IRELAND has been targeted for a key role in an ambitious project to help young players progress to a career as tournament professionals. In fact talks have already taken place with a view to having an Irish event as part of the British Professional Golf Tour, which was launched this week by the PGA.
The top five players in last season's Irish Order of Merit Brendan McGovern, Jimmy Heggarty, David Jones, Damien McGrane and Damian Mooney are automatically exempt for the tour. Other aspirants, including amateurs, can claim places through a qualifying school which will be held at John O'Gaunt GC in Bedfordshire on April 16th-19th.
The idea is that the British PGA should play its part towards grooming future candidates for the Ryder Cup, in which it has a major stake. And to give everybody a chance, prospective challengers don't have to be members of the PGA or indeed hold any specific professional status, which is a requirement of the European Tour.
"It has long been recognised that young professionals trying to make the grade in Europe struggle to find opportunities," said PGA executive director Sandy Jones. "We aim to give them that opportunity without risking their own funds, which are often in short supply."
The latter point is a reference to the Howson Tour in Britain where challengers pay an entry fee of about £150 so that they can effectively play for their own money. Based on a popular American concept, it has been boycotted by the PGA because of its financial structure.
The new tour will bring Britain into line with Continental countries which already have national professional circuits. It is expected that six or seven events, each valued at £25,000, will be staged this year. And it has been decided that the top five players in each of the PGA's seven regional orders of merit for 1995, including the Irish Region, are automatically exempt.
Meanwhile, the PGA have reached agreement with the Japanese company, Gosen, as corporate sponsors and the tour's promoters had talks with Irish officials in London this week with a view to staging an event in the Republic, where they hope to gain Bord Failte support. In fact the schedule for this, the inaugural season, is being finalised.
Apart from the five exempt Irishmen, it offers the opportunity of tournament golf at quality venues to players such as Stephen Hamill, Karl O'Donnell, Leslie Robinson, Kevin Morris and Leslie Walker. Indeed non GA members like Jim Carvill and David Errity will also be welcome to what will be an invaluable outlet for players who fail to get through the European Tour School.
As a representative of the sponsoring company suggested. We hope that the Gosen Tour will act as a catalyst for unearthing the European stars of the future.
. GARY PLAYER was delighted at his recent success with a new, titanium faced, graphite shafted driver. And he considered the 45 inch club good enough to allow the manufacturers to call it the "Black Knight" as part of an endorsement deal. Indeed he was so thrilled with its design characteristics that, given a choice between the club and his wife, Vivienne, Player said "I'd miss her." Which, of course, was a serious mistake.
When the veteran South African arrived at his next tournament, Vivienne had a little surprise for him. The driver was in his hotel bed, wrapped in a negligee a Black Knightie? From an adjoining room came his wife's voice "You made your choice. You want to sleep with your driver? There it is." Ah women can be so cruel.
. IT is not the end, but sadly, it is the beginning of the end. I refer to this week's announcement that Jack Nicklaus is likely to opt out of the British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes, after 34 successive appearances. The chances are that he may not return to the Open until the millennium staging at St Andrew's in 2000.
Things might be different if in the meantime it were going to his beloved Muirfield, where he captured the title for a first time in 1966. But the venues for the next four years are Royal Troon (1997), Royal Birkdale (1998), Carnoustie (1999) and St Andrews (2000).
Surely he will find it impossible to resist a return to St Andrews. One recalls his words after the play off victory over Doug Sanders on the Old Course in, 1970 "There is no other place in the world I would rather win an Open Championship than here . I can't tell you what it means or what it is like, standing on the 18th green. I've never been so excited in my, life."
When he won for a third time at St Andrews in 1978, he had been without a major triumph since the USPGA Championship three years previously. This rather odd state of affairs prompted him to remark "Three years without a major win makes you think Am I ever going to win again? I am very proud of myself to have done what I had to do so well."
A familiar statistic is that Nicklaus was runner up in the British Omen on no fewer than seven occasions. But to fully grasp his astonishing dominance of the event, it should be noted that over a 15 year period from 1966 to 1980, inclusive he was never outside the top six, while winning three times.
Against that back ground if is appropriate to recall the words of the Guardian's celebrated golf correspondent, Pat Ward Thomas, describing the breakthrough of 30 years ago. He wrote "In more than a century, the Open Championship has known many great days, but few have surpassed the last act at Muirfield where Jack Nicklaus joined the Olympians of golf.
"His victory by one stroke from most gallant, challengers in Sanders and Thomas completed for him the modern quadrilateral of supremacy. In all history, Hogan, Player and Sarazen alone have won the American and British Opens, the Masters and the USPGA Championships. And Nicklaus was only 26 in January of this year."
. IAN WEBB, chairman of the Royal and Ancient's Amateur Status Committee, was in Dublin this week as guest speaker at the annual general meeting of the ILGU. Among other things, he insisted that vouchers may never be converted to cash or used to pay a club subscription. Nor can a subscription become a prize.
The meeting as also notable for the fact that Juliett McHugh of Galway GC became the union's first president elect and will succeed Colette Holmes of Limerick GC in 1997. Cathy Smith of Mullingar GC was reappointed as hon secretary of the Central Junior Committee.
Meanwhile, further afield, it has also been a memorable week for Betsy Rawls. Winner of 55 tournaments from 1951 to 1975, including the US Women's Open on four occasions, Rawls becomes only the eighth woman to receive the annual Bob Jones Award in recognition of distinguished sporting contribution to the game.
The other women recipients were Peggy Kirk Bell, Patty Berg, Joanne Carner, Margaret Curtis, Maureen Garrett, Glenna Collett Vare and Mildred "Babe" Zaharias.
IN BRIEF People in Need have found a fascinating way of involving the country's golfers in their annual telethon. The First National Building Society Golf Aid challenges each club to complete 18 holes in the shortest possible time all in a good cause. Details from 01 679 2944 or fax 01 6798062 Joe Carr, who was regarded by no less an observer than Peter Alliss as the best amateur golfer in these islands "from the end of World War II until Michael Bonallack became a dominant force," will be 74 tomorrow Maurice Quinn informs me that the annual inter golf club bridge tournament for the Mollie Fox Cup will he held at Elm Park on March 7th-14th. Details from Helen Boland 01 490 0330.
TEASER A player, making a stroke on the bank of a bunker hits the ball to the top of the bank. The ball then rolls back down the bank and comes to rest against the player's foot. The player removes his foot and the ball rolls into his footprint. What is the ruling?
ANSWER In match play the player loses the hole (Rule 19-2). In stroke play, the player incurs a penalty of two strokes (Rule 9-2b) and must replace the ball on the spot at which it came to rest against his foot. A further penalty under Rule 18-2a (Ball at rest moved by player) would not be appropriate in the circumstances.
