R&A PRESS RELEASE

THE R&A TO DISCONTINUE BRITISH
MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

The R&A has elected to discontinue the British Mid-Amateur Championship and remove it from its championship calendar. The British Mid-Amateur, first played in 1995, restricts entry to male amateur golfers aged 25 and over. Despite various reviews of the championship over recent years, small fields for the event and a subsequent lack of quality in depth, mean that the event is no longer viable.
Commenting on the decision The R&A’s Director of Championships, David Hill, said: "The British Mid-Amateur has produced some notable champions beginning with Gary Wolstenholme in 1995 but it has struggled to establish itself as a sufficiently distinctive event in the British men's amateur golfing calendar.”
Matthew Cryer will be the final player to have his name engraved on the Mid Amateur trophy, having won earlier this year at Alwoodley Golf Club. A place in history awaits the Englishman as the trophy is destined for the British Golf Museum in one year’s time.

COMMENT BY THE EDITOR, COLIN FARQUHARSON

Mid-amateur tournament golf has struggled to find an identity for itself in the British Isles because - and this is my opinion - it was imported as a concept from the United States and our powers-that-be accepted the American minimum age of 25 without questioning it.
Mid-amateur golf should be for those 35 years old or over and up to the age of 55 from which age a man is eligible to play in senior golf (50 for ladies).
The European Golf Association got it right when they started a European men's mid-amateur championship and made 35 the minimum age.

Let us know your view. E-mail it to colin@scottishgolfview.com