cnn
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Amir Malik is a man in love with golf. However, golf has not always loved him.
A devout sports fan since his childhood in Kingston upon Thames, London, he was fascinated by golf long before he took his first swing. But without knowing anyone else who played, Malik settled for a side view.
That all changed in 2012, when his former boss invited him to try his luck at a driving range.
“From the first dance I thought, 'This is it. This game is amazing,'” Malik, now 38, told CNN.
“I've played a lot of sports, but there aren't many when you go to bed thinking about it and can't wait to get up to play again.”
Finally, Malik was ready to take his game to the next level. He joined a municipal club in 2017 and began competing in tournaments on Sunday mornings.
It was at these events that the “ugly side” of the game was quickly revealed to Malik, who felt isolated by the jarring clash between the club's culture and his Muslim faith.
The awkwardness would begin before the ball was hit, as Malik says he drew questioning looks by his refusal to participate in bets on internal competitions, since gambling is prohibited in Islam. In the countryside, stepping aside to observe salat (Islamic ritual prayers performed five times a day) further increased his anxiety.
“You would feel scared, intimidated. How are people going to react? he remembered.
“We always made sure to stay out of the way, but they made you feel very, very uncomfortable.”
Their discomfort was exacerbated by the common tradition of drinking in the club after competitions. Since Malik doesn't drink alcohol, he had to hand in his scorecard and leave early.
As he improved and played on more prestigious courses, discomfort often turned into outright hostility. Malik, of Pakistani descent, said he has experienced racism on the golf course.
“You arrive and you can immediately feel the vibe and the atmosphere, the way they talk to you, the way they treat you,” he said.
“And you say, 'Wow, just because I have a beard and I'm dark and I don't look like you, you probably think I can't play or that I don't know the game.' label.
“I used to get really frustrated because you feel it, you feel it, you grow into it, you know what it feels like. And it's not until you hit a straight shot down the middle of the fairway – when you've smoked a drive – that people think, 'Oh, he can play,' and by then it's too late.”
Malik's passion for golf was not soured by his experiences. On the contrary, they prompted him to seek out other British Muslims who shared his love of the game.
Encouraged by “pockets” of interest he had seen on his travels, in December 2019 Malik named his new venture, the Muslim Golf Association (MGA), and sent out invitations to a charity golf day at The Grove, a prestigious place. just outside London.
The inaugural MGA event would be open to all faiths; Prayer facilities would be provided and there would be no alcohol or gambling. Malik was stunned by the response. Within 24 hours, 72 places had been reserved and at the end of the week there were more than 100 people on the waiting list.
The event, held in August 2020, raised £18,000 for charity, and the sight of more than 60 players praying together on the Grove patio marked a defining moment for Malik.
“That to me was just incredible,” he said. “That we could get the guys together, feel safe and comfortable and just be on our own platform.”
The MGA has since partnered with the Marriott hotel chain to host a three-series tournament starting in 2021, and the winners of this year's edition will secure an all-expenses-paid trip to the Turkish golf paradise of Belek.
“I looked at golf and thought: It's a sport played by rich, old, white men, period,” Malik said. “Now we have the opportunity to show the world that non-whites can play this game and that we are very good at it.”
The overwhelming response to the MGA events among Muslim women has been equally exciting for Malik. After launching a trio of pilot sessions in Birmingham last year, 1,000 players have already signed up for the series of women's-only test events scheduled across the country over the next two months.
Malik believes Muslim women in the UK are being prevented from participating in more sports due to a lack of women-only facilities and sessions.
The MGA has no dress code, meaning women can play in niqab (face veil) and abaya (long robe) if they wish, and rents sections of fields for exclusive use for tryout events, to ensure a comfortable experience for new players.
“The response has been absolutely incredible, mind-blowing,” Malik said. “I tell women, 'I don't care what you wear or what you look like, just come with a smile and a pair of sneakers and we'll take care of everything else.' “We haven’t done anything revolutionary, we’ve just made it accessible and the demand is incredible.”
To date, MGA events have attracted more than 1,300 participants. Looking ahead, the organization intends to take its efforts globally to reach as many new actors as possible.
Growing up, Malik had to look to other sports for Muslim role models, such as English cricketer Moeen Ali. From Muhammad Ali to Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and Mohamed Salah, countless Muslim athletes have carved out brilliant careers in a variety of sports, but professional golf offers a relative dearth of examples.
According to a survey cited by England Golf, the country's governing body for amateur golf, only 5% of golfers in England belong to ethnically diverse groups.
By building relationships with groups like the MGA, England Golf COO Richard Flint believes the barriers that have contributed to the lack of diversity in the game can be understood and broken down.
“No one should feel uncomfortable walking through the doors of a golf club or facility simply because of their age, race, ethnicity or gender,” Flint told CNN.
“As a modern and forward-thinking organisation, we want to make golf open to all and change negative perceptions about the game that are a thing of the past.”
While Malik hopes to soon see Muslim players competing on professional tours, he says he did not form the MGA to produce a Muslim Tiger Woods.
“If that happens as a byproduct, then great,” he said. “But if we can get the golf industry to take a hard look and make it accessible, open and diverse, then that will be a huge achievement.
“The golf course does not discriminate. The ball does not ask what color, race or gender you are… however, it has been a very closed club that has been open to very few people.
Malik thinks it's time for a change. “Golf has a lot of exceptional values and traditions, which I still think it needs to hold strong, but it has to evolve…if it opened up and let other cultures and traditions bring all those wonderful things to this game, it could be absolutely wonderful.”
