This golf is a funny ole game.

Long considered to be the domain of predominantly white, middle-aged, middle-class males, it is easy to be disheartened at the seemingly unchanging attitudes and fuddy-duddiness of it all.  Yet, at last, I really do detect the winds of change whispering across the sport.

As I mentioned last week there is the new joint venture between four pillars of the game:  the LPGA and the LET, (the female professional golf sporting bodies in the States and Europe respectively); the governing body of the game, the R&A; and the European Tour.  There appears, finally, to be more than lip service being paid to supporting and boosting the presence of women in golf.  Undoubtedly the R&A’s Women in Golf Charter has been significant and Martin Slumbers, the boss up there in the auld grey toon of St Andrews, has more than once stated his intent to encourage more women and girls to take up the game.

European Tour chief Keith Pelley is also to be congratulated for his vision of having male and female professionals tee it up together.  The European Tour has introduced the mixed GolfSixes team event to its schedule, and last year players from the Ladies European Tour, the Staysure Tour (seniors) and the Challenge Tour competed against each other in the inaugural Jordan Mixed Open.  Small steps you may say but fingers crossed for more giant reverberations similar to the aforementioned new alliance.

And there’s more.  Take the Berkhamsted Trophy, a longstanding top amateur men-only tournament.  The Berkhamsted Golf Club, who have run this event for 60 years, have decided to invite female amateurs to compete alongside their male counterparts, thus creating a world first for elite amateur golf.  Club manager Howard Craft explained their thinking:  “We are not afraid to challenge the status quo here.  There is a lot of talk in golf about embracing change but the pace at which things fundamentally change in the sport can be a little slow.  We are enthusiastic supporters of the R&A’s Women in Golf Charter and what could be a more shining example of this than allowing men and women to play together in competition at the very top of the amateur game, as they naturally do anyway in general play?”

Unsurprisingly, but gratifyingly, this bold move has been universally acclaimed and it came as no surprise to me that the idea was first gently put to the club by none other than Peter McEvoy, one of the greatest amateurs that Great Britain and Ireland has ever produced.  A former winner of the Berkhamsted Trophy, as well as a two-time Amateur champion and much-decorated Walker Cup player and captain, McEvoy had been engaged by the club in his role of course architect to consult on the course.  [No putting in any bunkers, McE! – ed.]  No stranger to thinking outside the box it was McEvoy who introduced the idea of six-hole golf to us 20 years ago and any idea he puts forward merits serious consideration.

“I am thrilled that Berkhamsted Golf Club has made this move, and to have such enthusiastic support from the R&A and Engand Golf is the icing on the cake.  Berkhamsted is a superb test of golf and particularly course management skills.  It will be fascinating to watch men and women compete for the same trophy over 72 holes on such a magnificent golf course.”

The Berkhamsted course winds its bunker-free, yes, repeat, bunker-free, way through glorious Hertfordshire heathland with gorse and heather abounding.  It’s certainly on my list to play in 2020.  We must all support any club with this sort of forward thinking, so, if you can, why don’t you go along anytime from April 2nd to 4th to watch the 61st playing of this venerable trophy?  It is, after all, a rare opportunity to witness a world’s first.

Changing tack a little, I was astounded to learn that Jack Nicklaus turned 80 last Tuesday.  I mentioned it to Patricia and, of course, we immediately started reminiscing about “the greatest golf trip we have ever taken together in our lives”.  For those of you new to the blog that would be a trip in 2009 to Jack’s tournament, the Memorial, at Muirfield Village, to represent Patricia’s late husband Dai, who had been selected as one of the tournament’s journalistic honorees.  Jack and his wife Barbara, whom Patricia had got to know a little bit when writing for The Times for so many years, were gracious hosts and threw their home, tucked away back from the 9th fairway, open to us.  I still have to pinch myself that for that week we were invited “to drop in any time” for coffee or whatever.  And we did.

There was only one day of that glorious week when I could get out on the golf course on my own to watch some golf without any pressure of watching the clock to see when the next appointment or meeting was (all with wonderful people I hasten to add, so it was no hardship).  I was relishing a little time on my own, however and was thrilled when the day dawned bright and sunny.

By this stage I was beginning to run out of clean clothes so decided I could get away with a  top that had seen better days.  But it would be just fine on a VIP-free day and I’d be off out on the course all day….and no one would know me anyway.  I’d casually mentioned to Patricia that I was going out to watch Olazabal and we arranged a meeting place at the end of the day.

