Future looks mixed for golf at Olympics
As the world No 1 men’s player and the rising LPGA Tour star look set to grab the headlines for many years to come, it’s a tantalising prospect for Irish golf fans looking forward to golf’s reintroduction to the Summer Games in two years’ time.
And one that is potentially moving a step closer to reality in China this week as the sport, along with rugby sevens, officially re-joined the International Olympic Committee family at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing.
Kevin LeBlanc, of The Island, and Royal County Down’s Olivia Mehaffey are currently flying the flag for Ireland in China and having finished tied for 16th and 24th respectively in their 54-hole strokeplay events last week at the Gary Player-designed Zhongshan International Golf Club, they have returned to the same course tocompete in a mixed team event that the R&A’s Asia-Pacific director Dominic Wall believes could be a taste of things to come for the game in future Olympiads.
“I think what’s really exciting for this event and potentially for the future of the Olympics too, is that we’ve got a mixed team event,” Wall, acting as the International Golf Federation delegate to the Youth Olympics, told the Irish Examiner from Nanjing.
“So the first day, the boy and the girl play foursomes together, the second day they play fourball and then the third day [today], they both play 18 holes as individuals. So it’s four rounds of golf for the team event over the three days. This is a different sort of format and we think that’s going to be very successful.
“We’ve got some very good players here and we’re really looking forward to seeing how it goes and how well they can play. It should be good.”
Regardless of the future formats for golf at Summer Games, the R&A’s Wall, effectively the Youth Olympics tournament director in his role as IGF delegate, believes re-entering the Olympic family this past week in Nanjing has marked a significant moment for golf.
“I think this is very important because this is the first chance to showcase our sport within the Olympic community. The two new sports, golf and rugby sevens, are here with all the others and I think particularly for our test sports this is a wonderful opportunity to show the Olympic family, the IOC and all the NOCs [National Organising Committees] here what we can do and how the sport operates.
“Certainly from an IGF point of view, we’re very keen to make this is as good as possible and in addition to the golf tournament we’re putting on promotions within Nanjing to showcase golf, so we’re taking this very seriously and I would hope the IOC and the organising committee would do as well.”
Nor is the significance of golf’s big splash back into the IOC community being made in China lost on the sport’s main man at these Youth Olympics.
“For the sport of golf it’s very good because clearly the sport is growing very rapidly in China and so to have our first foray into the Olympics here is very exciting,” Wall said.
“It’s a very good golf course, we’ve the No 1 Chinese player in the field, Zecheng Dou, who I think will do very well, he’s a pretty good player [and finished eighth in the men’s individual event]. But there’s strong players from all over the world here, like Spain, Italy and Sweden, who have two players here ranked in the top 10 in the world amateur rankings. So even though its a Youth Olympics, we’ve got some great players here.
“We’re also running activities in schools for children and teachers to show how we can make golf accessible and available within schools, so to that end we’re giving out a lot of short golf sets to try and encourage golf in schools. And we’re working closely with the China Golf Association, so we’re taking this very seriously to try and show that golf is a sport that is for everyone.
“It’s a global event from an IGF point of view but because we’re specifically in China, we’re doing a few things to focus on golf in China, to show the people that golf is here in the Olympics and happy to be here and that golf can enhance the Olympics by being involved.”
Mary McKenna’s (pictured) contribution to women’s golf in Ireland cannot be underestimated and her name will, from next year, be perpetually linked to an All-Ireland championship.
Woodenbridge Golf Club will next week officially launch the Mary McKenna Diamond Trophy Tournament, an All-Ireland senior club championship for women aged over 60 that the Avoca, County Wicklow club hopes will be as popular with Irish female golfers as their JB Carr Diamond Trophy tournament for O60s has been with men since they introduced that event in 1996.
Almost 200 clubs across the island now participate in that event, with this year’s final taking place on September 6 and 7 at Woodenbridge GC. No better time or place, then, to announce the inaugural ladies’ version, which will begin in 2015 with every ILGU-affiliated golf club set to be invited later this year to participate in the Mary Mc Kenna Diamond Trophy tournament.
Organisers say the competition will start at county level, then regional level before the national finalists play the semi-finals and finals over a weekend at Woodenbridge Golf Club, with 12-time national title winner McKenna, a two-time Curtis Cup captain and before that a member of nine consecutive GB & Ireland teams, hosting a gala dinner and trophy presentation.
A trip to Dubai and the chance to represent Ireland is up for grabs at Fota Island tomorrow as 84 competitors compete in the national final of the Audi quattro Cup.
The tournament, open to Audi car owners playing with an invited team partner, will see the winners represent Audi Ireland at this year’s world final at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. This week’s field for the national final comprises winners from seven regional qualifying tournaments played on renowned courses such as Enniscrone, Glasson Hotel, the K Club and Faithlegg.
Last year’s winner, Charleville Golf Club’s Clement Hehir and team-mate Tom Barrett, jetted off to Los Angeles as Ireland’s representatives in the Audi quattro World Cup final at the world renowned Trump National Golf Course.
Belated congratulations are due to Miriam Malone and Noranne Callaghy of Edenderry Golf Club following their victory in the 2014 NCBI Granard Cup final at Elm Park earlier this month.
The 18-hole foursomes tournament raised nearly €22,000 for the NCBI, which will help provide support and services to people in Ireland living with sight loss.
The NCBI Granard Cup is the oldest charity event in the Irish ladies’ golfing calendar havingbeen established in 1933 by agroup of golfers who accepted the challenge to provide a home teacher for the blind in every county inIreland.
