China will have international standard Rules of Golf officials in twelve months according to a new agreement signed today in Beijing between The R&A, golf’s world rules and development body, and the China Golf Association (CGA), the national governing body for the Rules of Golf in China.
The agreement follows a direct request from the CGA that The R&A provides expert Rules of Golf coaches, structured learning materials and a new graduated examination system that leads to accredited national and international referee status.
Key targets are set out in the agreement that challenges the partners to successfully train across China: 100 Primary and Intermediate level Rules Officials by the autumn of 2007, 60 new National level Rules Officials by the end of the year and two International level referees by February 2008.
Speaking at the signing ceremony R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said, “We are delighted to assist our affiliated national association in China in this very practical way. Golfers worldwide follow the same set of rules and with more competitions being played in China it is critical that the game, locally, finds referees that match up to the growing demand.”
The R&A is to meet the cost of staging Rules of Golf Schools in China throughout a two-year programme. The R&A has previously organised Rules of Golf Schools in Beijing and Shanghai and a tournament administration seminar ahead of the 2005 Volvo China Junior Golf Championship at the invitation of the China Golf Association
The R&A licenses publication of The Rules of Golf in Mandarin by The China Golf Association. Last week two Chinese rules officials, Mr Feng Liyuan and Mr Xiao Yufeng, attended the annual International Rules of Golf School in St Andrews, Scotland, the Home of Golf.
The R&A has committed more than 16,000,000 RMB (£1,100,000) to projects that directly benefit golf in China, as founding sponsors of both the China / Scotland Golf Project and The Faldo Series Asia
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