1 May 2009, St Andrews, Scotland: The R&A’s Working for Golf Conference drew to a close today. The final session was a question and answer with Peter Dawson where The R&A’s Chief Executive responded to questions about many of the issues which had been discussed throughout the three-day event.
The conference was attended by delegations representing the women’s and men’s game, from 60 countries, alongside representatives from PGAs from around the world and the PGA European Tour.
Today’s programme included presentations on golf’s social responsibility from Vicky Whyte, Brazilian Golf Confederation; Brendon Pyle, the Golf Foundation; and Ronald Fream, Golf Plan; on projects using golf for community and social development in Japeri, Brazil; Sheffield, England; and Bhutan respectively.
Peter Dawson presented golf’s bid for inclusion in the Olympic Games which preceded a presentation by David Garland, Director of Tour Operations for the PGA European Tour, about the introduction of anti-doping, on the day’s agenda. The issue of the sustainable golf course management was also discussed, before a presentation of golf’s oldest known films was shown to the congregation.
Over the three days of the conference, held at the Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews, issues such as pace of play, amateur status, the Rules of Golf, technology, the World Amateur Golf Rankings, and Golf Development joined golf’s social responsibility, Olympic Golf, and anti-doping on an agenda that tackled many of the most pressing discussion points in the sport today.
ENDS
Note to Editors
R&A National Affiliated Organisations attending the conference include: Argentine Golf Association, Golf Australia, Austrian Golf Association, Bangladesh Golf Federation, Botswana Golf Union, Brazilian Golf Confederation, Bulgarian Golf Association, Royal Canadian Golf Association, Cayman Islands Golf Association, Chilean Golf Federation, China Golf Association, Chinese Taipei Golf Association, Colombian Golf Federation, Croatian Golf Association, Czech Golf Federation, Danish Golf Union, Egyptian Golf Federation, El Salvador Golf Federation, English Golf Union, English Women’s Golf Association, Estonian Golf Association, Finnish Golf Union, French Golf Federation, German Golf Association, Hong Kong Golf Association, Golf Union of Iceland, Indian Golf Union, Golfing Union of Ireland, Irish Ladies Golf Union, Italian Golf Federation, Ivory Coast Golf Federation, Japan Golf Association, Luxembourg Golf Federation, Malaysian Golf Association, Malta Golf Association, Netherlands Golf Federation, New Zealand Golf Incorporated, Nicaraguan Golf Federation, Norwegian Golf Federation, Pakistan Golf Federation, Peruvian Golf Federation, Polish Golf Union, Portuguese Golf Federation, Professional Golfers’ Association, PGA European Tour, PGA France, PGA Holland, PGA of Germany, PGA of South Africa, PGA of Sweden, Puerto Rico Golf Federation, Qatar Golf Association, Scottish Golf Union, Scottish Ladies Golfing Association, Slovak Golf Association, Golf Association of Slovenia, South African Golf Association, Royal Spanish Golf Federation, Swedish Golf Federation, Swiss Golf Association, Tanzania Golf Union, Thailand Golf Association, Turkish Golf Federation, Golf Union of Wales,
The R&A
Based in St Andrews, The R&A is golf’s governing body and organiser of The Open Championship. The R&A is committed to working for golf and operates with the consent of 136 organisations from the amateur and professional game and on behalf of over thirty million golfers in 123 countries.
Contact:
Malcolm Booth, Assistant Director – Head of Communications
The R&A
Tel: +44 1334 460000
