What led to your appointment in the first place?
Hugh Staunton, who was the President back then, appointed me. My committee consisted of two members with Iain [Valentine, former HKGA CEO] and Brad [Schadewitz, National Coach] One of the reasons I was appointed I think was because I had first-hand experience of going through a successful sporting junior development programme – tennis, in my case. I represented Hong Kong internationally and knew how much benefit a structured programme would bring for the juniors. To cut a long story short, I understood how to put the programme together – for example, the need for private-sector sponsorship and financial support from the government. I was fortunate to have played in many high-level tournaments both locally and overseas, including the Junior Wimbledon and US Open Championships. It was a huge experience for my tennis and personal development. I felt, coming into the role, that there were a lot of similarities between golf and tennis.
What was your first order of business?
A successful junior development programme requires money, access to courses and practice facilities and a big pool of players. We already had good access to the Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course - and they have been fantastic - but we also needed the support of the clubs. So we wrote to them - The Hong Kong Golf Club, Discovery Bay Golf Club, Clearwater Bay Golf Club and Shek O Country Club) - and I have to say they were and continue to be extremely helpful. They understood that in order for the sport to prosper, you have to look after the juniors who often do not have the luxury of club membership.
At the time, we had some sanction money through the Hong Kong Open and the government was financially supportive to a degree but it was the sponsorship of the junior programme in 2009 that really helped us and made the difference. Our juniors were competing more in regional events - and doing quite well - but it was when they started going over to the States in the summer that we saw the biggest improvement. We’d always had players competing in the Junior World Golf Championships [in San Diego], but they would just fly in, play the event and fly back out. There was little preparation time. So we changed that and arranged longer tours with more events. That has helped a great deal as proven by the subsequent results. Spending the summer practicing and competing overseas at great facilities and in ideal weather is something that all the kids enjoyed. Over two dozen players have benefited from this, including Tiffany Chan.
Thanks to the performances that Hong Kong - both individual and team - players have achieved in recent times, this past year has seen golf admitted by the Hong Kong Sports Institute as a Tier B sport, and this will bring additional funding and give us access to physical training facilities and support.
Looking back, we’ve achieved far more than we ever thought we would. Brad has been instrumental in the process and we wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we’ve without him. We worked really well together. Despite our occasional disagreements - not many! - we discovered what worked and what didn’t. In addition to Brad, the programme would not have gotten here without the help of all the past and present HKGA staff, in particular the past and current chief executives, Iain Valentine and Tom Phillips, as well as all the Executive Committee and my Junior and International subcommittee members.
