National treasures

The men over at the Golfing Union of Ireland have embraced the web, but it's the embrace of a distant uncle, not a lover.

This is instantly clear from the home page, which is largely given over to a picture of the current president, Mr Patrick L Murphy, which looks like the sort of thing you'd find hanging in the back room of a Kerry pub commemorating some local's appearance in a 1950s All-Ireland. Or a Mass card.

Now, obviously, president Murphy is the innocent party in this (as is his counterpart over at scottishgolf.com). But as an introduction to the GUI the page does not project an image of an organisation of great vibrance or imagination.

Of course, the GUI is a relatively small and amateur association which is unlikely to have the sort of funding needed to devote to maintaining a web site. But times are changing boys, and if you're going to be on the web you might spruce up the image.

The site does have its strengths, in particular a comprehensive list of related web sites, including those of the affiliated clubs.

If the GUI needs inspiration, it could do worse than look at the example of the English union - englishgolfingunion.org - which is more professional.

Or they could take a gander at how they organise these things Down Under. Of greatest significance about the Australian Golfing Union site - agu.org.au - is that "Incorporated" appears in the title of the home page. Can a union lose its amateur status?

And for some strange reason, the Japanese Golf Association site - jga.or.jp - although lovely to look at, is in Japanese. Perverse.

Equipment/americangolfweb.com