At least one politician has gone into the Dail's summer recess with golf on his mind. Fine Gael's Austin Deasy, a former Minister for Sport, concerned that not enough is being done to assist aspiring tour players, recently tabled a question in the Oireachtas to the current Minister, Dr Jim McDaid, asking that Ireland should follow the Swedish model and establish a "full-time academy for our promising young golfers".
In his reply, Minister McDaid - while emphasising that the responsibilities for the "development and promotion" of golf is primarily a matter for the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) and the Irish Ladies' Golf Union - admitted he hadn't "taken the Swedish idea on board", adding: "I do not know what it would cost. However, it has worked for Sweden and it would be nice to see Ireland's image portrayed in a similar fashion."
Whether such a Dail question will eventually spawn a state-of-the-art academy for the country's young players remains to be seen, but GUI president Paddy Murphy - a proponent of the notion that golf's governing body should own their course and academy - points out that finance is an integral part of any such development.
"Our structure, as it stands, is quite good - but, obviously, the more money that we can put into coaching then the more benefit that will be accrued," said Murphy. "Personally, the idea of a national academy is a fantastic one. But where is the money going to come from?
"The GUI is already spending over £350,000 a year on coaching and technical back-up, at national and provincial level. We get £90,000 in financial assistance from the Irish Sports Council, of which £40,00 goes towards coaching and £50,000 goes to elite players. I often wonder how we do so well when you compare our resources to those of the Swedes."
In Sweden, in fact, where there is one national golfing federation covering amateurs and professionals, the coaching budget for the year is £2 million. Of that, £1 million comes from a government lottery, and the other £1 million comes from private sponsorship. Additionally, Swedish professionals on tour give a percentage of their winnings towards the development of the game in Sweden.
One of Murphy's gripes, indeed, focuses on the plight of aspiring tour players who, if they fail to secure a tour card, are effectively "abandoned", as he puts it. Earlier this year, 18 young players benefited from the new Team Ireland Golf Trust - administered by the Irish Sports Council - which has an initial fund of £190,000 per annum for three years. But this pales in comparison with the financial input of the Swedes, who are very much the model.
If Ireland - through the Government - is to imitate the Swedes by establishing a national academy, then it is going to take a significant amount of financial support. And how many more Swedes will have won the Irish Open before the next Irishman gets his hand on the trophy? Or before such an academy comes about?
