Foundation’s broad look

Press, 29 January 1988, Page 18

Foundation’s broad look

PA Wellington A shortage of teaching professionals is causing the New Zealand Golf Foundation to look abroad for regional coaches — and the British professionals are queueing up for the jobs. Murray Macklin, the foundation coaching director, has hired two Englishmen, Richard Brown and Graham Darke, to take up regional appointments over the next month or so. Brown will be based in Wellington and also look after the Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay regions. Darke, who replaces the New Zealand professional, Alistair Palmer, will work from Rotorua to cover the Bay of Plenty, Poverty Bay and Waikato-Thames Valley. Macklin is sifting through the applications of 40 other British professionals seeking to take up coaching duties in the Otago-Southland area in July. It is not that New Zealand professionals are unsuitable; it is more a case that they are not available. “There are about 400 clubs in the country but there are only about 75 to 80 club professionals. Granted, a lot of clubs do not require a professional but we are losing ground. “We put out a feeler in the N.Z.P.G.A. for regional coaches and only found one — Simon Owen is ; taking over the

Manawatu-Wanganui and Taranaki regions — so we had to look abroad,” said Macklin. “By July this year we will have seven regional coaches. By 1992 I plan to have one regional coach for each of the 14 associations affiliated to the New Zealand Golf Association.” The foundation, formed to promote golf through schools and Y.M.C.A.s, has had a profound impact. “We introduced 30,000 people to golf last year and they were people who had never held a club in their hand,” said Macklin. “We are not silly enough to believe they will ail take up the game but, if we bag 10 per cent it is going it is going a long way towards the game’s