Dear Industry Colleague

I remember very clearly when Phil Mickelson burst onto the scene as a young amateur: he won the Northern Telecom Open, a US tour event, when he was still at university in 1991. I was jealous of him then for his youthful brilliance, I’m grateful to him now for pushing back the bounds for old golfers. He is almost 51 and I’m almost 59 and he has always, in my experience, been a great golfer to follow. It is only the most remarkable people who can be consistently brilliant over a long period, setting youthful records and also age-defying standards. 

He is also a gentleman and I have the upmost respect for people who play great golf, do great deeds and also conduct themselves in a kind and caring manner. Congratulations to Phil Mickelson. Outstanding.

Golf continues to be extraordinarily popular, despite poor weather this last month. Many clubs courses and ranges are enjoying record sales, and with better weather in the next few weeks, things seem set for an excellent summer of golf.

The UK Golf Federation has continued to grow the number of facilities that it represents. In the near future there will be exciting news from the Federation regarding initiatives to ensure golf is freely accessible to the largest number of people forever more. We will cover this in greater detail next month.

Best wishes, 

Colin Jenkins