Templeton event good for golf

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32460, 21 November 1970, Page 14

Templeton event good for golf

(By

THE lead given by the Templeton professional T. J. Kelso—and by the Templeton club—in the promotion of a Pro-Am tournament each year could be ot considerable benefit to Canterbury golf. That is, if the example set is not ignored, or forgotten. At Templeton last Sunday, there was a full field of amateurs, including some of the very best in the South Island, and 16 professionals. Kelso put in a lot of hard work to get the tournament off the ground for the first time last year, but basically his scheme is a simple one, and it could well be followed by some of the other Christchurch clubs. The first requirement is the willingness of a club to give the course to its professional for one day a year. At Templeton, Kelso’s use of the course speaks of a mutual confidence which must be an advantage to both parties; professionals today are integral parts of nearly every club. The $3OO prize money for the professionals came in the form of sponsorship by members of the club who are in business. The entry fees paid for the amateurs’ trophies. Kelso hopes that a minicircuit can be established.

R. T. BRITTENDEN)

Such an arrangement would certainly help raise the standard of the professionals’ golf; at present very few of them play often enough to keep at their playing best. But it might be argued that the form of a few professionals is of little consequence to the bulk of amateur golfers. There can be no question, however, that such tournaments help strengthen amateur golf, too. There is developing a friendly but quite keen rivalry between the professionals and amateurs in Canterbury which must benefit both sections, if they can compete more often. A strictly-organised and highly-competitive tournament such as the Terry Kelso Pro-Am is the very thing Canterbury amateur golfers need. . There are distinct hopes that Kelso’s plan for a pro-fessional-amateur mini-cir-cuit will be successful. On January 9 and 10, there will be a similar event at Greymouth; Templeton has a summer open in February at which professionals compete; Weedons is thinking about putting on a pro-am event; and so is the Timaru Golf Club. At Greymouth, the holes have been sold at $3O each and there will be $5OO in

prize money for the professionals, with entry fees buying the amateurs’ prizes. The total income for the Greymouth event will be $l6OO and it will all go back into the tournament. There is a deep freeze unit as a prize for a hole-in-one at a particular hole, and there might very well be a stereogram for another, a set of clubs for a third. There is also a prospect of a car in this prize list. The idea behind the tournament is to promote golf, and to promote Greymouth. So far, nine professionals have entered and there will be several more. Kelso has another idea for Greymouth. The annual meeting of the New Zealand P.G.A. in Wellington is always followed by a twoday tournament for professionals. He hopes to persuade the P.G.A. to hold its national closed championship at Greymouth on the week-end before the annual meeting, which would give the professionals two tournaments within a few days. Kelso is to be congratulated on his enterprise,’ and so is the templeton club. If a few more clubs come to the conclusion that 'they could serve golf and golfers by making similar arrangements, it would be a step forward for Canterbury’s professional and amateur players.