The Internationalism of Golf

While having lunch following a nice round of golf in Tenerife during the pre-fam tour of the IGTM, I looked around the table and saw a great international mix of golf tour operators. My English tour operator colleague Sarah mentioned that it was interesting to see such diversity. To my right was a Spanish golf tour operator and as I went around the table I counted a German, a Finn who spoke Swedish, a South African, an Englishwoman and the token Canadian. Golf has gone a long way from the days when only the traditional golfing communities were present.

I played my first round of this trip with Dieter, a friendly German who hits the ball well and two Russians, Boris and Elena who were learning the intricacies of the game. The second day was a competitive singles match I enjoyed with Arne, the Norwegian and ancestral Viking, and Jose, a congenial Spaniard with a London accent. This followed a game with Wendy, a traditionalist English golfer and R &A official and Alla, a determined golfer from Russia. The four golf courses we played on Tenerife were a treat with one sitting along the Atlantic Ocean where parts of the movie Fast and Furious 6 were shot (Buenevista), a challenging resort course (Golf Las Americas), the oldest course on the island (Real Club de Golf de Tenerife) and a gem with fast greens (Costa Adeje) that had a magnificent stretch of holes on the front nine.

The IAGTO golf tournament was played just before the October conference began and my teammates for this 2-man Stableford were Ziga, an engaging Slovenian, Ian from Celtic Manor in Wales and Dasha from the Czech Republic. In chatting with Ziga I found out that the Slovenian tourism board funnels substantial funds to help promote their small country of 2 million people to mostly European golfers and has been highly effective in gaining new visitors. I mentioned that Canada has 5.7 million golfers in a population of 34 million and a strong golfing culture but our Canadian tourism boards do very little to promote our country. He was very surprised at not only the size of our golf’s passion but the lack of support offered by our governing bodies for this great game. I am flummoxed too and with Whistler being nominated as one of the candidates for the North American destination of the year at the final banquet dinner, it further emphasizes the total disconnect with how the world is promoting the benefits of golf tourism and Canada does not. There were no Canadian exhibitors present at the IGTM but Brand USA certainly was out in full force.

Although I heard a constant drum of different languages when riding the bus, sipping a nice red or eating a fine Spanish tapas meal, when an exchange of different subjects inevitably expounded on exciting golf destinations English became the de facto United Nations language. The slow decline of golf’s numbers in English-speaking countries like the linksland of the UK and North America have been exchanged for the growth of the game in places like Bulgaria, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic and Morocco. And I could go on and on with the Czech Republic, Italy, Cambodia, France and others in the mix.

With golf returning to the Olympics next year in Rio after a 110+ year hiatus the world should be intrigued. Will Brazilians pick up a golf club to go along with their gold and green football jerseys? Will other South Americans even consider playing this game when it might be perceived as too elitist? These questions will be answered over the upcoming years to see what impact the 2016 Olympics have on those countries that have not embraced golf and others who are just entering the fray. All I know is that the world has shifted and golf is now accepted in an amazing number of countries. And proudly, I can announce that the last individual winner of the gold medal in individual play at the Olympics was a Canadian. His name is George S. Lyon. I look forward to chatting with my new international golf tour operator colleagues next year in Mallorca and finding out how Estonia and Brazil now view golf’s future.