To
use a couple of mixed sport metaphors (in the tradition of only
the very best NFL commentators), Hungarian golfers are still
on the bunny hills. As a nation, Hungary has little to contribute
to the professional golfing world, at least for now. We don
't want to suggest that improving Hungary's golf handicap is
on the political agenda, but we do know that within the walls
of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is one of those ...golf
fanatics. János Váczi, senior advisor to the Minister
of Youth and Sports, has a five iron in one corner, another
club sticking out from behind a pile of papers, and a golf ball
resting on his desk.“ I've got a pretty low handicap,”
he boasts casually before admitting that, just occasionally,
when things are getting tough within the government 's walls,
he breaks out the clubs. “When the stress level is really
high I just call it quits for like ten minutes and I say, 'okay,
I have to work on my putting. 'It's goo —you can practice
your grip.”
While studying in the US, Váczi picked up the sport,
eventually being invited to be an assistant pro by the golf
director at Indiana University. “I decided that with two
masters degrees that wasn't the direction I should be heading,
but perhaps I would be sitting somewhere else today, like Florida,
giving golf lessons.” Speaking about the state of Hungarian golf, Váczi is a bit more serious. “Like any sport activity, you can approach it from two angles: one is professional sports and the other is the leisure activity. Right now golf is purely a leisure time activity. Competitive golf and pro golf do not exist in this country.”
The history of Hungary's golf game is riddled with sand traps.
One course, Széchenyi Hill, was destroyed during the
First World War and later occupied by Soviet troops. The communists
did not think highly of a game traditionally a favorite of the
business elite and the wealthy, so the seeds were never in place
for Hungary to develop a pool of talent.
This is changing however; golf as a business (not just a businessmen's
game) began to make sense over the last ten years. To date,
Hungary has seven golf courses, most run by private investors.
“We have a course in Kisoroszi that's run by two businessmen
and we have Máriavö lgye [Pannónia Golf and
Country Club] run by an Austrian businessman, and there's one
in Bük run by a bunch of young, talented Hungarians. Corporations
will usually buy an annual or corporate membership or they sponsor
a certain hole or certain event,” explains Váczi.
Golf's revival follows a success pattern that the Hungarian
Sports Ministry would like to engrain into the philosophies
of other sports. It is an unfortunate but simple fact that the
government is gradually pulling away from funding many sports
and focusing its resources on maintaining elite sports. “More
and more a market approach should be taken,” insists Váczi.
“It no longer works in such a way that the government pays
for sports activities. Clubs have to find other ways to generate
revenue.” Golf and fitness are two areas that have been
working as private enterprises for years. Internationally,
the game is under revival as well, which according to Váczi,
can be attributed to superstar Tiger Woods. “Golf used
to be a sport for older people who would wear those nice plaids
or pink pants,” says Váczi, “and Tiger has
a totally different approach, he's gotten a lot of youngsters
interested in the game, it 's supposed to be a cool activity.”
Changes cause a greater impact more than the golfers' fashion
statements. If Tiger Woods means cool, junior and stronger,
then the other players at the pro level have taken note. “The
top golfers of the PGA tour right now are very athletic,”
Váczi remarks. “I've just read in a golf magazine
what is in and what is out. And the 19th hole, which
is obviously the bar, is out. The players are replacing this
with the driving range; they work out four or five times a week,
they lift weights, they run, they use the tread mill…so
they are much closer to real sportsmen than they used to be.”
Of interest to trend spotters in Budapest, Hungary's golfer
may not be reading the same magazines. The 19th Hole
is actually a bar and restaurant in the fifth district, (Nádor
utca 32). The chief attraction of this casual restaurant with
a typically sporty atmosphere is the Golf Simulator, a virtual
driving range where players can whack the ball into a projection
screen that pictures a lolling golf course. The image scrolls
or zooms towards the hole according to the computerized trajectory
recorded when the golf ball strikes the screen. Before we laugh
at all the golf addicts, please note the enthusiastic comment
of one very dedicated player, “it's not that bad!”
The theme bar has putting facilities, golf lessons and a pro
shop, in addition to the needs of a more old fashioned 19th
hole.
Surely this is more evidence that golf is on the upswing. In
the 2000 season, the Old Lake Golf Club in Tata reported 20
percent increase in its players and a record number of participants
in it's season's closing tournament. The Birdland Golf &Country
Club, nestled into the Bük Hills, has a full season of
golf cups and tournaments including the first annual Business
Friendship Championship in June. The point is that there are
great games of golf to be played here in Hungary. More and more
people here —many of them young people —are realizing
that golf is an interesting, challenging way to expend mental
and physical energy, and a delightful way to spend time away
from the concrete jungle.
The Ministry is currently working with the Hungarian Golf Federation
to attract more youngsters to the sport. Says Váczi,
“Every golf course has to become a hub, a regional center
that should sign up with the local schools and offer free golf
lessons. If you've got seven golf courses, and every golf course
deals with 10 schools then you have 70 schools which means that
within four years you will have a school league and about three,
four or five hundred players. And from those kids you are going
to have a lot of low handicap players to turn pro.” That's
a long way to go, but maybe the next Tiger to emerge will be
Hungarian.
To
use a couple of mixed sport metaphors (in the tradition of only
the very best NFL commentators), Hungarian golfers are still
on the bunny hills. As a nation, Hungary has little to contribute
to the professional golfing world, at least for now. We don
't want to suggest that improving Hungary's golf handicap is
on the political agenda, but we do know that within the walls
of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is one of those ...golf
fanatics. János Váczi, senior advisor to the Minister
of Youth and Sports, has a five iron in one corner, another
club sticking out from behind a pile of papers, and a golf ball
resting on his desk.“ I've got a pretty low handicap,”
he boasts casually before admitting that, just occasionally,
when things are getting tough within the government 's walls,
he breaks out the clubs. “When the stress level is really
high I just call it quits for like ten minutes and I say, 'okay,
I have to work on my putting. 'It's goo —you can practice
your grip.”
Speaking about the state of Hungarian golf, Váczi is a bit more serious. “Like any sport activity, you can approach it from two angles: one is professional sports and the other is the leisure activity. Right now golf is purely a leisure time activity. Competitive golf and pro golf do not exist in this country.”
Internationally,
the game is under revival as well, which according to Váczi,
can be attributed to superstar Tiger Woods. “Golf used
to be a sport for older people who would wear those nice plaids
or pink pants,” says Váczi, “and Tiger has
a totally different approach, he's gotten a lot of youngsters
interested in the game, it 's supposed to be a cool activity.”
Changes cause a greater impact more than the golfers' fashion
statements. If Tiger Woods means cool, junior and stronger,
then the other players at the pro level have taken note. “The
top golfers of the PGA tour right now are very athletic,”
Váczi remarks. “I've just read in a golf magazine
what is in and what is out. And the 19th hole, which
is obviously the bar, is out. The players are replacing this
with the driving range; they work out four or five times a week,
they lift weights, they run, they use the tread mill…so
they are much closer to real sportsmen than they used to be.”
