December 2011 www.insidegolf.com.au...................................................................................................................................................................................................
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Now is the time for all golf lovers to come to the aid of their game ThRee of the biggest weeks in Australian Golf history are now but a fading memory. For a brief time, Australia was the centre of the golf world’s attention, but with The Emirates Australian Open, The Presidents Cup and The PGA Championship Sponsored by Coca-Cola now behind us, we’re now left with a type of post-Christmas-morning letdown, when you have nothing but a lonely tree and a pile of torn wrapping paper. Sure, we still have some spectacular tournaments to look forward to in the JBWere Masters, and the lPGA-enhanced Handa Women’s Australian Open, but for the most part, the’ Big 3 of 2011’ was our main event...our moment to shine. And shine we did! in the days and weeks following these stellar tournaments, the world media embraced Australian sport and the amazing country we live in. The players, tournament organisers, journalists, volunteers and others all raved about Australia. There can be no better boost for tourism than that. The question we must now ask is: What’s next? Or, more importantly, what can YOU do to keep the fires burning? Golf in Australia is at a very important juncture. While it would be very easy to rest on our laurels (and pray that our previous work pays dividends) the truth of the matter is that the work is only just beginning. There is no better time than right now to capitalise on the opportunity, and bring Australian Golf back to a world-class level – back to, say, when the Aussie Open was the “Unofficial Fifth Major” and we had world-class golfers on our doorstep every year.
Major corporate sponsors, government funding and support from our tourism bodies are critical in this endeavour. The sponsors are coming...slowly. But we need many, many more. Corporate sponsors equal bigger prize pools and appearance funds. Bigger prize pools & funds attract top players. Top players attract big crowds. Big crowds attract more corporate sponsors. And on it goes. The tourism bodies are also starting to kick in (again, slowly), with initiatives like the recentlylaunched “Great Golf Courses of Australia”. But this is just a start. We need to educate others (especially in the government) about the vast economic, health, and social benefits that golf brings to our communities. And this is where YOU come in. if you are a true lover of the game, why not write a letter to the ‘powers that be’ and show your support for golf. i know that most of you are no stranger to pen and paper (i receive enough letters from you each month to know this for a fact!) so why not write an extra letter or email in support of golf? it doesn’t have to be long. it doesn’t even have to be that well written. it just needs to be passionate. Write to anyone of importance: Government, Tourism or Corporate bigwigs. Or write to your local school to see about getting Golf Australia’s MyGolf program implemented. Anyone. Just write. explain to these people why golf is important to you. explain the health/social/community benefits of golf. Anything. Just get golf into their minds, and into the media. While you’re at it, write to the Broadcast/TV media as well. They need to know that over one
million of us support this great game (so they never, eVeR do something as boneheaded as cutting away from a live golf broadcast in order to show a repeat of ‘hotseat’. Are you listening, Channel Nine?). We need to show them that a four-hour telecast of golf is far more economically profitable to them than, say, repeats of ‘Cops’. (Are you listening, TeN/ONe hD?). Golf Australia and the PGA are doing their bit to promote golf. here at Inside Golf, we’re doing our bit as well. Now it’s your turn to help out. Working together, we can all help bring our great game back into prominence on the world stage. So get writing. And let us know how you go. Until next time...
Richard Fellner editor
33 on thE CovER: 30 New Rules: how the 2012 USGA/ R&A new rules will affect your game 32 Senior Moments: We chat with Peter Senior about his American success 33 A “Royal” Treat: Our full recap of The Presidents Cup 38 Deck the halls! The top gear to add to your Christmas list 49 WiN one of five Bollé prize packs! REGuLARs:
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