Imagine my surprise when at the 6th hole I saw Patricia in a buggy driven by Andy O’Brien, Jack’s go-to man for everything.  And they were obviously looking for me.  Quickly reassured there was nothing amiss at home I let out a sigh of relief only to be told to get into the buggy as we were going straight back to the house to have our photograph taken with the Nicklauses.  The resultant pic sits on Patricia’s desk at home and I cringe every time I see it – I doubt I’ll ever forgive her for setting up that photo opportunity with golfing royalty on that day when I was in one of my wardrobe disasters.

Needless to say, it’s one of Patricia’s favourite photos – it makes her roar every time she looks at it!  A couple of years ago I banned her from reproducing it here in the blog but, hey, life’s about a few laughs – so, here it is!

Mike Whan, commissioner of the LPGA, is the man of the moment, a mover and shaker who’s managing to position women’s golf slap-bang in the middle of the game’s development.  That’s a trick that should qualify the 54-year old American for membership of the Magic Circle but, in the meantime, the Golf Writers’ Association of America (GWAA) has given him the 2020 William D. Richardson Award for outstanding contributions to golf.

Whan joins a long list of luminaries to win the award, including Bob Jones, Bob Hope, Arnold Palmer and LPGA founders Babe Zaharias, Patty Berg and Louise Suggs.  He was suitably humbled and stressed that he was no lone wolf:  “The LPGA is the ultimate team effort, so I hope all the players, teachers and staff understand that this award is really recognising ALL of us.  I’m honoured to be a small part of this incredible LPGA family and I’m proud of all that we are doing to leave the game even better for the next generation of golfers.”

Whan is due at The Buckinghamshire Golf Club, the headquarters of the LET, today, to announce the LET’s 2020 schedule, alongside Alexandra Armas, who’s been confirmed as CEO of the LET.  She will report directly to the LPGA-LET Joint Venture Board of Directors, chaired by Whan.  Ladies European Golf Venture Limited, the company that now operates the LET, has a board of 12 directors, including Whan, Keith Pelley, who is the European Tour’s chief executive, Martin Slumbers, the R&A’s chief executive and Marta Figueras Dotti, chair of the LET.  Still with me?

It’s certainly a powerful line-up and should mean that at long last, after years of limping along, women’s professional golf in Europe has a sustainable future.  Fingers crossed.

Mike Whan has been in his job for 10 years, a miracle of longevity in a position often seen as a poisoned chalice but no matter how good the boss is, how inspirational and persuasive, how hard he or she works, in the end it all comes down to the players; their attitude and performance are key.  Charlie Mechem, one of Whan’s most distinguished predecessors, had no doubt about that.

In his entertaining book with the tongue-in-cheek title, ‘Who’s That With Charlie?’, he wrote:  “In the final analysis, the players are the tour.  No matter how strong and supportive the sponsors are or the media or the fans, the players drive the success or failure of the organisation.  And that’s as it should be.”

I’ve always thought that every tour deserves a leader like Charlie Mechem at least once in its existence.  He was – and hopefully still is – charming, shrewd, unbelievably well connected and a wonderful speaker, never hitting a bum note.  At Dalmahoy, when Europe won the Solheim Cup against all the odds, he couldn’t have been more gracious, well aware that the result was the best thing that could have happened to the contest.  His golfing nous and diplomacy also helped compensate for the fact that his European counterpart at the time, a non-golfer, hadn’t a clue what was going on……The tour’s finest hour went completely over her head.

Of course, I’ve got stuck into Charlie’s book again and there’s a lovely story about Louise Suggs, who was a formidable, forthright character but great fun once you got to know her.  Back in the dim, distant past, when Louise was in her heyday, she played in a one-day tournament at a par-3 course in the Palm Beach area and won.  The field was made up of male and female pros and Sam Snead let Louise know in no uncertain terms that he was not at all happy at being beaten by the woman Bob Hope had nicknamed “Little Miss Sluggs”.

Snead, who loathed losing, complained about the condition of the course, the set up and anything else he could think of but Louise was no shrinking violet and gave him short shrift.  “Sam,” she said.  “Shut up.  You’ve no bitching rights, you didn’t even come second!”

Sam stormed off and roared out of the car park leaving Louise to inhale the smell of burning rubber – and the sweeter smell of success.  There’s nothing quite like beating a man when he’s really, really trying……Where are you when I need you Dai?

The LPGA is 70 this year, so there’ll be lots of looking back to the early days as well as looking forward and there are some great tales to tell about Fred Corcoran, the LPGA’s first tournament director – commissioner really – who was a promoter, manager, deal-maker and storyteller par excellence and helped set the tour on its way.  He persuaded Alvin Handmacher, a fashion magnate, to use golf to promote his Weathervane line of women’s clothing.  It was a crucial sponsorship coup and in her book ‘Fred Corcoran:  The Man Who Sold The World on Golf’, Corcoran’s daughter Judy said…..”make no mistake about it – Alvin put the Ladies’ PGA in business.”

