I'M NOT ENTIRELY convinced that golf is a sport, but it's too complex to be a mere leisure activity. It seems more like a cult with its own traditions and rituals. Its members speak the jargon of birdies, bogeys and whatnot, wield ceremonial weapons and wear prescribed vestments (fortunately, the funny pants have apparently gone out of style). Golfers pray a lot, contorting themselves into attitudes of supplication as the ball rolls toward the hole. To outsiders, this sort of fervor borders on the absurd; to the cultists, it is the cart path to nirvana.
Nowhere is the ritual aspect of golf more pronounced than in Asia, where conventions and class lines have held firm in the face of change. The game is played in places so sacred only the chosen--usually not women, and not the daughter of a former nightclub bouncer--may enter. Despite its Western origins, golf has become a symbol of Asia's corporate culture: elite, patriarchal, bound by tradition. It is everything that Se Ri Pak--young, dynamic, female--is not.
The rules are clearly defined. Upon attaining a certain status, a man is expected to take up golf--it signifies his readiness to ascend to the upper echelons. Corporate patriarchs welcome potential successors into their circle with a round of golf. Put the ball in the hole, son, and you're officially one of us. Golf is the modern rite of passage: where warriors once ventured forth to perform feats of valor, they must now whack a ball across the grass.
Today's corporate elders have to deal with the fact that many of these warriors are women. Women are quietly invading traditional male strongholds. It has become increasingly difficult to hold up the NO WOMEN ALLOWED sign in the boardroom and on the golf course. With their growing economic power in the region, more women are out there on the links, swinging away. They are joining a club that, to paraphrase Groucho Marx, would not have nonguys like them for members. And now they have Se Ri Pak to rally round, to hold up as a bright, empowering example. It's girl power in a patriarchal society.
Pakmania could not have had better timing. An attractive, media-friendly heroine is exactly what the region needs in a time of economic turmoil. It is only fitting that a female golfer should give Asia cheer and comfort in its time of woe; after all, some of this woe may be blamed on the Asian mania for golf.
We're not talking about the environmental consequences of golf--huge tracts of agricultural land set aside to build golf courses, destruction of the natural habitat, water resources devoted to keeping the grass green. We're not even going into the wisdom of borrowing vast sums of money to construct golf and country clubs that, given the economic downturn, will probably just sit there. We're talking about golf cronyism. Business deals are negotiated and sealed on the links, far from the documents, facts and figures that should aid in dealmaking. Decisions are made on the basis of the day's golf scores, as if the scores were some sort of oracle. Potential problem areas are overlooked because, hey, that's not the way to treat your golf buddies, your fellow cult members.
Now the regional economy is in the hole, and Asia turns to Se Ri Pak for inspiration. Did I hear anyone say, "No women allowed"?
ZAFRA writes the column "Twisted" in the daily Today.