PAR FOR THE COURSE

Being good at snooker has traditionally been regarded as the sign of a misspent youth: too much time bent over the green baize in smoky halls and not enough time bent over a desk acquiring academic qualifications. The same is rarely said of golf, another game that involves sinking balls, albeit in rather different circumstances. Many of the U.K.’s five million players will be out in force later this week, inspired by televised coverage of the Volvo-PGA championships at Wentworth, and the younger ones among them may already be dreaming of being the next Tiger Woods or Laura Davies.

Would their chances be improved by studying for a golfing degree, including everything from sports psychology to the metallic composition of clubs? Or should they just carry on practising their swing?

The two options are not mutually exclusive, according to Martin Toms, program manager of the applied golf management studies degree at Birmingham University, England.

"The idea that if you spend too much time on the greens then you have no time to study academically has been blown out of the water," he says. "We have one second-year student who has four As in final year school examinations as well as a golf handicap of four."

What’s more, he points out, there has been no shortage of demand for the 25 places available, despite an insistence on at least three Bs at A-level as well as the regulation four handicap for male candidates and six for women.

At a time when the University of Plymouth, on the south coast of England, offers a BSc in surf science and Staffordshire in the midlands is planning to launch a BA in sports journalism, it comes as no surprise to learn that degrees are now available in golfing studies. Or, indeed, that the Higher Education Funding Council for England has just added to its nationwide program a new foundation degree in professional golf.

True, England’s Bournemouth University offers a BSc in sports management (golf) and Central Lancashire organises higher national diploma courses in golf-course management and turf science at one of its partner colleges, with the option to "top up" to a degree. But only Birmingham offers courses sponsored by the Professional Golfers’ Association of Great Britain and Ireland (PGA), the most prestigious body of its kind in the world.

A BA backed by the PGA is seen as an ideal qualification for would-be coaches. "And, as with any major sport at the top level, it’s that extra edge that makes a difference," says Toms. "It really does help to know about swing paths and height-to-weight ratios."

Maybe. But surely the world’s top player, Tiger Woods, didn’t need a degree to reach his elevated ranking? "No. But you can bet your life that his support network will have done their homework. We’re still well behind the Americans and the Australians in preparation for top sporting competition."

Toms describes himself as a cricket coach turned golfer, and modestly compares his batting average with his handicap. "I think I’d be better at golf if the ball was moving," he grins. But he is deadly serious when it comes to blocking the inevitable question about so- called "Mickey Mouse" degree courses.

"The academic sceptics said the same about sports science degrees 15 years ago," he muses. "Well, I’ve got a joint honors degree in sports sciences with English literature, and the Eng lit hasn’t been much use to me.

"Our golf management course involves sports science, material science, business management and coaching theory, all of which could be degree subjects in their own right. We have a materials and metallurgy department with a 5-star research rating, one of the leading sports psychologists in the world (Professor Joan Duda, who coached the US women’s gymnastics team at the Atlanta Olympics) and a professor of physiotherapy (Pat Wrightson) who is a former golf professional."

The PGA’s headquarters lie roughly 15 miles from the campus, in the flat fields of north Warwickshire where the Belfry course is housed. Director of training and education Dr. Kyle Phillpots sits under a framed photo of Seve Ballesteros and points out that golf is now an industry worth £4 billion in the UK and Ireland.

"We have to get away from the idea that being a golf professional is just a matter of handing out balls and Mars bars in the club shop," he says. Nor, it seems, are club secretaries just tweedy figures nursing a scotch and soda in the 19th hole. "There used to be a lot of retired colonels," Phillpots admits, "but market forces have dictated otherwise. Clubs are large operations these days, with high turnovers, and the people who run them need to be multi-skilled."

Hence the need, he maintains, to upgrade the old PGA diploma to a foundation course offering two-thirds of a degree. Some 300 students have signed up for the Birmingham course and some may have the chance to move on and complete the full BA.

Kin Yang, 26, is in the second year of the applied golf management studies course and is already looking at the possibility of setting up a coaching academy in Southeast Asia. "Golf is very big in South Korea, where I come from," he says. "But land space is limited, so it’s also very expensive. I might go to China. The number of courses there has doubled over the past three years from 400 to 800."

In the U.K., meanwhile, Martin Toms reckons his golf "course" could be a model for other sporting bodies. "Coaching is becoming more and more competitive," he says, "and I know that athletics, rugby and hockey are interested."

A degree in snooker studies? Surely it’s only a matter of time. –Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004