GGA educates media on golf

The Ghana Golf Association (GGA) yesterday held a seminar at the Accra Stadium with the aim of educating the media about the rules, regulations, and culture of golf.

GGA Vice President Mike Aggrey said Ghanaian media coverage of the sport is often inaccurate because the majority of reporters are uninformed about golf.

The GGA hopes that better media coverage will allow the sport to continue to grow more popular in Ghana.

“If Ghana’s professional golf community achieves a level of competency that spectators will pay to watch, tournaments can offer greater cash prizes and help establish Ghana as an international golfing destination,” said Aggrey.

Reviewing the basic rules of golf, he said: “A player takes his or her first shot of a hole from the tee-off and continues to hit the ball until the ball has dropped in the hole that is dug into the putting surface. “The amount of shots a player hits is their score for the hole.

There are 18 holes on a golf course, and the total number of shots a player hits amounts to his or her score for the round.

“Holes are dubbed par-3, par-4, or par-5, which refers to the expected number of shots required to complete the hole. Whereas a par-3 is typically less than 200 meters long, a par-5 is usually more than 400 meters long. The 14 clubs a player carries vary in power, and the player must decide which club to use based on distance from the hole,” he added.

Aggrey and GGA President Dr. Felix K. Frempong alternated in explaining various facets of the sport and refuting any common misconceptions, most prominently golf’s reputation for being a sport that requires less athletic strength and stamina.

Aggrey said that the average golf course is roughly 6500 meters long, but due to the distance between holes and shots gone awry, the average player walks eight to ten kilometers in an 18-hole round. Accounting for practice swings, Aggrey estimated most golfers swing their club roughly 200 times per round.

“If you walk three or four miles and don’t wake up with aches and pains, you are superhuman,” Frempong said.

The program was supported by Dosca Travel and Tours Limited.