‘A game of golf for our ministers’

Mr Felix Owusu-Agyepong who had held a number of Cabinet positions in former President J.A. Kufuor’s Government from 2001 to 2008, made the above call which is the title of My blog today.

His invitation to politicians to learn to play the game of golf, which he made after a golf competition during the week ending February 13, 2016, resonates strongly with sentiments expressed in my Daily Graphic article of May 23, 2015. It was under the title, “How about some golf, Mr President?” As my way of applauding Mr Owusu-Agyepong for his suggestion, I reproduce my earlier article in part:

“The address of my residence in the early 1990s was No.4 Jackson Avenue. The house is sited on an acre of land directly opposite Hole No.10 of the Kumasi Golf Course. Stray balls often landed on my compound. My bedroom commanded a sweeping view of the entire golf course. In fact, any avid golfer would love to pay anything to live here. Yet, it took a lot of persuasion by friends for me to move in, and much more, join the Kumasi Golf Club. But once I did, I fell in love with playing the game. ‘Bitten by the golf bug’ was the usual tease.”

“Golf has its code of conduct: There is a dress code. A player must be honest. The temptation to cheat on scores is great as one is either scoring oneself or his bosom friend. The rule on right of way must be observed. One must show courtesy to other players. The game is played on a defined course of fairway and rough. Balls that stray into the bush are declared out of bounds and are penalised.”

“The game requires absolute concentration. The object to hit is a tiny ball, the size of a ping-pong ball. Holding a long club with a hooked head, the player attempts to sweep it clean with a swing that exhibits muscle coordination of arm, shoulder, waist and legs.”

“Besides it being an exercise to keep fit, golf teaches some lessons and tests mental fortitude. The course is intentionally designed to accommodate hazards such as ponds of water, bunkers of sand or trees planted directly on the fairway.”

“Like most tasks in life, one is challenged to think through how to navigate these obstacles: What club does one need at a particular moment out of the 14 clubs available? How hard should one swing this club to achieve the desired objective? One soon finds that physicality is not all there is to playing golf. Of course, a long drive can sometimes be desirable provided the ball stays on the fairway. In many instances, cunning in placing the ball where it is intended wins the game.”

“Civil behaviour on the course and at the club house is mandatory. When offered a drink, one must offer one back. More often, conversation is about unfinished business and negotiations. A junior would normally use the occasion to approach a senior gingerly for a quiet word such as asking for a favour. People wrongly assume that belonging to the same club eliminates all class barriers. In reality, class persists and due courtesies must be observed. Golf only creates a platform for a young person “to talk into” his superior and likewise for his superior to learn about what is happening around him. Nonetheless, it is amazing the level of courtesy VVIPs can show in talking to juniors.”

“One must hasten to say that the club house is not always a monastery of holy utterances. There could be rough jokes but these would be capped with appropriate and contrite gestures: “Excuse my language,” or “Taflatse.” Hilarious laughter would follow.

“Golf being such a wonderful game, one wonders how many Ministers of State and journalists do indulge it. One might also query why our President does not play the occasional game (with the appropriate security in tow). The relaxed club house atmosphere may enable him to make some out-of-bounds comments quickly doused with, ‘you haven’t heard it; say yes.’ This way, the Johnsons of linguistic purity and the Murrays of the Oxford English Dictionary would not attempt to embarrass him.”

“If I were Mr President, I would relish an outing on a quiet golf course outside Accra with columnists who hang on every word of his to dissect and embarrass. He might as well spice and beef up the party with some entertainbrities who can tell fairway from rough and putter from pitcher.”

Mr Felix Owusu-Agyapong, Mr Frazier is with you all the way. He would like to add also that golf is an effective branding tool and hopes that corporate organisations such as the Graphic Communications Ghana Limited and others – huge apostles of branding - may consider taking up the call for membership and sponsorship of the game. It may be claimed, without exaggeration, that one good afternoon of golfing is far more beneficial than some boring workshops and endless corporate dinners.