Mike Aggrey
President of the Ghana Golf Association (GGA) Mike Aggrey has commended the works of the various golf clubs in the country and their Executives for making 2016 momentous.
He said in his annual report that the year under review has been largely successful due to the cooperation of all Clubs and their Executives.
“Throughout 2016, the GGA has offered support to all the Clubs in Ghana, with a real focus on grassroots and Junior Golf Development.
“There have been seminars and workshops for all Club Managers, Green Keepers and Professionals to give them new ideas on how best to grow the game and its profile in Ghana.”
“Hands on training have also been given to Professionals up and down the country, by coaching at local schools and specialised equipment have been donated to all clubs who have shown the enthusiasm to increase their junior section,” said the GGA boss.”
The former captain of the Achimota Golf Club added that “Inter Old Schools’ games have been on the ascendancy, and there is a growing development in female participation also. Although unconfirmed, all indications are that we were able to reach our goal of growing the golfing population by 10% during 2016.”
“I feel that the Western Region deserves a special mention for they are without doubt producing the best results and making the biggest efforts. We fully expect other clubs, especially the 18-hole clubs to use their numeral advantage to attract more golfers in the coming year.”
“The constitution of the Ghana Golf Association has also undergone a thorough review to fit the current development of golf in the world, as well as growing the game of golf in the country, we will be forwarding that document to you for your review in due course.”
“We were able to stage successfully four (4) tournaments out of the five (5) anticipated; The Junior Open at Achimota, the World Junior Championship in Scotland, the Ghana Open at Celebrity sponsored by Airtel, and the Seniors Open at Coconut Grove Golf Club sponsored by Gold Fields Ghana and others. We were unable to go to the World Amateur Championship in Mexico.”
He indicated that its achievements have not been without challenges saying, “In our quest to centralise the Handicap System in Ghana, we have enquired from other countries and the R&A and plans are far advanced in implementing this system in Ghana, but have not been successful as yet. There has also been sponsorship fatigue which hampered the progress of our development in Junior Training and workshops.”
“In 2017, we expect to grow exponentially with new initiatives and renewed efforts at sponsorship and development.”