quote:

Originally posted by Maria:

quote:

But seriously, if the vocabulary in the golfcourse was used in ordinary settings, one would think the peopel speaking are perverts.

Aren't they? The majority have balls.

Huku kumethuka!!! Golf has turned into something else

Jane
We are just vindicating Freud. Everything has is reduced to the phallocentric interpretetions

quote:

GOLF

Yes!!

Why isn't golf very popular?

not many guys can afford membership fee.so that pushes away people.look like football no fee paid,you can cheza anywhere.but golf is for rich people

quote:

but golf is for rich people

who said so?
Its not about the money.

Ndianyama,
It doesnt have to be so. In US, there are public golf courses where you can rent clubs and you do not have to be a member. I believe we can demystify it in Kenya too

Of course there are also private clubs where you have to wait like over 10 years or more to gain membership and you pay through the nose.

Now the connection between Golf and politics

Why Kibaki 'golfing' tactics confound friend and foe

Story by J H KIMURA
Publication Date: 8/14/2007
IN A BUSINESS DAILY ARTICLE last week, Prof Macharia Munene made a reference to a view I had expressed some time ago to a Nation journalist: That one of the reasons that President Kibaki is able to maintain his cool even under gross provocation is that he is a golfer.
In the game of golf, Prof Munene noted, the game is not over until the last putt has been sunk on the 18th green.

To those uninitiated in the wonderful game of golf, the analogy may not be clear and I think it is only fair that the parallels between golf, politics and the art of management be brought out clearly. But first, the basics.

Golf is a game played over 18 holes of varying length between the tee (where you hit the ball) and the green (where the four inch hole is located).

Contrary to popular misconception, neither the tee nor the hole is fixed – they can be located anywhere on the two surfaces and this is what causes the game to be a nightmare to golfers: you can never be sure in advance where the hole will be located in a competition.

THE GAME IS PLAYED WITH ONE ball and 14 clubs. The distances between tee and hole can range from 150 yards to 650 yards and adverse weather conditions are no excuse for not finishing the game. Along the way, they create all sorts of obstacles: bunkers (sand traps), water hazards, trees, roughs, out of bounds, etc.

Luckily, rules have been made to tell you how to deal with every conceivable outcome, and it is up to you to know them and how to deal with them. You cannot consult any player on what to do in a difficult situation and the choice of the club to use is all yours (you may consult your caddy). Now that is the easy part.

The real challenge of golf comes when you get onto the course. You may not know in advance who you will be playing with or where the big boys are. You cannot be sure you have won until the last player is in and, even then, this may require verification of the score by the officials.

Like in golf, the only thing that matters in politics is winning. As Tiger Woods puts it, being number two is being the best loser and that is not fun.

You will be confronted with all sorts of complications, lies and shenanigans in politics just like in golf. How you deal with them is up to you and your adviser(s).

In golf, your caddy is the only adviser and there are no consultants to confuse you. Whether you choose to follow his advice is ultimately your responsibility.

You do not have to explain your actions but you must live with the consequences of any mistakes you make. A mistake made may cost you dearly but in golf, you do not sit there moaning and groaning – you move to the next hole and try to play that hole better (chances are if you played a hole badly so will most of the other players).

Politics, on the other hand, seems to be a brutal “game” where anything goes and the amount of damage you inflict on your opponent is all that matters.

Lying, prevaricating and dissembling are all part of this game but when someone changes the rules of the game, like President Kibaki seems to have done, that is bound to cause a great deal of confusion among the competitors.

Yet, that may be the catch – if you throw golf practices at a footballer, he will be totally out of depth and that, to me, seems to be what is happening.

Just because you have defined the game and its rules does not mean the other guy must fall for the bait; if he changes the game and gives you a different set of rules, it is up to you respond accordingly because what counts is what happens at the 18th green.

In management, pretty much the same issues arise – things are changing constantly, your competitors are acting against you, your customers may turn against you, and even the Government may turn hostile.

HOW YOU RESPOND TO ALL THESE challenges makes the difference between your average manager and the superior tactician.

The bottom line then is this: in politics, management and golf, it is never over until it is finally over. Like the gambler, one must also know when to lose and to never to count your money until the deal is done.

Whether one plays the game like the gambler or the golfer may make all the difference between winning and losing.



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Prof Kimura is an educationist and financial consultant


Write to the author

why is that "flag" on a pole put in the hole? and what is it called?

Wa kihia,
check this one out
http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&ta...&id=3172&Itemid=5822

Luring youths to the golf course
Written by Beatrice Gachenge

Photo by: Joan Pereruan and Fredrick OnyangoMuthaiga Golf Club’s course. Golf clubs like these are now more appealing to emerging middle class Kenyan families.

21-September-2007: When Golf for Africa was inaugurated last year, the organisation wanted to demystify the game, but that was before reality sunk in that it was no easy task.
Golf, as they found out, was associated with high spenders; the young with money to spend and the elderly who are glued to it.

