It’s the learned thinkers in golf that help keep the game so compelling.
There are parts of this issue that our national governing body might not enjoy reading.
Rohan Clarke’s considered analysis of the direction Golf Australia finds itself heading is an assembly then appraisal of the organisation’s various working parts at what feels like a crossroads moment. It’s far from being a ‘hatchet job’. Rather, praise is given where due, points made where valid and questions asked where required. It ranks among the more important features we’ve published in recent years.
Which leads me to the voices behind the story. It’s a feature conceived nearly 18 months ago as news broke of delays to the unveiling of the new handicapping system. After several discussions with key people working behind the scenes on the huge project, it became acutely aware all was not running as smoothly as it should be.
Last spring, I spent a couple of hours chatting with one of the people referenced in Clarke’s story. Shackled by a pesky non-disclosure agreement – which always reek of tacit admissions of chicanery – we couldn’t put him ‘on the record’, but the background information provided was integral to the final analysis.
Clarke has been a voice in Australian Golf Digest for 30 years. Of late he’s been the fly in the ointment when it comes to the biggest issues in the game, including our ongoing series, The War On Golf. Perhaps most famously, he penned the oft-shared “Is your board jeopardising the golf club’s future?” essay in 2016. We’ve been told by more than one club general manager that it was scanned, printed and pinned to the club noticeboard as don’t-miss reading material. If there’s a burning issue in Australian golf, Rohan will sniff it out.
Voices in any endeavour are an important part of its successful operation, and golf, with its many corners and far-reaching tentacles, needs to cultivate and provide air-time for its wisest advocates.
And so it goes with Australian Golf Digest. Starting from this issue, you’ll read from a wider variety of golf’s best minds. Aside from Clarke’s thought-provoking analysis, you’ll read a debut column from Jimmy Emanuel, who many of you will recognise from his excellent on-course commentary on TV coverage of the PGA Tour of Australasia. A few pages on we hear from John Huggan, who while far from being a stranger to this publication, comes to us in an unsyndicated fashion for the first time. Within our “How To Play” instruction section, PGA professional Annabel Rolley makes her return to our pages, this time wearing an entirely different hat as a qualified and practising psychologist.
And to prove we’ve gone full-volume on our voices this issue, Mike Clayton – maybe the wisest voice in the Australian game – features as our “My Shot” subject.
From next issue, we’ll welcome Geoff Ogilvy to the stable. The captain of the International team for this year’s Presidents Cup will share his insights from that role as well as his unique and thoughtful opinions on other departments in the game. And in coming months, as well as in Australian Golf Digest Women, we’ll welcome Meghan MacLaren, one of the brightest observers in the game.
Meg is 31, “Huggy” as all in golf know John, is 65. Both are UK-based while the rest fall in between their ages and boast scattered locations. It’s fair to say we’ve got the globe and society’s various generations covered. Regardless of their time spent on this planet and whereabouts upon it, though, these are the voices you can expect to hear more from this year.
Make sure you’re listening.
Top 5 voices to appear in Australian Golf Digest
5. Phil Tresidder: “The Great Man”, as we long knew him, had direct lines to the biggest names in the game throughout a storied career.
4. Dan Jenkins: Like his acerbic style or loathe it, there was no target in golf Dan wouldn’t take aim at.
3. Geoff Armstrong: We’re still befuddled how Geoff didn’t win Best Feature for his epic 2015 tale of golf-and-war hero Clyde Pearce at the now-defunct Australian Golf Media Awards.
2. Jaime Diaz: Comes from the generation that’s perfect for relating to both old and new, combined with an elite gift for analysis and storytelling.
1. Rohan Clarke: He might abuse deadlines like Bryson DeChambeau torments golf balls, but for 30 years he’s always made sure his efforts were worth the wait.
