Golf in the Paralympics - Dr. Haruhisa Handa's High Hopes for 2020

Dr. Haruhisa Handa (photo: asiantour.com)

Over the years we've written about Haruhisa Handa... and his unique dedication to golf... on quite a few occasions.

Through his International Sports Promotion Society, the Japanese businessman has sponsored numerous events across numerous tours; The European, Ladies European, Senior European, Asian, Japan and Australian Tours have all benefited from his benevolence and his superlative support for the Legends Tour has many senior LPGA players referring to him as the "father" of their tour.  


Clearly, Dr. Handa has a passion for golf, and more than anything else, he's dedicated to making the sport accessible to all people, particularly those with physical challenges.  To that end, the tenacious philanthropist established the Japanese Blind Golf Association and was instrumental in the formation of the International Blind Golf Association.  Which brings us to his latest challenge: securing a spot for golf in the Paralympic Games.  


While golf will once again be an Olympic sport in Rio four years from now, it won't be part of part of the 2016 Paralympics. For that, Dr. Handa has his sights set on the 2020 games. 

This laudable effort is yet another reason to see Dr. Handa as The Quintessential Golf Ambassador.  The video below offers an inspiring glimpse of para-athletes on the golf course. You may recognize Manuel De Los Santos, the extraordinarily talented Dominican golfer who took up the game after he lost his leg in an accident.

Dr. Haruhisa Handa - The Quintessential Golf Ambassador

The following is an excerpt from the recent interview I did with golf author/publisher Christina Ricci. ~ The entire interview can be found on Christina's blog, Miss Par. ~ A number of Christina's questions dealt with the increasing urgent issue of "growing the game" including this one where she asked me, "...who, in your eyes, is the quintessential Golf Ambassador? In other words, who do you feel is making that extra effort to grow the game?" I answered her, without hesitation, as follows: 

 

These days just about everyone involved with golf is aware that we need to bring new people into the game… and keep current players playing.
Many professional golfers and golf organizations are now involved in  initiatives to grow the game.  As for the quintessential Golf Ambassador, without a doubt that would have to Dr. Haruhisa Handa.

This Japanese philanthropist has been dedicated to growing the game of golf for almost 25 years. His International Sports Promotion Society has fostered partnerships with golf’s governing bodies worldwide to help develop the game at every level, advising professional tours, supporting their charitable efforts and sponsoring tournaments.

Dr. Handa is the Honorary Chairman of the Legends Tour and an advisor to the European Senior Tour. He’s also Chairman of the Women’s Senior Golf Association and an official Patron of Golf Australia.  In addition, Dr. Handa established the first Blind Golf Club in Japan, and is known to many there as the “Father of Blind Golf”. He serves as Honorary Chairman of the Japanese Blind Golf Association (NPO) and Honorary President of the International Blind Golf Association. He relentlessly promotes blind and disabled golf.

Long before “growing the game” became a cause célèbre, this extraordinary man was supporting organizations and efforts that allow young people, those in their senior years, and people with disabilities... from various backgrounds around the world... to be involved with, and inspired by, golf.  In my eyes, Dr. Handa is clearly a Golf Ambassador without equal.

How would you have answered Christina's question? Who do you see as the quintessential Golf Ambassador?

Past posts on the awesome Dr. Handa:
The Handa Cup and Dr. Haruhisa Handa 
International Showdown by the Sea - The Handa Cup

In Chilly NH, The 2011 Handa Cup Goes to Team USA

Though, there was little sun at Wentworth-by-the-Sea. , the team USA managed to shine at the Handa Cup this past weekend, winning seven of the twelve matches and capturing the trophy.

Hannaford and Kraft Foods, were the presenting sponsors and presented a check to The First Tee of New Hampshire and The First Tee of Maine in the amount of $75,000. Additionally, a check for $25,000 was donated to the Japan Relief Fund. The LPGA Legends showed their true spirit by adding another $10,000 to support Dr. Haruhisa Handa’s Japan Relief Fund, the patron sponsor’s ongoing effort to help rebuild his home country of Japan.

I'd planned to get up to New Hampshire for event but once again, life managed to get in the way.  I'm hoping to get to see the Legends Tour in action later in the summer.

Fighting Thin: Overcoming Your Fear of the Ground

Developing a comfort level for taking divots

I had big plans this week, that didn't quite happen.

My intention was to head down to Jersey early in the week to watch Sybase practice rounds at Hamilton Farm Golf Course, then turn around and spend the weekend up at Wentworth by the Sea cheering on team USA at The Handa Cup.

In the end an onerous non-golf writing project presented itself that was too good lucrative to pass up, and it effectively put the breaks on my interstate golf adventure.  So for the past six days I've been in front of my MacBook practically non-stop, immersed in the less-than-exciting a clinical overview.  >  >  >

DWTS Update - Aussie Golfers Vote for Jan Stephenson

In a Twitter dispatch from down under, I learned that golfer Jan Stephenson had fared quite well in her Dancing With the Stars debut, receiving "scores of 6 ,7 & 4 for a total of 17". 

For the uninitiated... myself included... this may not mean much, but suffice to say that it's taken Jan to round 2, which will air in Australia next Sunday.
  
Here in the US we have our own dancing stars, and the Australian episodes don't appear to be accessible, however those who can make it to coastal New Hampshire next week will be able to watch Ms. Stephenson... and a number of other Ledgends Tour ladies... perform live on another kind of dance floor at the Handa Cup.  The US vs International showdown will take place at Wentworth-by-the-Sea May 19 - 22, and tickets are available online.

