From the R&A web site:

Golf Development - 21 Oct, 2009
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Championship Committee member, Alick Bisset, and Director of Golf Development, Duncan Weir, have recently returned from Israel where they attended, and assisted with the running of, the Israel Open Amateur Championships. It was The R&A’s first official visit to Israel, a country which has only two courses: a nine-hole layout at Gaash and 18 holes at Caesarea Golf Club, midway between Haifa and Tel Aviv.
The event attracted many players of all age groups to compete at the event, which was a four-day festival of Israeli golf. Winner of both the Girls and Womens tournaments was 17-year-old, Laetitia Beck, a member of the IMG Leadbetter Golf Academy and already one of the world’s leading young players. Both the Boys and Mens events, meanwhile, were won by Assaf Cohen, 16, the son of former Israeli golf champion, Avi Cohen.

While at Caesarea, Bisset acted as Chief Referee while Weir assisted with the set up of the Pete Dye-designed course, which is of a standard worthy of hosting international professional competitions.

Bisset and Weir also witnessed the junior development programme at Caesarea, a project that receives roughly half of the £10,000 per annum provided by The R&A. As well as catering for promising golfers at the state-of-the-art practice facilities, the programme affords the most talented players the chance to compete abroad.

“Although golf is currently a minor sport in Israel, in Caesarea Golf Club they have a first-class facility that is sure to become renowned internationally,” said Weir. “The playing and practice facilities are second-to-none Members of the Caesarea Golf Club junior development programme.and the junior golf programme is very promising, all of which augurs well for the future development of golf in Israel.”

We very much hope to see an Israeli boy and girl in contention at the Junior Open next year.”

While Bisset and Weir were in Israel, the announcement of golf’s inclusion in the Olympics was made. The news was greeted with great enthusiasm by the Israel Golf Federation as it is likely to accelerate the growth of the Israeli game.