By Matt Smith
Former tennis world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty may have stepped away from the game at the top, but it seems she is by no means done with the sporting world just yet.

The Australian stunned everyone last month when she announced she was quitting tennis for good, but she could be swapping rackets for clubs as she has signed up for a golf exhibition match in July.

The 25-year-old, who won four Grand Slam titles, most recently at the Australian Open this year, will play in the Icons Series golf event in July alongside the likes of Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and 23-time Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps.

“It’s such a unique opportunity to have fun, test yourself and compete,” Barty told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I hope through my participation in the series that we can encourage more women and girls to participate in golf around the world.”

Barty, a keen golfer with a four handicap, is no stranger to switching sports as she was once a professional cricketer, playing in the 2015 Women’s Big Bash League for Brisbane Heat during her first break from tennis. She has also got previous success on the golf course, claiming the amateur Brookwater Golf Club women’s title in 2020.

The first event in the Icon Series will take place at Liberty National in New Jersey in June with further tournaments planned for Europe, Asia and Australia. The 28 competitors will be split into Team USA, led by Fred Couples, and Team Rest of the World, led by Ernie Els.

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By Joy Chakravarty
Tiger Woods said he “greatly enjoyed” watching Will Smith’s ‘King Richard’ – the movie based on the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, and marvelled at the similarities with his own father’s story.

However, the 15-time major champion was quick to point out one big difference.

“My dad was a bit different from Richard. He did not push me in that way,” said Woods, who is hosting his Hero World Challenge in Albany, Bahamas, this week.

“He would always tell me to play as many junior tournaments as possible. I played a ton of junior tournaments, whereas Venus and Serena did not.

“But my dad grew up in that racial time. And so, for me, to hear all the stories that he passed on to me, and all that Richard was going through, was very relatable. I can understand how he must have felt, and I can also understand what Serena and Venus had to go through.”

Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, King Richard is the story of the Williams sisters’ success, told through their father, who famously made a plan for his daughters to become world No.1 tennis players even before they were born.

Anne Marie Fox.

It has been receiving a lot of praise from critics and fans and has a 91% score on the movies review site, Rotten Tomatoes. King Richard is produced by Will Smith, who loves his golf and is often seen playing at Dubai courses, and lists Venus, Serena and their half-sister Isha Price as executive producers.

The Williams sisters grew up in Compton in south-central Los Angeles, where they faced racial issues on a regular basis and threats from the neighbourhood gangs. At almost the same time, Woods, now 45, was acquiring fame less than 30 miles down the road at Orange County.

Woods said there was one particular scene in the movie that seemed to have been lifted straight out of his life.

In King Richard, the Williams were continuously harassed by hood gangs, but as the sisters started getting famous, the same gang members apologise to Richard and promise protection for the family.

“I grew up not too far away from where they grew up and gang violence was a reality… shootings and stabbings were a reality. You are forced to pick sides, and sometimes you weren’t allowed to pick sides… they just picked it for you. They sometimes chose whether or not you are gonna make it or not,” reminisced Woods.

“And so, that that was neat to see when they start off pretty ugly, and then all of a sudden, they had won the game and they were saying, hey, you know, we will protect you. You’re going to get out of here. And you know, I had that moment, almost similar. So yes, I can totally relate to that part of it.”

Woods added that while things are much better now in the US, black kids still have to go through experiences similar to Venus, Serena and himself.

“Unfortunately, you know, our country at that time, racism did exist. It does now, but certainly not at level which Richard or my dad had to participate in and go through. We are still not quite there. We are still fighting and bickering over it. So, we still have a long way to go.”

Asked if Woods had any intentions of making a movie on his father, he replied: “Let’s see.”

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But it looks like Murray might have his next career move already figured out: becoming a professional caddie.

“I really like golf, so being a caddie for example on the golf tour would be something I would find exciting,” the Scot told Gentleman’s Journal. “To be up close and personal to top golfers—and to learn about another sport like that—and maybe there’s some crossover between the two sports from the mental side and things, and so you might be able to help a golfer.”

Perhaps it wouldn’t be that difficult a transition, either.

Murray already counts Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Danny Willett, among others, as his friends on tour. McIlroy and Jason Day are also among players in recent years to employ close friends over more seasoned loopers. And Lee Westwood has taken things a step further, tasking his fiancee Helen Storey to carry the bag and Westwood nearly won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship with along to offer support.

Murray is also an avid golfer—reportedly a 7 handicap, though he did admit to having three shanks on the opening hole at Wentworth two years ago on his way to a 29-over alongside his brother in the club championship.

