The shows go on
Therefore, the enthusiasts who organise and fi nance events like Golf Live! in May and autumn’s London Golf Show are to be applauded by everyone connected with the game, especially as what they do is unlikely to result in any sort of personal profi t. Golf Live! - staged at Stoke
Park and the London Golf Club over its fi rst three years - switches in 2013 to Celtic Manor. Let’s hope the weather down there, for once, is kind, because as a parade of golfi ng virtues and virtuosos it’s a cracking day out. I also hope the London
Golf Show continues, even aſt er Earls Court’s demolition. More than 100 brands were on display last year and the level of interaction with the public, particularly through celebrities like TV presenter Sophie Horn and one-on-one tuition from PGA professionals, brought much credit to both the game and the organisers. The entertainment level
at these events, and others like it around the country, is fi rst-class, not just through the hole-in-one and long- putt challenges, but in the trick-shot department where the eff ortless skills of such consummate performers as David Edwards, Jeremy Dale, Geoff Swain and Kevin Carpenter belie the thousands of hours they’ve had to put in to perfect their routines.
Thankfully, there’s also no
shortage of people willing to invent, manufacture and distribute new golf products. I’ve come across two outstanding instances recently. Those of a certain age will
never forget how, in the 1960s, the Penfold Ace ball used to balloon into the wind and almost return to our feet? Also fondly remembered is the ‘roll’ it played during the famous golf match in the James Bond fi lm Goldfi nger. At long last, the name Penfold has returned to the market as a purveyor of Black Heart balls (pictured) and high-quality golf apparel. Another recipient of my
New Year’s ‘good luck’ message is James Ingles, who craſt s hand-made putters on the precision milling machinery at his family’s gun-making factory in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. David Wilton, the pro at Muswell Hill Golf Club, who’s now using a traditional Ingles blade, has transformed his putting skills from merely ‘good’ to ‘exceptional’ this year. Sensibly, James is sticking for the time being with his day job – he’s a property manager at Canary Wharf – but at least he can dream, and given the quality of his putters, why not? In 2013, the big challenge is
to translate all this razzmatazz, enthusiasm and innovation into new golfers, members and consumers. We all have a part to play.
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