Years earlier, in a book called ‘Unplayable Lies’, Corcoran had written:  “Alvin understood me and I understood him.  Neither of us wholly understood the girls….”

It was ever thus.  Could be that we’re just wired differently!

 

 

As I write this [before Storm Brendan got to work – ed.] the sun is streaming through the window as this unseasonal mild weather continues. The resultant hotbed of germs and endless weeks of a bad throat and racking coughing has left me feeling more than a little washed out and my normal New Year get-up-and-go has, well, got up and gone.  Feeling a little under the weather is a great conscience-salver for someone like me who feels guilty at lazing about and doing very little.  Thankfully, the golf world, for me, is endlessly fascinating and I’ve filled the hours with catching up on all things golfy, including compiling a bit of a personal wish list for golf in 2020.  For what it’s worth, here it is – and in no particular order.

1  Rory to win at Augusta.

Only five players have won all four majors, thus completing what has become known as the career grand slam.  They are Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.  It’s nine years since Rory blew a four-shot lead at the Masters (the only major currently absent from his CV), imploding in spectacular fashion on what many consider to be a course that is tailor-made for his game.  This will be Rory’s sixth attempt at annexing this reluctant major to his haul.  Imagine that 18th green at Augusta were this most personable of Irishmen finally to conquer his Everest!  There’s more than a degree of self-interest in this item on my wish list as I will, once again, be on  Augusta’s green and pleasant grounds in April.  So, a green jacket for Rors in 2020 with me having a front row commentary position – oh, yes please!

2  A healthy and prosperous Ladies’ European Tour.

Towards the end of last year the LPGA (Ladies’ Professional Golf Association) and the LET (Ladies’ European Tour) formed an alliance to drive women’s professional golf with the principal goal of increasing playing opportunities in Europe.  This good news has been further supplemented by the latest announcement that the R&A, as well as the men’s European Tour, have committed to helping this newly formed joint venture.  The R&A have long been supporters of the women’s game in Europe, quietly funding the tour through some very lean times.  This, however, is different.  We now have several of the game’s major bodies committing to opening doors to influential contacts with a view to increasing prize funds, television exposure and opportunities for women and girls in golf in Europe.  This news gladdens my heart and Marta Dotti, the chair of the LET, has steered an admirable course to get this far.  Already highly regarded in the game for her playing, coaching and administrative roles at the highest level, Marta is facing arguably her greatest golfing challenge yet.  I feel more optimistic about the future of the women’s game in Europe than I have for decades.  Go Marta!

3  A Curtis Cup victory for GB&I over the USA at Conwy in June.

The bad news is the Americans have won nine out of the last eleven contests.  The good news is that GB&I have triumphed the last two times they have hosted the event and the stunning links at Conwy, a very un-American layout, should be the perfect backdrop for the home team for the contest.  Never underestimate your opponents but it’s unlikely too many of the visitors will be familiar with the type of golf required by this gem of a course.  For anyone fortunate enough to have played Curtis Cup there is always the opportunity to rekindle friendships that were made eons ago.  It’s a lovely feeling to have a connection with so many of the greats of the game and to feel part of a very special club.  I’ll be there cheering from the sidelines.

4  Repair pitchmarks.

If you’re lucky enough to be able to hit a green with a shot good enough to make a pitchmark,  please repair it and mend an extra one as well.  It really does make a huge difference to the course – the greenkeping staff will love you – and it is a courtesy we should all be extending to each other.

5  Reduce maximum number of clubs to 10.

It’ll make you a better player as you will have to learn how to play half- and three-quarter shots and you should be quicker – fewer options in the club selection department.  A win-win.

6  Ban golf carts/buggies.

Unless you have a medical condition that means you cannot play without a cart, get out and walk.  I don’t care that your golf facility wants cart revenue.  See the bigger picture here.  Encourage people to walk and get fitter – they’ll live longer, be members for longer and spend more in the club and the pro’s shop.  This is not a country that suffers from intolerably high summer temperatures so it isn’t essential to have a freezer chest of your favourite beverage along for the duration of your game.  And carts make the pace of play drop like a stone.  An additional bonus is that without carts there is no need for cart paths, which are a blight on the golfing landscape.  Dai Davies, my late brother-in-law and golf correspondent of The Guardian,  once described cart paths as the “condoms of golf”.  In his opinion neither increased the pleasure of the activity involved!

