Having done their best to ignore one another for close to 100 years, the powerbrokers behind New Zealand's principal golf organisations are to meet at a landmark gathering in Wellington tomorrow.
Board members of New Zealand Golf (NZG) and the New Zealand Professional Golfers' Association (NZPGA) are to formally meet for the first time before dining together as they seek common ground to benefit the game as a whole.
The meeting in the capital has the potential to bring some warmth to a relationship which has long been fractious as the two organisations have grown increasingly territorial since the NZPGA was formed in 1913.
In its previous life as the New Zealand Golf Association and Ladies Golf Union, NZG has administered the amateur side of the game since 1910, while the NZPGA has devoted itself to developing coaches and players.
NZG chief executive Larry Graham could not be reached for comment, while NZPGA chief executive Garth Stirrat moved to play down the significance of the meeting, saying any talk of amalgamation was premature in the extreme.
"That is not the purpose of the meeting," Stirrat told NZPA today, putting to bed suggestions it is a precursor to amalgamation moves.
However, he sees many advantages to the organisations establishing a working relationship after almost a century of official indifference between the two.
"There is no formal agenda, just a general understanding that this is the first opportunity for the boards to meet each other. A lot of the respective members don't know one another," said Stirrat, who represents the interests of 340 touring pros, club pros and trainees.
"(It will be) a general discussion how we can move forward for the benefit of golf as a whole, with both bodies working together.
"Personally, I'd like to think there is a chance to do these sorts of meetings on a regular basis.
"We could start to look at strategies in the areas of development and growth of the game and, from our side of the sport, the development of coaching at all levels."
Stirrat is hopeful the meeting will help melt the ice which has cooled the relationship between the organisations for generations.
"There is certainly an opportunity to communicate on a much more friendly manner than we have," he said.
"I think both bodies would acknowledge we've not particularly been friendly towards one another at a number of different levels even though we do work together on several projects."
He believed the historical differences between the two organisations probably owed much to "a general misunderstanding on behalf of both parties about what we each represent".
"This meeting is a good opportunity to put that history behind us and, to be cliched, to move forward.
"The sport is too small for our two bodies, in particular, to be doing the same thing and wasting resources.
"There are areas we can be working closer than we already are."
- NZPA
Golf: Organisations look for common ground
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