"Olympics Is Making Golf Less Elitist": R&A's Roger Bathurst

Introduction of golf in the Olympic Games back in 2016 after more than a 100-year gap has helped it shed the so-called elitist tag, Roger Bathurst, Chairman (Rules) of The R&A, said during the curtain raiser press conference for the Level 3 Tournament Administrators & Referees Seminar (TARS) here at the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort on Saturday.

“It is an enormous privilege to be here to organize the Level 3 TARS in India. It is a terrific part of our mission to promote the game of golf to the world. I love the fact that the Olympics is making golf less elitist and more a game for people, the game is growing. We're very pleased to see the game continue to grow throughout the world. And that's really the point of us being here and helping with the refereeing work in India, last week we were in Vietnam, talking about people from a number of countries around Southeast Asia. And in any way that the R&A can promote the game and by the use of rules education, we can do that, we find that very beneficial indeed towards the entire growth of the game,” Roger Bathurst said during his address.

Bathurst said that The R&A sees India as a territory with huge golf potential and to elevate the standard of golf, the standard of refereeing also needs to rise. In fact, 49 Indian referees and one from Bangladesh will be taking part in Level 3 TARS.

The two-day seminar cum certification exam will include interactive sessions on rules of refereeing, course marking, course set-up, local rules, practical demonstration, role play sessions, pace of play, score recording, suspension of play and course evacuation by esteemed experts.

The expert panel includes Roger Bathurst - Chairman of The R&A Rules Committee, Jin Woo Kim - The R&A Assistant