“Me and Jamie [Murray] scored 101 each which was not pleasant,” he said at the time. “It all got away from me quickly. I hadn’t shanked a ball for the last 12 or 13 rounds I had played and I had three on the first hole. I was so nervous.”

Fortunately, Murray, who also said he’d have an interest in coaching soccer, er, football, wouldn’t have to worry about such nerves in his new gig.

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England’s Wimbledon Park will be shutting its golf course down after selling the Wimbledon Park Golf Club to the All England Lawn Tennis Club for £65 million (approximately $81.5 million), according to The Guardian. The AELTC has been eying the neighbouring property for awhile, hoping to expand its facilities for the tennis’ oldest Grand Slam event.

After several offers that were turned down, Wimbledon Park Golf Club members, who own the course as a co-op, voted 82 percent in favor to take the deal. Each member will receive a share of 85,000 pounds (or about $107,000) regardless of how they voted.

“The decision of the Wimbledon Park Golf Club members to vote in favor of the acquisition offer is a hugely significant moment for the AELTC and the Championships,” AELTC chairman Philip Brook said. “We have achieved what we set out to do many months ago in having certainty in our planning for the future.”

The 18-hole golf course will remain open through the end of 2021, marking a 123 years of existence.

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By Robbie Greenfield

No one knows what kind of lasting impact the Olympics will have on golf, which makes its return to the planet’s foremost sporting spectacle in Rio de Janeiro this summer after an absence of over a century. Unfortunately, golf might give up its seat at the table before any real impact – positive or otherwise – can even be measured.

As it stands, golf will be played at The Olympics in Rio this summer, and in Japan, four years down the line, with a vote due in 2017 on whether to extend its participation. In other words, it only has this upcoming Olympic Games, and a grand total of 72 holes to make a really good impression. Let’s hope the tournament itself does a better job of this than a build-up that has largely been mired in controversy.

The sport’s governing bodies fought tooth and nail to earn golf a spot at the world’s most-watched sports event, convinced that this added exposure could bring new people to the game and give golf a much-needed platform for growth.

It’s a formula that has worked well for tennis. While no one in that sport would argue that an Olympic gold medal supersedes a grand slam title, the Games has nonetheless carved out a special place on the tennis calendar. Andy Murray’s triumph on his home soil at Wimbledon in 2012 was the catalyst that propelled him to his only two grand slam victories to date, the U.S. Open later that year and then Wimbledon, on the very same Centre Court in 2013.

There’s no doubt a sustained run in the Olympics has helped tennis, with 2012 men’s gold medal winner Andy Murray using his home triumph as a springboard to two grand slam trophies

So clearly, golf has a tremendous opportunity for a much-needed boost to its popularity and global stature, not to mention a prize that could one day rank among the most cherished in the game. And so far, a general indifference to golf’s place on the Olympic roster among both players and influential voices within the sport has seen enthusiasm fight a losing battle with skepticism. ‘Golf is not an Olympic sport’ is the go-to refrain, with more pressing priorities in the midst of a crowded schedule the favoured excuse of those players, such as Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel, who have been quick to announce that they will be nowhere near Rio.

And on the surface at least, they are right. Golf certainly doesn’t fit the mold of an Olympic sport, but then the same could be said of almost any discipline outside the traditional realms of track and field, cycling and swimming. So do golf’s Olympic credentials really matter here? Instead of making sure the top players had fully bought into the push to get golf back in The Games and the potential benefits this could bring, so far all we’ve seen is one negative headline after another.

Adam Scott baffled the world of golf when he announced that he would be missing golf’s return to the Olympics. He was soon followed by Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and Vijay Singh

We’re now in the embarrassing position where players are either openly rejecting the Olympics, or merely lukewarm about its appeal. Earlier this month Rory McIlroy (who has warmed to the cause after the blunt comparisons he made between a gold medal and a major earlier this year in Abu Dhabi), voiced his concerns over whether golf will remain an Olympic sport beyond 2020. And I’d say the chances are starting to look slim. If golf doesn’t wholeheartedly believe that it deserves to be there, why should the International Olympic Committee?

If golf’s rulemakers had been more imaginative with the format, this pessimistic outlook could have been avoided. The Olympics was surely crying out for a pairs format that could conjure the same kind of patriotic energy that we see in the Ryder Cup. Better yet, it was a perfect chance to bring the men’s and women’s games under the same banner with a mixed contest. How great would it have been to see Jordan Spieth and Lexi Thompson go up against Jason Day and Minjee Lee in a foursomes or betterball event? Golf had the opportunity to bring something unique to Rio, that could excite both the players and the fans. Instead, it will be another routine 72-hole stroke play event.

For all the effort golf has made to get there, it appears whatever opportunity the Olympics may afford is in danger of being squandered anyway.

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