Tannahill Shield is all about ‘friendly rivalry’ in golf

After last weekend’s most successful 50th Barclays Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club, this weekend we shall be treated to the oldest running competition in Kenya — The Tannahill Shield — at the Royal Nairobi Golf Club.

This Easter weekend, as has been the case since 1924, Kenya’s top amateur golfers will compete, not for prizes, but for glory and honour.

The Easter tournament has come a long way since its beginning 94 years ago. Before the professional golfer rose to the status of hero, the golf champion was an amateur pursuit.

The role of the golf professional in those days was to provide a service for the club players.

At the Easter tournament, it is the turn of the top amateur to play, and many golf professionals will be present as team managers.

UPHOLD TRADITIONS

The invited clubs still produce some very formidable players who play their hearts out for their clubs.

I met with Sunny Babra, the golf captain at Royal Nairobi Golf Club, earlier this week to put the final touches on the preparation of this year’s tournament.

As the chairman of the competition committee, he is very keen to keep the tradition that was started that many years ago by Mr Arthur Tannahill.

In his committee is his predecessor, Charles “Serkal” Omondi, who aptly represents the past, and his Vice Captain Harrison Kariuki, who represents the future. The impression that this committee gave me was that they will uphold traditions of the tournament.

For them, rules and etiquette of the game of golf are paramount. All the clubs that participate in the Easter tournament are guests of the Royal Nairobi Golf Club.

The chief guest has always been the golf captain of Mombasa Golf Club and he is usually called upon to speak on behalf of all other guests.

For this reason, Mombasa Golf Club have always had a place at the tournament.

At Royal Nairobi Golf Club, they have been known not to entertain breaches of the rules and etiquette of golf. Kiambu Golf Club, despite being one of the original five clubs to participate in the inaugural event in 1924, have been left out of the Easter Tournament for a breach in the spirit of the game committed by its members several years back.

They did not display sportsmanship by not competing to the last day.

It is expected that all participants in the Easter tournament will remember that the game of golf is not a boxing match. At the first tee, golfers introduce themselves, shake hands with their opponents, and wish them the best.

There are few golfers who stare down their fellow golfers like pugilists trying to intimidate their opponents. This may look funny on the boxing ring but it is utterly ridiculous on the golf course. As a good golfer, one is expected to play hard and fair but winning should not come as a result of intimidation.

The other bad habit that is creeping into match play competitions is the scarcity of concessions.

I have seen golfers who do not concede a hole even when they do not stand a chance of winning it. I recently played with a fellow who, on one of the holes, was on the green for four strokes and I was on for two.

He still did not concede my one-foot putt to win the hole after I conceded his twenty-footer. He looked at me and waited for me to hole out.

In the 1969 Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale, Jack Nicklaus from the USA was playing against Tony Jacklin in what was the deciding match.

On the last hole, both players were tied and the winner of the hole would have won the competition for their side. Tony was first to putt and he left his putt two feet short of the hole.

Jack now had the chance to win the match and the competition for the USA.

He, however, missed the putt and was left with a four-foot putt back. He knew he had to hole the putt to stand a chance.

He managed to hole the putt and as he was collecting his ball from the hole, he picked Tony’s marker to concede the putt. Because of that gesture, the Ryder Cup ended up in a draw that year.

Jack Nicklaus received praise and admonition in equal measure.

HONOUR AND INTEGRITY

There are those who felt that he was wrong in conceding and that he should have let Tony Jacklin sweat it out. Many, however, praised him for the great show of the spirit of the game.

He reckoned that Tony was not going to miss the putt and it was only right for him to concede.

The two have been good friends since.

There is something about the Tannahill Shield that makes it the greatest of the amateur competitions in Kenya.

It brings out the best in many clubs. Granted, it has not always best in others.

As men of honour and integrity, who play according to the time-honoured Rules, let us preserve the spirit of Mr Arthur Tannahill who wanted to bring golfers from all over the country to meet and enjoy each others company as we enjoy this game that we love.