Golf: We must encourage youth: Kaye

Jan 30 2010 by Mel Booth, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

We must encourage youth: Kaye

RICHARD KAYE, who will become president of the Halifax, Huddersfield Union in 2011 after serving this year as president-elect, might have been lost to amateur golf as he had designs on a career as a professional.

When Parnell Reilly moved from Otley to become the professional at the then new Bradley Park club, Kaye, a five handicap teenage junior at the club, signed as Reilly’s first assistant.

Kaye, who later became captain and president at Bradley Park, recalled: “Like lots of teenagers who feel they are good enough players to make it in the pro ranks, I was full of enthusiasm and loved it when I joined the PGA as a trainee.

“I went to The Belfry, the PGA headquarters, to undergo the playing ability test and on my third visit was doing pretty well.

“In the first round I scored 73, one of the leading scores, then on the second day I did nicely up to the 10th hole but a storm hit the area with hailstones as big as golf balls coming down and the hooter went, calling us off the course.

“When play resumed after a suspension I went on a run of bogies and missed qualifying by one shot.”

From there his dream faded and eventually he came out of the PGA and applied to be reinstated as an amateur, which took two years.

Kaye had the chance to go into insurance but felt that was not for him and he took up a career in the financial advisory world. Ten years ago he went solo, setting himself up as an independent financial adviser.

Kaye, from Lindley, a popular figure at Bradley Park where he has served two three-year stints as president following being club captain, has had his work as a club administrator recognised by fellow members conferring upon him honorary life membership.

His long experience in committee work at Bradley Park will be of benefit during his stint as figurehead of the Union and at 48 when he moves into the top office he will be one of the youngest Union presidents ever.

Junior golf is a passion of his and he hopes to see the junior strength of the Union continue to grow under the coaching scheme and the eye of John Eyre, the Woodsome Hall professional, for as he says, junior golf is the ‘lifeblood’ of the Union.

“We have to make certain that talented young players are not lost to the Union. Some are lost through other interests and going off to college and university, where they may not play as often as they’d like. We need to focus on that and look to supporting them to keep them in the loop,” he said. “Finance is always a major factor, but we have to keep the coaching scheme strong and make sure players’ development continues, keeping young players in the game.”

Kaye backs the Union step that last year allowed girls to play in club junior teams – it will be in the last of a two-year trial period in the coming season – and he supports the recent decision to penalise clubs and individuals who make ‘no shows’ after entering events if they do not provide acceptable reasons in good time.

He says the invitation to become Union president came like a bolt from the blue but eagerly looks forward to the challenge. He feels his long experience in administration at Bradley Park will serve him well and added: “It is a big honour for me and my club and I think it will be important to go into the role with a smile on my face.”