It had to happen. At the recently-concluded Nomura Cup in Thailand, Pakistan golf team failed to impress much and out of 26 competing nations, finished 14th.

The Pakistani team that included Mubariz Ahmed, Muhammad Rehman, Zohaib Asif and Taimoor Khan finished with an aggregate of 906, which was quite a belowpar score considering the fact that winners Australia finished with a tally of 828. As usual, our players were not given the benefit of featuring in an international event with a qualified coach. Instead a manager was sent with the team who was unable to help the players whenever they faced any problems either with their swing or the short game. It is important for a team to have an experienced and qualified coach because all courses in the world are different and the weather conditions also vary. The players need somebody who can help them make their game plan according to the conditions. Most of the time, the team manager is only getting a paid holiday as he spends most of his time socialising or buying golf equipment.

While Pakistan continued their tradition of sending a joy-rider with the team, the Indians opted to send a qualified coach with their side. So they finished among the top ten.

Meanwhile, almost all Pakistani pros feel the need for a Professional Golfers Association run by individuals who do not have egos and are willing to give their services to take professional golf to the next level in the country.

In Pakistan, most of the things related to golf are handled by amateurs. The authorities give the reason that professionals are not educated and qualified enough. But not every pro is uneducated or unqualified. This excuse is coming for the last 35 years. It was true till the ‘90s. Now the situation has changed; pros are capable to form and run their own organisation.

The corporate sector gives money for professionals, but half of it goes to amateurs. This means that most pros can’t make end meet. They have to travel from one part of the country to another in trains and busses. The journeys are 24 to 36 hours long. This makes the golfers very tired and they are unable to play according to their potential in the various tournaments.

Domestic air tickets are expensive which most golfers cannot afford to buy. Most Pakistani pros don’t have sponsorship; they borrow money from club members whom they teach or caddy for. Worldwide, in a professional tournament only a few top amateurs can play. Before every big tournament they organise a one-day pro-am tournament, so amateurs can enjoy playing alongside pros to improve their golf and have fun.

In our country, in one open tournament there are only 100 top pros, while the number of amateurs is as high as 300. After 36 holes they keep 40 pros and the rest go home without earning even a single rupee. Pros over here play with old, used equipment given to them by some kind club members who have bought new stuff. Some of them help the pros buy new equipment. For this these golfers deserve appreciation.

Here four or five pros in the top ten get free equipment with clothing. The rest are playing with used balls and used clubs which are not suitable to their swing speeds. Can the contest be fair if one driver is as efficient as the latest Formula One car and the other is on a car from the 1980s?

An average golf professional hardly makes Rs20,000 per month which is less than $200. It is not possible for them to buy clubs each of which costs more than their monthly income.

Pro shops are run by amateurs in Pakistan. The reason is that pros or caddies can’t arrange money to start this business. A few pros tried their best but couldn’t survive against rich influential officials; the system threw them out.

Every country has three professional categories: class A tour; class B tour; and senior tour. In Pakistan, we do have class A tour, but class B tour is not operational and some seniors plays but they don’t have a separate senior tour. It is a sad situation but that’s the way things stand. But it is time that this richpoor divide is curbed so that Pakistan golf can earn the status which it deserves.

Post-script: I was the national golf coach of Turkish juniors who got positions at World Cups and one of them played in Turkish Open last week in a tournament where world’s top 40 golfers played. Recently, I received a phone call from my Turkish student to thank me. Turkish golf started in last twenty years. Ours is more than 50 years old, but unfortunately we don’t have a proper system.