R&A INTERNATIONAL GOLF CONFERENCE

15/05/2017

THE R&A WORKING FOR GOLF 10TH INTERNATIONAL GOLF CONFERENCE

William Beck, Malta Golf Association President, and Paul Stoner, Royal Malta Golf Club Chairman, have recently returned from a visit to the home of golf at St Andrews where they attended the 10th International Golf Conference organised by the R&A.

Held every four years, this year’s conference was attended by over 150 delegates from 74 different countries plus other delegates representing different governing entities within the game.

Keeping in line with previous meetings, the conference dealt with various topics that are influencing today’s game and, indeed, the first topic dealt with the principal – if not revolutionary – changes that are due to be introduced in 2019 to make the Rules of Golf simpler and to enhance the speed of play. The first day’s agenda also included a presentation on the new R&A equipment testing facility in St Andrews and a review on current playing statistics including driving distances. The day’s programme continued with presentations in favour of the importance of women in golf from Ms Bailey ME (LGU President); Ms Figueras-Dotti (former Women British Open Champion) and Ms Judy Murray (Tennis Coach and former Captain of the British Federation Cup team).

The second morning considered the economic value of golf with presentations of the studies carried out in the UK and Ireland. This was followed by social; environmental and sustainability issues leading to an electrifying and motivational address by Lewis Pugh – pioneer swimmer and ocean advocate. The delegates were then entertained to an afternoon’s golf on the Old Course and Kingsbarns. Arranged in flights of four with the best two net Stableford scores on each hole to count, the RMGC Chairman and his group won the competition at Kingsbarns. Yours truly claim to fortune was a birdie on the 16th par 4 on the Old Course with a simple tap in short of an eagle at the Corner of the Dyke. The competition was played using the proposed new Rules.

The last day of the conference started by reviewing the success of the game’s return to the Olympic Games in Rio and the anticipation of its presence in Tokyo 2020. This was followed by presentations and discussions on the “health” of golf specifically addressing Latin America and Asia-Pacific and the ongoing support of the R&A towards the development of the game worldwide.

The afternoon session discussed the progress of the ongoing work towards a World Handicap System before a fitting conclusion by a summary from Mr Martin Slumbers – Chief Executive of the R&A.

William Beck
May 2017