and, like Diksha, she had her Dad on the bag for her big breakthrough.  That year Diksha won low amateur honours and was inspired by Aditi’s success to keep working hard.  That inspiration is not drying up either.  Aditi went on to win three times in twelve months on the LET and is now the first  Indian player out plying her trade on the LPGA in America.  This is surely a path that Diksha will be itching to follow.

The Ladies’ European Tour has had its well documented troubles for years now, but forty years on from its inception it is still managing to keep going and it is as important as it always has been that this platform exists for these young dedicated female athletes.  No one is saying that the LET is currently in a position to challenge the LPGA in terms of global reach and financial opportunity, but the tour does occupy a vital place in the journey that international players need in order to realise their dreams and achieve their best.  The LET is not a second-class tour.  We simply need to appreciate the importance of the position they hold in the grand scheme of things and realise that, with time, things can change.

Male golfers have had this opportunity for years now, enjoying a strong, thriving European Tour.  The result is that we are now at a point where we see European Tour players increasingly crowding the tops of leaderboards out in the US.  And, for the last five years or so, the traffic has been going from west to east as well. American players of the calibre of Brooks Koepka and Peter Uihlein spent invaluable time playing in Europe, recognising they could  become more complete players by doing so.  It is entirely feasible that, given support and backing, the LET can tread a similar path to the men’s European Tour and build a strong, recognised, stand-alone tour that produces global winners without the necessity of spending years Stateside.  As I say, the men players have enjoyed this strong platform for a while and it’s high time the women enjoyed a similar opportunity.  Please support them.

So, once again, courtesy of the LET, we have the chance to witness a burgeoning career and I will certainly be following Diksha Dagar closely in her first year on tour.  When asked what advice her Dad gave her coming down the stretch last weekend she replied, “Just keep enjoying your game.”  Good advice for us all, I think.

 

The Scots are on my mind – for lots of reasons.  We (Ireland, that is) managed to beat them in the rugby last weekend, which cheered us up no end having been very disappointing against England.  And then last Sunday there was David Law winning the ISPS Handa Vic Open, Down Under, at 13^th Beach Golf Club, near Melbourne  – his first ever European Tour win early in his rookie season.

I first became aware of David Law round about 2010.  He was an obvious talent and had at that stage already won the Scottish Boys and was on his way to annexing a second Scottish Championship.  And then came a decidedly big bump in what had, to that point, been quite a smooth road.  He was overlooked for the 2011 Walker Cup – and to rub salt into the wound it was to be played at Royal Aberdeen.  It was a controversial admission, seemingly vindicated when GB&I managed to beat their American counterparts by 14 matches to 12.  That must have rubbed more salt into the wound.  That US side was dripping with talent, too, – Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Peter Uihlein, Harris English and Russell Henley were all showcasing their skills – to no avail.

David Law was no part of that immense victory, but by this stage he had already been under the wing of Paul Lawrie, former Open champion and twice a Ryder Cup player, for a number of years.  That support was crucial, as it would be to any young player.  Having Lawrie as a mentor with his vast experience on tap is a dream come true for all promising young Scots players and it is difficult to think of any other Scottish player who has singlehandedly given so much back to the game in his home country.

Lawrie has achieved amazing things in his playing career, my own personal favourite being his performance in the 2012 Ryder Cup singles when he beat Brandt Snedeker 5 and 4 with the best figures of the day. But he is arguably on track to achieving even greater things with his Paul Lawrie Foundation, providing support to legions of young Scottish boys and girls coming through the ranks.  It’s his own availability and accessibility to the players that means so much and makes the difference.

But back to David Law.  With Lawrie’s help he managed to put aside that Walker Cup rebuff and win a professional event, the prestigious Northern Open on the Scottish circuit, while still an amateur, and five years ago he made his way on to the Challenge Tour.  According to Law you need to finish in the top 20 or thereabouts in the end of season rankings to be able to make a living.  His best end of season ranking in his first four years was 60th.  That took him up to the end of 2017, a tragic year in which he and his partner (now fiancee) Natasha suffered the loss of a stillborn son.  Life wasn’t good and it’s probably fair to say that on the golf side of things it was all looking a little dicey.  Law admitted that he knew 2018 was always going to be a pivotal year – if things didn’t go well he was going to get a job over the winter and take stock.

And then came the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels & Resorts at Aviemore.  Admittedly it’s not a title to trip off the tongue with ease, but it’s one I’m sure that David Law will remember forever more.  His first Challenge Tour victory propelled him to 14th spot in the end of year rankings and with that he bagged one of the 15 automatic cards on offer for the European Tour.  Life changing and the fulfillment of part one of a boyhood dream.

