Down under interest

Jack sent us an email. What the details were regarding entering his team, he wanted to know. The university name didn't sound like he was from nearby. Well, having looked into Google Maps we now know why.

In statistics-ish: The distance equals approx. 2.600 rounds of golf on a regular course (...probably only 1.800 on the Wittelsbacher, er), 185.000 drives, easy wedges, putts, trick shots etc. if you are a scratch golfer, and 18 month of golf, if you play 6 rounds per day.

GCAA + NCAA = USA!

Just wrote an email to the GCAA, asking if they could help us to inform U.S. college golf coaches. Then asked the NCAA, if there were any restrictions for U.S. teams to come over to Germany. I am very interested in their answers!

Sources for your team funding (II)

Should you not be able to get funds from on-campus sources, here's what you could do:

1) ask special service clubs for funds. Clubs like Rotary and many others do support projects if they are within their stated purposes. Your points could address management/societal values like sportsmanship, fairness and competition; team work; intercultural exchange; of course golf development at your university...

2) ask your local golf hero for support. We once asked Bernhard Langer to donate one of his clubs. We then auctioned off his club and made a small fortune (we tried the same with Ernie Els to help the South Africans players to cover their travel costs, but after a couple of promising mails with his assistent we lost contact. Seve Ballesteros didnt even bother to write back).  

3) make a savings plan and stick to it. 15 € per month from the beginning of you winter term until June of the follwing year will pay for your entry fee. Covering the air fare will be a piece of cake then.

4) challenge the strongest senior golf club team in your area. They of course will have to pay your greenfee. If you win, they pay you a sum, if the lose, you get nothing. Should be reasonably fair.

Sources for your team funding (I)

 Paying for your Students Matchplay-entry all by yourself should be the last of your last options. There are several ways to get somebody else pay for you:

1) Universities usually have budgets for university sport events. Contact your university sports department about it.
2) Ask your university's alumni association for sponsorship. Or the Alumni of your university golf team.
3) Find your own sponsor (Read this).
4) Throw a fundraiser party, organise a golf clinic...

This is pretty much the same we do over here.

Just a signature away

Nearly 4 month ago in early October we asked the German University Sport Federation (ADH) what it would take to bring the Students Matchplay to the next level. Nothing more than an application to host an official German University Sport event, they said. So we filled out a four pages form, sent it over to the sports director, only to learn, that Catholic University wasn't eligible to host such a tournament. Because it wasn't a member university of the ADH.

Not.

Good.

So we went to the other university in Ingolstadt, the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences, had a chat with their golf team captain (nice lad!) and their deputy president (fine guy as well!), and a gazillion emails later we tonight received a telephone call. Their university will sign the application form for us. Great, huh? That means, that with a bit of luck the Students Matchplay will be a "ADH trophy", which means that all German participants can ask their university sports department for funding. Students Matchplay thus will become the second official university golf tournament beside the German University Golf Championships.

Feedback from Unisport Austria

Hosting a tournament also involves some lobbying. After all, there are budgets for university sport tournaments out there. We spoke with the Unisport Austria, which is the relevant university sports federation for the scheduled Alps Qualifier at the GC am Mondsee. Their feedback reached us this morning. We are allowed to promote the Alps Qualifier as a golf tournament for Austrian students. The decision on funding will be postponed to 2011 though. That's fair enough.

After only a couple of days

It's the second year now that we are hosting the Arden Qualifier for golf teams from England and Wales, again at the end of March. Currently we have entries from Warwick, Central Lancs, Essex, Buckinghamshire New, Liverpool, Newport and Leeds. The latter three teams are new to the Students Matchplay tournament. That's a pretty dawn good status considering that it's still winter. Steve's feeling seems to be reliable.

University Golf Morale

Unlike other teams the Cambridge and Oxford golfers usually party a lot and enjoy our beer and manage to get to the golf course in time. I now know why. 

No problems in filling the field

Quote from Steve's email:

"(...) Just wanted to say that I have a feeling that the SMUK/Arden Qualifier is on every golf team's radar in the UK now. Had emails from Newcastle, Bournemouth, new Birmingham men's captain, Leeds, Loughborough, Brunel, Liverpool, Kings College & Bath. Had an extremely positive response from all the universities that played last year too, so no problems in filling the field this year. Currently 31 universities have the entry details. (...)"

That's great news considering that the British Universities & Colleges Sport Association doesnt list that many more universities in there league system (details here).