Lankan players are very talented says golf coach Chambers
View(s):By David Stephens
Veteran Australian golf coach, Mark Chambers, who is currently in Sri Lanka on an initiative aimed at uplifting the sport locally, described the standard of the country’s golfers as being strong, stressing that they are armed with all the elements necessary for international success.
Mark Chambers - Pic by Amila Gamage
“They are good,” Chambers responded when asked about what he thought of the local players he had seen and worked with.
“You (Sri Lankans) are very similar to Australians in that you play sport as kids so your coordination is very good. The build of the Sri Lankan boys is a surprise because they are quite tall and their background in cricket makes them very good at golf.”
He lamented that the only thing hampering players from Sri Lanka was the shortage of courses with him explaining that “only three golf courses and 400 registered members” were two statistics that were insufficient to assist the game’s growth.
However, by partnering with the Sri Lanka Golf Union for his Lankan sojourn, which has seen him work with several players from golf clubs in Colombo, Nuwara Eliya and Kandy, Chambers is actively bypassing this obstacle by focusing on the development aspect of the game.
“I’ve been a golf professional for 22 years and we (players) are always trying to improve ourselves and are trying to learn. So we often ask questions of ourselves. What are we missing, what are we not doing and what can we do better?
“So we as a group will restructure all the programmes and set goals for the future. So 2020 will be a big year for Sri Lankan golf because I believe the goal is to get a team to the Olympics, so if they (Lankan golfers) are good enough they’ll get there,” he said.
In addition to the training and golfing clinics he has conducted at these clubs, Chambers has also sought to highlight the importance of golf promotion, believing that popularizing the sport is the way forward.
To achieve this he suggests that authorities should search for a way to bring golf into schools and make it a more accessible sport.
The Australian has had plenty of experience nurturing the sport in the region, having worked in China Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia. The Australia PGA member, who has previously worked with his country’s national team, plans to continue his work in Asia and is next set to visit Vietnam, where he is opening a golf academy.
“Golf is growing in Asia. In Australia though, it is remaining at the same level. So Asia now knows it can compete.”
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