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Global Golf Post senior writer Lewine Mair has become the first woman to be appointed president of the Association of Golf Writers.
Her appointment was confirmed at the association’s annual general meeting held at Royal St. George’s in the lead-up to the Open Championship.
“I am delighted that Lewine has agreed to become the first woman president of the AGW,” chairman Martin Dempster said. “Lewine is a highly respected figure in the game, having already served as the AGW’s first woman chairman from 2007-2010.
“She has been a trusty committee member for a lengthy period of time. We could not have a more worthy first woman president. I’m sure her late husband, Norman, would have been very proud of this moment as, of course, will be the case with her children and grandchildren.”
Mair becomes the 14th president in the association’s 83-year history, and takes over following the passing of Jock MacVicar, who died in April.
“I can’t tell you how honored I feel to be named as the first woman president of the AGW and to be following in the footsteps of so many well-known AGW writers,” Mair said. “There are too many to mention, though I do want to single out my immediate predecessor, Jock MacVicar, whose time in the role was so unfairly cut short.
“It has been an enormous honour to serve the association as chairman and now, with 43 years of AGW membership under my belt, I hope to be of some use to Martin Dempster, our excellent chairman, and his team.”
Trevor Immelman described in a blog post last week that the International team at the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club will be chosen through a new qualification system.
The qualification period will run from last week’s Open Championship through the 2022 BMW Championship, the International team captain said. The team will be comprised of the top eight players from the Presidents Cup International Team points list, followed by four captain’s selections.
The points system will operate similarly to that of the Official World Golf Ranking, except it will use a unique calculation to determine field strength and the quantity of points awarded for each event. While major championship winners will receive 100 points, there will be no other alternative minimum event points.
“Ahead of the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club, I will have had over two years to watch players grow their games, hone their crafts and inch their way up the standings of the Official World Golf Ranking,” Immelman wrote at presidentscup.com. “This is something my team and I have spent a lot of time looking into while running different models from previous Presidents Cups, and we believe this is the best system to identify the top eight players to represent our International team at Quail Hollow.”
Greg Norman has appealed to the R&A to change the rules governing golf balls ahead of next year’s Open Championship over the Old Course at St. Andrews.
The Australian believes the iconic course could be rendered obsolete unless new legislation is brought in to rein in modern golf balls.
“It’s my favourite course on the rota and it would be heartbreaking to see it become outdated, but it’s in danger of becoming the reality,” the 1986 and 1993 champion told the Daily Mail. “I can’t see what they can do to lengthen it anymore.
“I can see why the ball manufacturers might be upset, but it’s the only way we can keep St. Andrews on the rota and for it to play remotely how it’s supposed to be played.
“It’s not as if people are going to stop buying golf balls. For the sake of the Old Course, it’s just vital the golf balls have different specifications next year. We’re on the edge as it is.”
The R&A is expected to publish findings from its Distance Insights Project soon.
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers admitted to a range of emotions as he talked to members of the media ahead of the start of the 149th Open Championship at Royal St. George’s.
“After such a difficult time in the last year or so for the whole world, I have to admit we are relieved, thrilled and a little bit emotional, I suppose, in being able to stage the Open once again,” Slumbers said. “It’s a great privilege to welcome the best men’s golfers around the world and a large number of fans to the championship.
“It’s been quite a challenge to get to this point, and we’re under no illusions of the complexity of the problems that are caused by the pandemic, specifically when you’re trying to stage a global sporting event with players from 27 different countries participating and bringing them all into the country.”
Ernie Els reached a major career milestone last week when he made his 30th appearance in the Open Championship.
It was a run which started when he missed the cut at Royal Troon in 1989 and includes two victories, 2002 and 2012, and three second place finishes, 1996, 2000 and 2004. The charismatic South African has amassed 13 top-10 finishes in the championship, nine of them top-fives.
“I don’t know if you’re born with it or you learn it,” he said. “All I know is that I took to it like a duck to water. Links golf is the foundation of the game, and I just think I had a feel for it from the start. Even with today’s equipment, if the weather is bad on a links course, that’s a true leveler.”
Staff and Wire Reports