In the meantime, Aussie golfers... and golf fans...  can call in and vote for Jan.  She won 16 LPGA tour events including three majors, and you can help her add another trophy to her case.



Thanks go to @IMI57DANCER for the Aussie updates !

International Showdown by the Sea - The Handa Cup

It's an international match play tournament:  the US vs the rest of the world.

Team rosters... listed below... have been announced by captains Kathy Whitworth (USA) and Pia Nilsson (World). Among the players, you'll notice, are a number of veritable golf legends... which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise; this is the Handa Cup we're talking about... an LPGA Legends Tour event.

The venue is quite spectacular as well,  Wentworth-by-the-Sea, in Rye, NH.  The state's only seaside links style course, it was originally designed in 1897 by George Wright who some call the "father of New England golf".  Donald Ross improved the original 9 holes in 1921 and 1964 saw an expansion to 18 under the direction of Geoffrey Cornish. The 6,306 yards par 70 layout is considered a classic shot makers course where wind and/or weather will almost always be a factor. -- MORE --->

A Professional Golfer Will Dance With the Stars

A while back Natalie Gulbis revealed that she'd love to be on  Dancing With the Stars.  

Well that hasn't happened yet, but Jan Stephenson, another "bubbly" blonde golfer, will be joining the line-up for Series 11 of Australia's DWTS.  

Jan Stephenson won three majors and 16 events in her extraordinary LPGA career but is often referenced as "the golfer who posed naked in a bath tub of golf balls".  

So be it. The awesome Aussie was never one let such things bother her, in fact she was always quite pragmatic about promoting sex appeal to encourage interest in women's golf. 

Jan will be partnered with Mark Hodge in the new season of the international hit TV show. The cast will also include a cheeky celebrity chef a couple of high profile celebrity models, a cricket superstar and a world champion surfer.

Jan now plays on The Legends Tour and holds the top spot in Legends Tour career money.  She's been named for the sixth time to the Handa Cup World Team to be played May 19 – 22, 2011 in Rye, NH.  I'm looking forward to heading up to the historical Wentworth-by-the-Sea golf course to attend the event and meet Jan... before she trades her golf shoes for dancing shoes.

The Handa Cup and Dr. Haruhisa Handa

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the Legends Tour and their first major, won by Sherri Steinhauer.

Well, the legendary ladies were on course again this past weekend in St. Augustine, FL, for the fourth edition of the Handa Cup.

The Slammer & Squire course at World Golf Village was the setting for this international team event that pits a US team against an International one, based on a similar format to the Presidents Cup, and Team USA... captained this year by by Kathy Whitworth... took the trophy for the fourth consecutive time. Her Legends Tour team included seven Hall of Famers. Results and photos from the event can be found on the Legends Tour website with additional reporting on the LPGA's website and FrontPageGolf.

In reading about the Legends Tour and their events over the past few weeks, I learned about the extraordinary and inspiring Dr. Haruhisa Handa who, with his company International Sports Promotion Society (ISPS), is title sponsor of the Handa Cup.

Dr. Handa has been involved in international golf for almost 25 years, advising professional tours and sponsoring tournaments. He's the Honorary Chairman of the Legends Tour and an advisor to the European Senior Tour. He's also Chairman of the Women’s Senior Golf Association and was recently made an official Patron of Golf Australia. Dr. Handa has been called the “Father of Blind Golf” for having founded the first blind golf club in Japan and for his dedication to International Blind Golf.

The thing that's amazing is that this just scratches the surface of the remarkable Japanese businessman's golf involvement. And the thing that's even more amazing is that Dr. Handa is also is also an accomplished composer, calligrapher, author, Noh actor, motivational speaker and opera singer. His philanthropic work has a global reach with projects in many countries. And again there's much more than that.

That's why I'm definitely planning to write more about Dr. Haruhisa Handa in the near future. He's a true Renaissance Man and the golf world is very fortunate to have his support.

Sherri Steinhauer Wins Legends Tour's First Major

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It was Sherri Steinhauer's first Legends Tour event... and it was the Legends Tour's first major. Joe Smith wrote an account of the action for Tampabay.com.

Today, with a second round 70, to finish with a 3 under par 141, Ms. Steinhauer won The Legends Tour Open Championship and took home a $50,000 winner's check.

For those who don't know, the Legends Tour is the official senior tour of the LPGA. It has over 100 members, among them some of the greatest female golfers of all time, including nine LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame members. Its players have captured an impressive 625 LPGA Tour victories and 65 major championships. In its seven seasons, the Legends Tour has awarded more than $7 million in prize money and donated more than $8.8 million to charity.

This weekend's event was a 36-hole stroke play tournament, sanctioned by The Legends Tour and featuring two days of competition, a pro-am, and a number of community outreach programs, like children’s and women’s golf clinics.

Over the last couple of days I've done quite a bit of reading about the Legends Tour... the players and the events... and I've come away with the distinct impression that these would be some ultra-fun and exciting tournaments to attend. The stellar cast of players emphasize competition... which sort of goes without saying since these are some of the most competitive ladies golf has ever known... but they also appear to put a premium on fun, a commodity that can sometimes be in short supply at golf tournaments.

Coming up next: The Handa Cup, an international competition pitting Senior Women Golfers from the United States against an International Team of Senior Women, a lot like the President’s Cup. Sherry Tabb wrote an informative piece about it last month in her blog, Ladies on the Tee. This year's Handa Cup will be played December 5th-6th at Slammer & Squire at World Golf Village, St. Augustine, FL.

I probably won't make it to that awesome event, but do hope to catch up with the Legends Tour in 2010, and if so, I'll definitely bring you a first-hand account.

These legendary ladies get far too little media coverage.