YOUR report (TESS, November 3) about the intention, on the back of the Ryder Cup bid, to introduce every nine-year-old to golf is disturbing. While there is nothing wrong with youngsters being encouraged to try the game, should it become a national priority? There are better ways to spend resources on sport.
Golf is an individual’s game. Although people strive to beat each other, they do not do so as team (pace the Ryder Cup itself). Team sports, as the previous Conservative government recognised, have the benefit of instilling a group spirit as well as encouraging individual performance and enjoyment. We all have to learn to work with each other, to excuse each other’s shortcomings. Winning and losing do not come naturally to youngsters.
Donald Maclean
Comely Bank Road, Edinburgh
