An interview with Martin Whitelaw.

Two years have passed since Spain’s first Pitch & Putt course was sold. The manager, Martin Whitelaw, however, is still enthusiastically promoting the sport as Catalonia’s representative on the Board of the International Federation. He offers us his opinions about Pitch & Putt.

Q1. When you had the idea to open your Pitch & Putt in Solius did you imagine it would be the beginning of something important leading to an international federation?
Back then I had no idea that P&P could be so popular, not only in Catalonia, but also internationally. The founding of global organisation was beyond my wildest dreams. Even before curious neighbours and others arrived to play while I was still finishing constructing the last few greens, I was convinced that I had to develop a new market for a new sport. Back in 1989 I did not expect the members of the reputable local golf clubs to play regularly on my humble course. It was pretty obvious to me; one cannot build a golf course, even a mediocre one on six hectares of land. My only option was to claim to have a reasonably decent Pitch & Putt course and attract people who had perhaps never played golf. From the very beginning I had hoped that others would follow my example and build other such courses and thus ensure that the game became popular. ‘Variety is the spice of life’ my Dad used to say, and Pitch & Putt players like to have a choice of venue, otherwise they will get fed up playing the same course all the time.

Q2. After more seventeen years what is your perspective of this development?
I would never have thought that in such a short time we would have here in Catalonia as many regular Pitch & Putt players as in Ireland where the game has its roots going back 70 years. The Association of a number of courses has evidently satisfied a demand that the Federation of conventional golf clubs could not; access to a game - less time consuming, less expensive and more popular among all segments of society. Having said that, the game could not have established itself as a recognised sport in its own right were it not for the fact that those who invested in the construction of our courses had built courses to a very high standard of quality. This in turn has led to several others coming here from other countries for tips as to how to develop the sport.

Q3. What were the principle problems you had to deal with while negotiating the constitutions of the international federation?
There is no denying the fact that what may work in one place might not work in another for a variety of reasons: climate, density of population, availability of land, recreational alternatives etc. These variable factors will determine whether the Pitch & Putt course requires the installation of a costly irrigation system, provision of changing room and shower facilities, maintenance costs too will vary. Consequently, the main difficulty we faced was to find an internationally acceptable consensus as to what we in different parts of the world mean when we talk about Pitch & Putt. I have just come back from a trip to Ireland, and I can assure you that there the fairways are emerald green in spite of not having installed an automatic sprinkler system, in fact in Ireland the irrigation is free and virtually guaranteed!

Q4. So you managed to reach a consensus?
The birth of a global Pitch & Putt organisation is the logical consequence of the success of the European Association which in itself involved some compromises The bi-annual team championships together with our regular individual competitions at international level have attracted a tremendous interest in other countries where the game is only beginning to develop.

Q5. What role did the Irish P&P Union play?
The Irish Pitch & Putt Union has, over the years, established relations with several countries developing P&P. At our request they sent their best team to play against Catalonia in 1997. They laid the foundation for the international interest in the game, which is manifested in the number of major international competitions, attracting top class players from around the world. The first multi-national Triple Crown tournament in Australia is yet another example of Pitch & Putt’s increasing popularity. Now we are delighted to receive applications for membership of FIPPA from Canada and China.

Q6. And institutional support in Catalonia?
Not hesitant to support something that works well and has popular appeal, the Catalan Sports Ministry has recognised the fact that our sport is well organised and efficiently administered here. We must give credit to and congratulate our president Jose Maria Anzizu and his team of collaborators for their efforts to secure federative status for our sport here. This has had a catalyst effect and attracted the interest of other nations to emulate what we have achieved here in Catalonia with almost 15,000 federated players.

Q7. What would be your perspectives for FIPPA?
I would like to be optimistic and imagine that Pitch & Putt Federations in different continents will soon send competing bids to the FIPPA Council to host the World Championships, and, why not? Maybe some day one of our teams could win an Olympic medal!

Q8. To conclude, a reflection as to what Pitch & Putt means to you personally?
I have on more than one occasion received recognition and appreciation for having introduced the sport here. Several others around the globe are also taking those initial steps; great people, and I have no doubt that the sport will progress in leaps and bounds. Personally, it is true that I do get all emotional and feel especially honoured when a guy comes up to me during an important competition, shakes my hand and thanks me for giving him a hobby, a sport, and in some cases, even more than a sport. When I think about it, given the fact that we could do with more girls taking up the game, I suspect that some Pitch & Putt fans might accuse me for being responsible for more separations than marriages!