"Inflation is when you pay
fifteen dollars for the
ten-dollar haircut you
used to get for five
dollars when you
had hair." --
Sam Ewing,
veteran humorist

The future of golf in Greece

By Alan Egford, Greek National Team Coach

The first time anyone has met me there has been just one question on their mind. Is there really a chance that Greece can produce golfers who will be able to compete on the international stage?

My answer has been a very firm "YES," and after two full months on the job I am probably even more certain we will eventually succeed. The key word though, is "eventually". I don't do miracles, and it is unfair to expect players to produce a 20% improvement in any time-scale of less than eighteen months to two years.

The size of the challenge -- in many ways, my challenge -- is enormous, so let us start with a completely objective overview of the situation. When Greece send a team of four players to any International event, the "aspiration" is that three counting scores each day will be under 80, which is to belittle no-one, as any round under 80 is good golf. When the USA, England or Sweden send a team to the same tournament, the "expectation" is the three scores will be under 70. It is tough out there, and the 68 shooters are still working to improve!! To give you some idea, Ping will no longer give support to International amateurs who are worse than Plus I - Yes, PLUS I.

The standard is amazing, but then in many ways it should be, given the length of time many countries have had organised programmes, big budgets, top class facilities and hundreds of thousands of players to choose from.

The English Golf Union has almost nine hundred thousand [877,355] players to choose from, Sweden has half a million [528,936]. I don't bother with the USA statistic. Our published figure is something over a thousand players [1,306], and my bet is that over half of those don't have a Greek passport so we can't pick from them. To put it into prospective, I've been professional at a club with a bigger membership than we have players in the country.

Give the other countries four courses, two of which are primarily for tourists and one of the others has been virtually abandoned by the owners for twenty-five years. Then tell them they can't pick half of their players! How would they be? I think you'd find we were playing on a very level playing field, possibly that the Greek achievements over the years are better than one could reasonably expect.

So --- and I'm not sure whether this is a National trait -- let's think positive.

What do you need to be a good golfer? A good brain, athletic ability and good ball skills. All of these Greeks possess in abundance.

What do you need to produce good golfers? A structured coaching programme and a steady flow of new, young talent coming into the game. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to see where the system falls down.

It is simply a case of taking the game to the under eighteen age group, in some volume, and we WILL produce players.

We have been fortunate -- very fortunate. Nestle have agreed, for the next two years, to support all our efforts to introduce the game to the youngsters. Not just financially, but with practical help in finding the necessities. It is the kind of vision and backing that has started every other country on the road to success and an opportunity we must make the most of.

We will go to the schools, bring the kids to the golf courses, make the game fun and interesting for them, run training programmes for the coaches -- in other words start from page one, do the simple things well and grow the system as progress dictated.

No-one, I hope, is pretending it will be either quick or easy. My initial contract is for three years, at which time I envisage the job will be half done, to the point where we can see a group of players who have a genuine chance of making a show Internationally by season 2006. By 2009 we should be in the situation to compete on the International stage and win something.

So, think about it. In just nine years go from last place in Europe to genuine contenders. It's a tight time scale, but achievable if we all work hard and believe in the end result, and my plea is that WE ALL think that way. Everyone currently playing in Greece will be able to take some credit as you were at the beginning. So PLEASE -- enthusiasm, backing, positive comments -- be part of your Country achieving something. It will happen.

Source: Greek "Golf" magazine, January-February-March 2000, issue 11. Interview by Vassilis Triantafyllopoulos.

Useful link:

• The Rising Stars of Greek Golf:
  Golf has never been, to adopt a phrase, a very Greek cup of coffee. By Greek National Team Coach Alan Egford's estimate, "Greece is missing out of billions -- not drachmas, not dollars, but pounds. That's an awful lot of money." Indeed, other countries have quickly seen, and seized upon, the potential that golfers offer. Spain has long been Europe's southern golf resort. In the last few years Turkey and Portugal have made massive investments to benefit from the growing number of golfers who will get away from a dreary North European climate for a few days of sunshine and golf. Financial returns for investors can be above average, especially at this early stage. Greece's golf enthusiasts think it is time for Greece to become a leader in a sport with such a vast potential. [full story...] [premium content]

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