However not only junior golf is an aim of development for the UGA. The improvement of adults and beginners to some of the best amateurs in the UAE is also a major focus.
In the UK there is a similar governing body to the UGA called the PGA or Professional Golfers Association. The PGA is much bigger then the UGA, and the American system is similar to the PGA and called the USGA, and is pretty much on the same scale. The PGA also has a separate division called the LPGA, Ladies Professional Golfers Association. In Dubai there is no such NGB but ladies, juniors and men are all tied into the UGA. If the demand for lady golfers grew to the same scale as in England then there may be a separate governing body, but only if the interest of lady golfers grew dramatically.
For the disabled there is a separate governing body which was formed in 1996 in the UK and established in 2000, and is called the EDGA, European Disabled Golfers Association. The EDGA is growing at an immense rate attracting disabled people from around the Europe who thought they could never play golf or continue playing due to a disability. The aim of the EDGA is to organise tournaments and work out a yearly competition programme for those players with the minimum disability throughout Europe. Locally in Dubai there is no such NGB, which does this for disabled players. As you can see the UK is much more developed in terms of governing bodies for golf.
There are many opportunities for golfers in the world today and many different paths a player can take to be very successful. Dubai is a good place to begin playing golf due to the number of quality courses and development schemes available, but once a player reaches a certain ability they may wish to take golf to the next level e.g. play for a national team, country, turn professional or even play on tour.
In Dubai there are very limited ways that you can develop to pursue any of the above objectives, this is because it is an Arab country therefore if you are an expatriate you cannot play for the country, being an adult or junior. There are far greater opportunities in countries such as the UK. The highest level a junior can achieve in the UAE is to play for the UAE junior squad, and for adults there are no further paths.
I will explain and describe the pathways for the provision of golf development within the UK.
The development of golf in a school or club: A person who is new to golf and wants to make good progression will have a first aim of getting into his/her golf team at their local golf club or school golf team. Once this has been achieved and the golfer makes significant progress, he may undertake trials for the county or district in the area in which they live. This will usually be suggested by his/her golf professional. As the player continues to improve, now at a very high standard, he may be good enough to play for the countries national team, in my case England. To play for England a very low handicap has to be achieved usually 1 or 2 at the highest.
As you can clearly see the pathways for the provision of golf are far better and far more extensive in the UK.
The provision for golf in the UK is much greater than in Dubai, the main reason being that there is a much greater demand for junior, lady and men golfers, due to the size of the population. Within the UAE there is no school golf or sports colleges which help to develop young golfers, whereas in the UK there are many sports universities which offer degrees in golf management and teach golf, such as Birmingham University and Loughborough.
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