Disabled golf has a problem in the uk
The problem has caused not a joining of forces but in fact a fracture that runs so deep and with so much hatred, petty mindedness and downright corruption in certain area that I feel it may take years to repair if possible at all.
When I first came into disabled golf around three years ago, I was amazed by the talent that was being shown by the disabled competitors and I loved the fact that when you see the final group coming down 18 on the last day of a tournament, you don't see the disability, you are too in awe of the golfing skill on show. When I saw this, I wanted in. I wanted to be a part of what I saw as a disabled golf family.
I left a sport I loved, and one that I was already a member of the national squad and I concentrated on golf.
I wanted it so badly I could taste it.
I wanted to be in that last group on the final day
I wanted to win that top prize
So I trained
And just like my competitors all over the world, we improved and got more competitive and before I knew it I was a single figure handicap and I was competing in the top group and thought life was good.
Then I started to notice the politics.
The way that as soon as one disabled association was mentioned, everyone had stories of varying degrees of legality and how by alaigning yourself with the wrong group could see you " expelled " by the supposed power group who could make life pleasant or a struggle in the disabled golf world.
I started to see the real people behind the positions of supposed power in various associations and clubs across the uk and I didn't like what I saw.
The back biting, the sneaky phone coversations that started with the phrase, " I shouldn't be telling you this but....", the scheming that occurred on a seemingly regular and accepted frequency.
As members of associations, we want to know that we can rely on our peers and those in positions of power to act in a manner befitting and progress our great game forward.
We are players of one of the only games in the world that everyone can play on a level playing field regardless of who they are or whether they have a disability or not and I fear that with the current uk structure we are going to achieve the exact opposite of our aims.
We will end up driving people away from our game if we don't sort our crap out NOW !!!
Are we now really in a place where we are prepared to allow a small minority of people to ruin our good name and sport or are we, as I hope, ready to stop messing around and start moving our sport forward and working towards the holy grail of Paralympic inclusion !!
Can you imagine Paralympic inclusion at the moment with the current state of British disabled golf ?
Who would run the national team for a start ? Balasa ? DGA ? SDGP ? golf England ?
I know a few people that would love to add that to their titles but lets be honest, would it or could it work at the minute ?
I think not.
The politics of the present time would kill any hope we would have of creating a great golf squad. And it certainly wouldn't be from the lack of talent. I can think of at least a half dozen golfers from England, Scotland and wales that would breeze into a GB team but won't get a chance because of allegiances or the whim of a committee member.
The present situation is a joke. Those of you in the know will already be aware that I have been dropped from the GB team for the upcoming Copa del Nacion in Spain ( I was part of the last winning squad, have never lost for GB or England, I'm also the European order of merit winner last year and hopefully this year and have won two out of three European disabled tour events this year). Reason for my dropping, because my subs were late and when I was representing england against France in st Omer earlier this yer, me and a team mate grabbed a couple of hours sleep in my car so we didn't wake up our respective teamates as it was 3am. To add insult to injury, I won the winning point, on the 18th green to win the challenge trophy for England. After a great team performance and a great team morale. This is what I got. Do I deserve to be dropped from what is the equivalent of the euros ? I don't think so, but you may disagree and that's your prerogative. Do I think the decision was made for the greater good of the team ? NO
Do I think the decision was made as a vindictive snidey way to hit me where it hurt ? Oh yes indeedy.
The current politics is a cancer slowly killing our game.
I haven't named the person whom I know is responsible for the demise of a great association and as he likes to try and get scary and threaten legal action to throw his weight around and I shall not confirm or comment as to his name so please do not ask me to.
I'm sure that the number of good people in disabled golf hugely outweighs the bad and I'm sure that we can get British disabled golf back to where we should be.
I gave up my amateur status to try an bring some more publicity to the great talent that we have in disabled golf in the uk and to try and entice more people to take up the sport that has changed my life.
It's time to start making a noise if something's wrong. It's time to take our sport into the current century with dignity and pride. Lets show the rest of Europe and the world that the British system isn't busted and antiquated. Lets find those disabled golfers and train them. Lets introduce people to the most enjoyable and frustrating sport known to man.
Let them know what it is to throw off their disability, watch the ball drop in the hole and become....
A Golfer
A rant by Andy Gardiner