“It’s all about perception,” said Ms Hilda Nduta, the director of Golf for Africa. “Unless one can identify with something, it does not matter to them, and that is why we are campaigning to have the youth on the golf courses, ” she said.

Golf for Africa wanted, and still wants to make a difference.

The organisation’s major drive was finding a way to lure the young as well as the low income earners to not only love the game, but also to garner enough interest and probably courage to walk into golf fields and play.

For starters, most of the youth are highly detached from golf, opting for more involving games like soccer, basketball and rugby.

It is such games that drive them in droves to the Safari Sevens. This year alone, the Sevens attracted over 2,000 spectators to the Impala grounds along Ngong Road.

While golfers say that one has to put in a lot of mental calculations while playing the game, as it is more of a mind game, it has yet to attract the youth. At the Vet Labs Sports Club, it costs only Sh3,000 for a junior to join and an equivalent amount as annual fee.

“We consider juniors to be under 25 years, but for players above that age, there is a steep hike in the prices,” said Mr Wachira Kariuki, the chairman of Vet Labs.

The membership fee increases to Sh109,000 with a subsequent annual fee of Sh16,000. But juniors who wish to continue being members of the club are exempted from the Sh109,000 joining fee. But even with those incentives, the elderly still dominate the course.

In the last two years the club has deliberately been trying to woo the youth and this has seen an influx of young people and a new membership of over 200.

“We went out of our way to sell the game to the young people mainly through word of mouth, but we also benefit from our proximity to the University of Nairobi’s Kabete Campus,” said he said.

More appealing to the young, Vet Labs has brought young leadership onto the board, a concept that many private golf clubs have failed to embrace.
Golf Park, commonly referred to as Jockey Club, is now more appealing to those with less to spend.

Professional trainers
It is asking for an annual fee of Sh7,500, but one can pay as you play but will not be able to obtain professionals to train them. Other incentives include a discount of Sh500 for nine holes played and Sh650 for 18 holes.

Interestingly, Golf Park is a public park that also attracts high spenders.

“At times, we receive high-ranking corporate members who want to just learn how to play the game before they enrol at the private clubs,” said Mr Isaac Mwamto, the Golf Park captain.

The club, with 150 members, mainly attracts the middle-class as well as young people. Mwamto says that women are increasingly showing up on the golf course, either with spouses or alone.

On a positive note, the new chairman of the Kenya Golf Union, Mr Patrick Obath, comes from the young generation of golfers and could appeal to the young.

But still, Golf for Africa says that two affordable golf fields are not enough to lure more youth to identify with the game. Besides, the youth and low income earners form a very large group to be served by these two facilities.

The low income earner would rather spend the money elsewhere, considering the membership fee is out of reach for the common folk that Golf for Africa is targeting.

Nduta: “We went out of our way to sell the game to the young people mainly through word of mouth.”


But the harsh reality about golf is that it does not embrace people with little or no disposable income. Neither is it a game one can play on mere plain ground, like soccer, on the field near the estate.

“Consequently, there are no places that people can play golf without having to pay hefty sums,” says Nduta.

This has propelled Golf for Africa to come up with a lasting solution. The organisation is currently putting up a golf course on land donated by Impala Club to enable more people join. She said this would also help the country to nurture talent early enough and make the game competitive.

The practice as well as drive range are already done at Impala ground and the three tee positions have been dug.

“Various companies have donated clubs and balls while the course will have two caddies as well Copan Timbe, one of the country’s renowned professionals as trainer,” said Ms Nduta.

The facilities will be free as the organisation’s main focus is to get people interested in the game.

At the same time, Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, is in the process of putting up an 18-hole golf course on a 250- acre piece of land within the complex.

Mr Sam Mwai, the chief executive officer of the Sports Stadia Management Board, said plans for the golf course were made in 1981, but the board that was to oversee its implementation was only set up in 2004.

The board has budgeted Sh3 million for the course, just for a basic course with plans to make it a full-fledged world class course. It will include a club house as well as restaurants and a golf academy.

Although the board has not yet set the amount of money that will be charged, there will be no membership fee, while the amount will be substantially low to attract as many people as possible.

The board will evict squatters on the land intended to put up the course and fence off the area. But tThe actual course may be completed in the next five years.

Topographical as well as aerial surveys have been carried out as fund- raising and designs for the course go on.

The golf range is expected to be completed by the end of November.

“We want to make public golf course accessible to people, and that also includes the distance as most of the private one are tucked away from town.

This will go a long way in providing an alternative leisure activity, thus reducing the number of youths idling in the estates and make them part of a useful venture. We will even be able to develop our own Tiger Woods,” said Mr Kariuki.

Overheard on a golf course

Man 1: Sh1t! I forgot my balls
Man 2: Thanks god no woman will get pregnant.

bugus,
you play golf?