These are early days for the 27-year old Scot playing amongst the big boys.  So far he has recorded two made cuts, two missed cuts and a victory.  Apart from the welcome injection into the bank account, that victory secures him playing privileges for the next two years – job security, in other words, and it’s also the fulfillment of part two of that boyhood dream.  He has now moved on to play his next event in Perth (the Aussie version) at the glorious Lake Karrinyup, a course where Gill Stewart, one of my Scottish fellow holiday makers and I represented Great Britain in the then Commonwealth Tournament back in the day.  In fact, I believe there is a picture of that GB team still adorning the clubhouse walls somewhere!

I couldn’t be happier for David Law and Scottish golf – what a boost for them all, and there is some amazing talent in the wings.  Expect more Scottish success in the next wee while.

Running concurrently with the men’s tournament was a women’s event for the same money.  Great stuff – and an obvious way forward in the game for the women.  France’s Celine Boutier won and this, her inaugural LPGA victory, will provide a similar springboard to her career as Law has received in his.

There are a couple of things, however, that have made me EXTREMELY CROSS!  One, the Ladies’ European Tour who have done the legwork for so long down in Oz, were unceremoniously superseded and elbowed out by the much more affluent LPGA, meaning the opportunities for LET members shrank enormously.  And then, despite all our protestations that we haven’t got equal opportunities with the guys, the LPGA players don’t turn up!!  Divot of the century to the LPGA.

 See the bigger picture at least once in a while, please.

Meanwhile, let’s go Scotland!

All over the world golfers are being encouraged to attend meetings about the new rules, to learn how they’ll affect our day to day rounds and change our routines.  There was one such meeting at Whittington Heath on Tuesday evening and I was sorry to miss it but sweltering in the summer sunshine in the southern hemisphere took priority.  There are meetings here too but none of the dates has suited us so far.

Not that we’re feeling deprived or anything because we have our very own rules guru here with us and she’s on top of the world at the moment, having passed the exam that she sat just before flying out to South Africa for some much needed rest and recuperation.  Referees have to be fit to tramp around at tournaments and keep their wits about them, hence the hiking poles and the London 2012 inspirational tee shirt and the undertaking of early morning treks in the mountains around Franschhoek.

It’s not a hardship really because the scenery is stunning and the light takes your breath away and it’s easier than playing golf in temperatures of close to 40 degrees.

Mind you, the downside of being on holiday with a couple of professionals and an about-to-be rules expert is that you can be in the swimming pool, contemplating nothing in particular apart from a very blue sky and a backstroke technique dimly remembered from a long-ago lesson in the swimming coach’s kitchen when snatches of conversation float in on the breeze:  loose impediments; bifurcation; relief from divots; inconsistencies; slow play; equipment; suspending Sergio……and so on.  If I pay attention, I should be quite knowledgeable by the end of the trip.

Under expert supervision my dropping from knee height is already showing signs of improvement and I’ve had a good tip to help improve my near non-existent shoulder turn on my backswing:  Just imagine you’re reaching behind you for a glass of red…..Worked a treat on our back nine at Erinvale yesterday, though even I can be vaguely limber when it’s so hot the locals are contenting themselves with nine holes.

Before Pam had sat her exams in St Andrews the other three golfers on the trip added Pearl Valley to our South African play list.  It’s a Jack Nicklaus creation, in a stunning (I defy you to come here and not over use that word) setting not too far from where we’re staying.  We left early for our 0840 tee time and had such a quick, trouble free journey that Gillian and Maureen had plenty of time to hit balls while I had a bit of a mooch and took in the view.

The course was as immaculate as the surroundings bar an inordinate number of badly repaired pitch marks.  If I ran a course in South Africa – or anywhere for that matter – I’d give every visitor a pitch mark repairer and a lesson in how to use it.  It must deeve the life out of the greenkeepers.

Of course, we’re not just here for the golf, there’s a lot of wine – and beer – to be sampled and I like to remind myself of one of my favourite Harry Vardon stories.  The six-time Open champion answered the door to a woman from the Temperance Society who was trying to persuade the great man to sign the pledge.  He drew himself up to his full height and said, “Madam, I have never knowingly been beaten by a teetotaller.  I bid you good day.”

So far we haven’t found a winery that we don’t like but we loved the friendly informality of Eikehof, a small, family-run affair just outside Franschhoek that is onto its fourth generation – and we liked the wine too, especially the merlot.

Lunch with Rae Hast, at Vergelegen, just across the road from Erinvale in Somerset West, was another treat.  Vergelegen isn’t just about wine, the estate dates back to the early 1700s and you can learn about the cultural history of the Cape, including the slave trade and admire the stunning (that word again) surroundings and beautiful gardens.  It’s worth a day or two of anyone’s time.

Finally, a quick congratulations to Jan Stephenson, who will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in June.  Not before time.  The Australian, whose life sometimes rivalled any soap opera, was glamour personified and an outstanding golfer, who won three major championships in the space of three years, culminating with the US Women’s Open in 1983.  She helped found the Women’s Senior Golf Tour in 2000, now the Legends Tour and at the age of 67 still loves competing.  Look her up, she really is worth reading about!