The Asia Pacific Golf Summit champions the need for Seismic Changes to the golf industry…by inviting Nicklaus & Player to again deliver keynote addresses

In a startling display of absolute hypocrisy, the organizers of the 2011 Asia Pacific Golf Summit have called for ‘seismic changes’ to the golfing industry.

Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Pacific Golf Group, Mike Sebastian, stated that it was time for the industry to, ‘cut out the lip service and embark on programmes that are designed to evoke change ... change for the better.’

To prove his sincerity Sebastian wheeled out heavyweights Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus to deliver speeches to the attending delegates. According to Sebastian his calls for seismic changes were echoed by both Nicklaus and Player, as well as keynote speaker Tony Jacklin.

Those familiar with previous Summits will remember that Player has delivered similarly insightful addresses at the past-three annual talk-fests, while Nicklaus was a keynote speaker at the 2009 Summit and inducted into the Asia Pacific Golf Hall of Fame during the 2010 event.

Wheeling out Nicklaus and Player again for the 2011 Summit, and providing them a blatant opportunity to spruik for signature design work, apparently shows how committed Sebastian and his organizing crew are for ‘genuine’ change to the game in Asia.

While some critics might argue that reformation in Asia should begin with ‘proper’ design, cheaper build costs and more playable golf courses, those involved in the Asia Pacific Golf Summit would apparently counter that ‘genuine’ seismic change is about pushing big signature companies and feting the already feted.

As for Tony Jacklin, despite having never won a professional event in Asia, nor having designed a golf course in the region, he was honored with an Asia Pacific Lifetime Achievement Award.

For those Asian golfers unfamiliar with the achievements of Tony Jacklin, he was the winner of two major championships forty-plus years ago and recently established a signature golf course design business in Florida, USA. Despite having no high-quality golf courses in his portfolio, like Player and Nicklaus he offers three tiers of design service - from the full Tony Jacklin Signature Design, for clients who want a ‘highly distinguished’ golf course, down to the bottom tier Jacklin Design, for less discerning clients who cannot pay Tony’s highest rate and are therefore happy to leave design work to one of his ‘associate architects’.

What every single delegate at the 2011 Asia Pacific Golf Summit should have been made aware, is that Mike Sebastian is actually Tony Jacklin Design's representative in the South East Asian region.

That’s right, the publisher of the influential (outside China) Asian Golf Monthly magazine, and the organizer of its annual golf summit has a blatant financial interest in Tony Jacklin winning design contracts in the area.

So it appears that Sebastian’s heartfelt calls for seismic change are not out of concern for the industry at large, but rather stem from his frustration at not being able to sign more Tony Jacklin Design customers in the region.

Those familiar with Jacklin’s design work will understand how difficult Sebastian’s task has been.

In a rather self-serving media release about the Summit, Sebastian warned of the ‘perils facing the game if drastic change is not embraced’ noting that, "the problems faced by golf in the West are beginning to creep into Asia.’ He urged the industry to be, ‘receptive to change and to work in a cohesive manner to grow the game of golf in Asia.’

Given Sebastian’s passionate advocacy on the subject, we can expect change to be a recurring theme of the Asia Pacific Golf Summit and can presumably look forward to more rousing speeches in 2012 from Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tony Jacklin.

The only question is under what guise will these three problem-solving heavyweights be invited back to the Summit. Each man has received the Asia Pacific Lifetime Achievement Award, with Nicklaus and Player also having been accepted into the Asia Pacific Golf Hall of Fame. Expect Jacklin to be a lock for the Hall of Fame next year, and for Nicklaus and Player to perhaps receive the newly created Asia Pacific Excellence in Sports Award, first presented in 2011 to Jimmy Connors!

 

Thanks to those readers who provided us with feedback from the 2011 Asia Pacific Golf Summit.

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