Play well in 2020.  You don’t have to be as fit or as fierce or as talented as Leona Maguire (who’s got her game face on in the featured pic), just get out there and enjoy the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello everybody.  Happy New Year.  We’re back for a run at 2020 and the aim is the same as it always was:  to amuse and entertain our friends and ourselves.  Golf may well be a silly old game but it’s a great silly old game, linking a lot of people all over the globe, people who think and care about lots of other things vastly more important but still love golf.

It has never gone unnoticed that golf is a four-letter word and I remain indebted to the inestimable Dave Oswald, a Chelsea-supporting Scot (no one’s perfect) who was for many years the art editor at Golf World in the UK, for my lack of ladylike language.  We used to share an office in those far-off, like-it-or-lump-it days when sensitive little souls had to toughen up and give as good as they got – verbally in this case; the guys at Golf World were, whatever their faults, proper human beings.  And, of course, I’d been well trained in the art of smart-aleck repartee at the bar of Royal Portrush Golf Club and on the fairways at Portstewart.  Even when they should be, the Irish are rarely at a loss for words.

I haven’t made any New Year resolutions this year, having had more than enough years of failing miserably and depressingly; I’ve decided to accept myself as the flawed person that I am.  Perhaps I’ll improve my golf and perhaps I won’t; my language is another matter……And in any case, six-letter words are often just as satisfying as four-letter ones.

What do you give the woman who has everything?  Chris Allsop’s son Mark gave his mother a dozen golf balls.  So? you say.   What’s so novel about that?  Well, he’d given it a lot of thought.  “Mum,” he said, “I know you want to hit the ball further and straighter and I’ve come up with the solution.   You’ll want to hit these balls as hard as you can, so they’re guaranteed to go further and they’ve got your name on them so you’ll keep them straight because you won’t want to lose them and have other people finding them.”

If you look closely, you’ll see that Chris is a woman after my own heart and is not a fan of our current prime minister Boris Johnson.  His image is on the ball and on the other side is a damning message that reads:  Property of Chris Allsop!  (I think there’s a middle initial in there but I’ve forgotten what it is and my courtesy ball is safely locked away in my locker.)  Look out for Allsop being all conquering in 2020.

I’ve already won a fiver this year, thanks to coming second in the 13-hole 3-ball Alliance on Tuesday.  It helps when you’re playing with Jayne Fletcher and Bev Chattaway, two of the best players in the club and feel obliged to make an effort to concentrate.  Three putts at the first two holes didn’t augur well but I holed a few decent putts later on and did my bit, thank goodness.  Jayne is a very good golfer but I think she’d agree that Bev is one of those multi-talented persons who seems to be good at everything effortlessly and accepts the twin impostors just the same (Kipling I believe).  It would be easy to dislike her but, then, it turns out that she’s lovely with it and you’ve had it:  you just have to like her.

I love playing with her because like Sue Spencer, another of our stand-out players, Bev has a lovely, smooth rhythm that is a joy to watch.  Just looking at her makes you better.  Some people you daren’t watch because their swing is too fast, too violent, too jerky, too quirky, whatever, to do you any good.  Unfortunately for Angela Bonallack, a sweet-swinging Englishwoman who played in numerous Curtis Cups, JoAnne Carner loved playing against her.  Carner, one of the legends of the game, tended to be a brutal fire-and-fall-back merchant who wellied the ball to great effect.  However, whenever she played Angela, she absorbed some of that smooth timing and was even more effective!

Bonallack and Carner were Curtis Cup opponents and this year the Curtis Cup is at Conwy in north Wales in the second week of June.  Get there if you can.  It’s a super golf course in a lovely part of the world and you’ll be watching players who’ll go on to be stars of the fairways.  Michelle Wie, for instance, played at Formby as a precocious teenager (is there any other kind?) and I saw her hit an iron shot there, low, into the wind, that made me realise what all the fuss was about.  It’s endlessly fascinating to see who goes on to make it as a professional and who follows a different course.  Wie, who has been blighted by injury, is now happily married and expecting her first child and still has golfing ambitions.  Go Michelle.

At the beginning of the year Sandy Lyle, one of Dai’s favourite golfers, who’d been on his radar for years as a Shropshire prodigy and Birmingham Post parishioner, was awarded the PGA Recognition Award for his outstanding contribution to golf.  Sandy, whose father Alex was a proud PGA professional, had a period as the best player in the world – acknowledged as such by no less an authority than Seve Ballesteros – and was the first Brit to win the Masters, in 1988.  Earlier, in 1985, he had been the first British winner of the Open since Tony Jacklin in 1969.  That was at Royal St George’s, where the Open is back again this July, for the first time since Darren Clarke won in 2011.

Finally, just in case you’re wondering, the wee picture at the top of the piece features one of my Christmas presents and should ensure, with a bit of luck, that I never have to search for my glasses again!