Golf a sport for all

By Sarafina Sanerivi 04 July 2016, 12:00AM

When it comes to golf, some people think it’s a male sport. But at the S.I.F.A Samoa Open Tournament, which ended on Saturday, that is not the case.

Female players are as much a part of the landscape as their male competitors. Although the number of women participants dropped this year, women featured quite strongly during the tournament.

Among them was Bronwyn Sesega, who has been competing in the Samoa Open tournament for the past eight years.  

“I haven’t been playing regularly for the last two years but the tournament this year has been better than I expected,” she tells the Sunday Samoan.  “More people are interested, and more international professional golfers interested in the tournament.

But the number of women competing in the tournament has gone down. I can’t really say why. 

“But it is always good to come back and play the game I love.”

For Mrs. Sesega, it was her dad and her husband that got her into playing golf.  “My father, Tupuola Tavita was one of the founders of the Club and my husband also plays golf. So I was hooked and I’ve enjoyed it ever since.

“It’s a sport that I enjoy. I never thought I would end up playing golf, but I really love it now.”

 “It’s a thinking sport. Half of golf is up in the head.” Mrs. Sesega has been a South Pacific representative to three different tournaments in the Pacific so far.  She said golf is a different game compare to the other sports, hence why not so many people are into the game. 

“Golf is a very different sport, because it takes up a lot of your time. One round takes up about four to five hours and you need to keep practicing more and more if you want to perfect this game. So if you have the time, then yes. “It’s also an expensive sport. And to have more women involve in the sport, you really have to be interested.

But if you have family members who are into the sport then it’s easy for you to be interested into playing the game.”

 Mrs. Sesega said she had thoroughly enjoyed this year’s tournament.

“I haven’t been playing regularly for the last two years. But I used to play golf like two or three days a week. But it’s been really good so far, and most of the international players who are here have been coming for the last couple of years so it’s always good to see familiar faces and some new faces as well.”

Another female golfer, Leota Tima Le’avai, was loving the atmosphere. A lawyer and a musician by profession, Leota said golf is a great sport for women.

 “I got into playing golf starting from dropping of my dad off to the golf course,” she said. “Then most of the time, I had to wait for him to finish, and then I thought, why not learn how to play?

“So I got into playing golf by watching my dad play and my dad was my coach.”

And how does she find the time to play golf with a busy schedule?  

“You have to find time; otherwise, I would never leave the office because there is always work to do.

“But we have a group of golfers here and they always come and play twice a week, and I always join them once a week if I can.  But there have been no serious golfing lately.”

Over the years, Leota said golf as a sport has come a long way in Samoa.

They have set up and Academy for the young children to learn golf, and she is also in the executive of the Academy.  “The Academy is called the Samoa Golf Academy Incorporated, and it has been going very well since last year,” she said.

“We have about thirty children in the Academy. And every Mondays and Fridays we have training and it has attracted a lot of interests.” Like Mrs. Sesega, Leota has also represented Samoa in golf.

By Sarafina Sanerivi 04 July 2016, 12:00AM
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