There was a full house on Friday October 6th for an excellent dinner and the chance to hear the reminiscences of Ken Schofield on his long career in the service of golf.

The evening was introduced by the Captain who started by announcing the engagement of our assistant Professional Mark Macrae.He then asked Mike Friend to introduce the speaker. Mike Friend said that Ken Schofield had become a golf legend in the  thirty years he was Executive Director of the PGA European Tour. When Ken took over in 1975 the prize money was £430,000 and when he left it had risen to £100 million, due to his hard work in seeking sponsorship and giving the tour prominence throughout the golfing world.

 Ken referred to his predecessor John Jacobs who favoured traditional golf clubs including Liphook.  Inevitably he referred to the recent  Ryder Cup at the 'K'Club  which he had attended and praised the captaincy of Ian Woosnam.  Ken's was able to recall earlier Ryder Cups. He described how Europe's inclusion in the Ryder Cup had been due to a meeting between Jack Nicklaus and Lord Derby in 1977, enabling the competition to develop into the great event that it is today. It is 21 months since Ken left the Tour and his observations on golf events and the characters involved were  perceptive and enlightening. Whilst Europeans find it more difficult to win Majors compared with the United States who find it harder to win team events. – the equivalent of playing One Day Internationals compared with Five Day Tests. He singled out Bernard Langer as a great Ryder Cup captain.  

Ken took many questions from the floor including the achievements of Tony Jacklin, the development of equipment and the R&A's role in controlling it and  a little known fact that the Open has to be on courses within the sound and sight of the sea! The evening finally ended at 11p.m. amid general agreement that the meal, the service provided by the kitchen and bar staff and the speaker's insight into the golfing world had made this event a great privilege for those who were able to attend.

/-- Liphook Archive Information --/
#Medium:Document#
#Location:Website#
#Date Of Event:9 Oct 2006#
#Date Item Created:#
#Author:Mike Blakstad#
#Copyright:#