Mr. Solomon Allotey. General Secretary of the Ghana Golf Association has lectured at a short but impressive seminar for sports journalists on Wednesday at the Bok Nam Kim Golf Club near Burma Camp in Accra.

He promised stronger ties with sports media and equip them with the necessary tools to improve upon their reporting on golf.

He advised them to be professional, ethical, know the terminologies in the sport and learn how the equipment for the sport are used, as well as tournament structures and formats

He said the media, who are content creators and developers must support them with new media manifestation in this digital era to get their messages, tournaments, events and programmes across on various social media platforms.

“The media has a responsibility to report on golf because the sport has evolved and with new media it must be easily done well, golf is a game of integrity, attitude and emotions” he conveyed.

The exciting and educative event was attended by a few sports journalists, however the General Secretary did not appreciate the attendance as he believes the sport has been termed as a lesser known sport, while others see it as a sport for the affluent.

He noted that golf is a very big and attractive sport in some countries, attracting thousands of fans during four or three day tournaments.

According to Mr. Allotey, most journalists are not aware of how golfers score to get their results, so he tasked them to learn by practising and playing.

He expressed that golf is one sport that can be played at an advanced age, noting that many golfers are above 80 years and they play to exercise, aside networking and socializing.

He hinted that plans are advanced to introduce golf in schools to involve the youth who will become the future champions.

The Ghana Golf Association General Secretary appreciated support from the R&A.

R&A stands for The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, which is one of the world's governing bodies for golf, responsible for upholding and developing the sport globally.

The R&A governs the Rules of Golf outside of the United States and Mexico, stages major championships like The Open, and promotes golf's development worldwide.

Present at the seminar was Mr. Rodney Oddoye, Treasurer of the GGA and Mr. Maurice Quansah, former Vice President of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana and editor of the Graphic Sports who said story telling skills in golf reporting must be enhanced.

He suggested the setting up of a media development fund for the training and encouraging the media to have interest in golf reporting

By Sammy Heywood Okine