Olympics is making golf less elitist and more for the people, says R&A's Roger Bathurst

Greater Noida, April 26 (IANS) The introduction of golf in the Olympic Games in 2016 after more than a 100-year gap has helped it shed the so-called elitist tag, said Roger Bathurst, Chairman (Rules) of The Royal & Ancient (R&A), during the curtain-raiser press conference for the Level 3 Tournament Administrators & Referees Seminar (TARS) here at the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort on Saturday.

“It is an enormous privilege to be here to organize the Level 3 TARS in India. It is a terrific part of our mission to promote the game of golf to the world. I love the fact that the Olympics are making golf less elitist and more of a game for people; the game is growing.

"We're very pleased to see the game continue to grow throughout the world. And that's really the point of us being here and helping with the refereeing work in India. Last week, we were in Vietnam, talking about people from a number of countries around Southeast Asia. And in any way that the R&A can promote the game and by the use of rules education, we can do that, we find that very beneficial indeed towards the entire growth of the game,” Roger Bathurst said during his address.

Bathurst said The R&A sees India as a territory with huge golf potential and to elevate the standard of golf, the standard of refereeing also needs to rise. In fact, 49 Indian referees and one from Bangladesh will be taking part in Level 3 TARS.

The two-day seminar-cum-certification-exam will include interactive sessions on rules of refereeing, course marking, course set-up, local rules, practical demonstration, role-play sessions, pace of play, score recording, suspension of play, and course evacuation by esteemed experts.

The expert panel includes Roger Bathurst - Chairman of The R&A Rules Committee, Jin Woo Kim - The R&A Assistant Director (Rules), Eddy Putra - former R&A Rules Committee advisory member, Henry Arabelo - Tournament Director of the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation and R Shyam Sunder - IGU Rules Director.

Speaking about hosting the inaugural Level 3 TARS in India, Brijinder Singh, President of the Indian Golf Union said: “Being the National Sports Federation recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS) and International Golf Federation (IGF), the Indian Golf Union is fully committed to promoting the sport of golf to various nooks and corners of the sub-continent.

"One of the most important roles of the IGU is upskilling and certification of coaches and referees. Currently, we have 28 Level 3 certified active Indian referees, and we are confident that the 49 Indians taking the TARS exam this time will qualify for the same, which will be almost a 200% rise in the number of rule officials,” he said.

The Level 3 seminar serves as a crucial component of The R&A’s Rules Education Programme, aimed at equipping candidates with the necessary skills and standards to function as tournament officials or referees.

--IANS

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