Golf Director laments lack of facilities

By Hallam Hope
There is a need for more facilities in the Caribbean to take junior golf to a new level.
President of the Barbados Golf Association (BGA) Birchmore Griffith said this was one of the areas of discussion during a recent visit by Duncan Weir, Director of Golf Development at the Royal & Ancient.

Weir, who was in Barbados as the guest of the Barbados Golf Association, met with The BGA”s committee to discuss how the R & A can assist in the development of golf in Barbados.
Griffith said the discussions involved the possibility of Barbados being used as a hub for junior golf development in the region. During his visit he toured golf facilities at Barbados Golf Club, Rockley Golf Club and Sandy Lane Golf & Country Club. Among the officials he met was John McGuire, Managing Director of Rockley Golf Course Ltd.

Griffith reported that the R&A director was disappointed with the absence of a driving range for golf in Barbados and the negative impact it can have on golf development, especially the juniors. Since the closure of the island’s lone private driving range a couple years ago golfers and administrators have lamented the absence of such a facility to aid golfers and beginners of various ages and gender.
 
Weir said the R&A has contributed funds to senior and junior golf in the Caribbean since 2000. He added that during the recent Caribbean visit which took in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados he was able to follow through on contacts with golf officials and have a look at what was actually happening in these territories.

The R&A financed a coach, Bill Murray, for a stint in Barbados in 2004 and last August, Simon Dicksee, a Master Professional and member of the Professional Golfer’s Association of Europe, conducted a coaching stint for juniors at Rockley.
Weir said there was an abundance of junior talent in the Caribbean.

The R&A, based in Scotland, is golf's world rules and development body and organiser of the prestigious Open championship. Some of the funds raised from the Open are channeled into golf development around the world. The R&A operates with the consent of more than 125 national and international, amateur and professional organisations, from over 110 countries and on behalf of an estimated 28 million golfers in Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and The Americas (outside the United States and Mexico).