Tee To Green June 2013

US OPEN PREVIEW

Dennis Bruyns on how an undersize Merion will stand up to the modern players and prove a worthy challenge. PG 22

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IT’S IN THE DIRT

TEE TO GREEN www.tee2green.co.za

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dennis Bruyns bruyns@icon.co.za teetogreen@ballyhoomedia.co.za PUBLISHER Eric Bornman eric@ballyhoomedia.co.za CREATIVE DIRECTOR Steven Macbeth FINANCIAL MANAGER Morgan Lufumpa CONTRIBUTORS Theo Bezuidenhout, Dave Edwards, Wayne Westner PHOTOGRAPHY COVER: Tumi Sibambo INSIDE: Getty Images/ Gallo Images, Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images Ballyhoo Media Company Reg No 2007/207595/23 14 6TH Street, Parkhurst, Johannesburg South Africa, 2193 PO Box 3125, Parklands, 2121 Tel: 086 111 4626 Fax: 086 6706429 Printed by Paarl Coldset Tee to Green is published monthly

by Ballyhoo Media.

Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of either parties. No responsibility is accepted for errors as all information was believed to be correct at the time of print. Copyright subsists on all content within this publication. Any reproduction without consent is strictly prohibited and may constitute a criminal offence.

FOLLOW THROUGH Got something to get off your chest? Have something good (or bad) to say about the paper? Any feedback is welcome so go ahead and mail us on teetogreen@ ballyhoomedia.co.za. The winning letter will receive a pair of Tag Heuer sunglasses.

FORE WORD

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his is how the great Ben Hogan referred to the secret of the golf swing.

What he was referring to was the amount of time required to master your swing – measured by the dirt, the number of divots taken on the practise tee repeating your swing.

Hogan lives on in the memory of the people who saw him, those who have studied and chronicled his swing, those who marvelled at the mystique and majesty that were Ben Hogan. In the history of golf, no player embodied the pursuit of perfection like Hogan did.

In 1949 Hogan and his wife, Valerie, survived a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus on a fogshrouded bridge, early in the morning, east of Van Horn, in Texas. Hogan threw himself across Valerie in order to protect her, and would have been killed had he not done so, as the steering column punctured the driver’s seat.

This accident left Hogan, age 36, with a double-fracture of the pelvis, a fractured collar bone, a left ankle fracture, a chipped rib, and near-fatal blood clots: he would suffer lifelong circulation problems and other physical limitations. His doctors said he might never walk again, let alone play golf competitively.

After regaining his strength by extensive walking, he resumed golf activities in November 1949. He returned to the PGA Tour to start the 1950 season, at the Los Angeles Open, where he tied with Sam Snead over 72 holes, but lost the 18-hole playoff.

His return to the game culminated later that year when he won 1950 US Open at Merion. With his legs wrapped in bandages, he played

sterling golf, arriving at the 72nd hole needing a par to join a playoff with Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio. Hogan struck a 1-iron to the green — a shot immortalised by the photographer Hy Peskin — made his par and went on to win an 18-hole playoff to secure the championship. Only 16 months had passed since the accident.

Hogan continued to play superb golf, winning five more Major championships, including three in 1953, one of the greatest seasons in the history of the sport. A scheduling conflict between that year’s British Open and PGA Championship made it impossible

for him to win the Grand Slam.

But Hogan’s 1950 United States Open victory remains the peak of his career, a moment that changed the game because it was so unexpected. With one incredible week, a golfer once seen as arrogant and aloof became an inspiration to the public, a tangible and textured hero. Hogan proved that golfers were athletes too, blessed with timing and skill, courage and tenacity, heart and soul.

Dennis Bruyns Editor-in-Chief

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news

high scores

A look at some of the highest professional golf scores in recorded history PG

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Billy Casper

Woods plays a shot out of the water on his way to a double bogey at the par-4 14th.

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s usual, the tournament attracted one of the best fields in golf and, as it is played over the best ‘modern’ golf course in the world, The Players Championship lived up to its reputation of being golf ’s fifth Major.

But for a moment halfway through the back nine, it looked like it was anybody’s game. Woods had just double bogeyed the par-4 14th at TPC Sawgrass to give away a two-shot lead.

While you may have been shocked at the turn of events unfolding for Tiger at that hole, you shouldn’t be. That hole has haunted Tiger for years; he’s 13-over for his career there. You almost expect to hear a sinister laugh rustling through the trees whenever Tiger steps onto its tee box. The 14th hole is his kryptonite.

For Tiger, though, this tournament – the one he hasn’t won in more than a decade, on a course that doesn’t genuflect to his greatness – hinged not on his mistake at the 14th, but his response on the par-4 15th.

Suddenly finding himself sharing the lead with three other players, including another past Players

Last man standing The outstanding performance of the month must be Tiger Woods at The Players Championship.

Champ in Sergio Garcia, Woods couldn’t afford another lost stroke.

As he walked off the green, Woods found himself in a four-way tie with Jeff Maggert, David Lingmerth and Garcia. The Spaniard obviously has skins on the wall at TPC Sawgrass, having won here in 2008. But Maggert is a 49-year-old veteran now ranked 429th in the world and Lingmerth is a rookie who ranks 162nd, and was making just his 13th start on Tour.

A poor approach with his 9-iron

into the 15th left Tiger in a precarious position left of the green.

Facing his toughest up-and-down of the week, he chipped to inside eight feet... and then struck the decisive putt, a par-saver that kept him in the game. This allowed him to watch as others self-destructed – and selfimplode they did!

Lingmerth bogeyed the 14th with a poor approach and could never make up lost ground, just missing an eight-footer for birdie at the 17th that would’ve tied for the lead. He’d have

you’ve got to love tiger for what he is – not only the best golfer of our generation but one who can dust himself off after a mistake and find a way to the winner’s circle

to settle for a valiant effort and valuable experience gained.

Maggert fell victim to the 17th’s watery grave, a double bogey taking him out of the mix. “What can I say? A wrong shot at a wrong time,” said the Texan, who last won on Tour in 2006.

Finally, it came down to Garcia. He stepped onto the 17th tee tied with Woods at 13-under after both had birdied the par-5 16th. Five years ago, Garcia had won The Players on the 17th tee in a playoff against Paul Goydos. Unlike the 14th and Tiger, the 17th and Sergio have a great relationship, a productive relationship.

Well, that was until the Sunday when Garcia pumped not one, but two shots in the water en route to a quadruple bogey.

“That hole has been good to me for the most part,” said Garcia, quickly coming to terms with his fate.

“Today, it wasn’t. That’s the way it is.

That’s the kind of hole it is. You’ve got to love it for what it is.”

And you’ve got to love Tiger for what he is – not only the best golfer of our generation but one who can dust himself off after a mistake and find a way to the winner’s circle.

4 news on tour

Youngest winner

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taly’s Matteo Manassero became the youngest ever winner of the BMW PGA Championship as he claimed his fourth European Tour title at the age of 20 on the fourth hole of a sudden-death play-off.

Manassero, Scotland’s Marc Warren and 2010 champion Simon Khan went into extra holes after finishing tied on 10-under par at Wentworth Club, with Khan setting the clubhouse target after a closing 66 that no one could overtake.

Warren was eliminated on the first play-off hole after his drive finished in an unplayable lie in the trees and his fourth shot found the water guarding the green, with Manassero and Khan both making birdies on the par-5 18th.

Two more visits to the last hole failed to identify a winner, but when Khan’s approach plunged into the water on the fourth extra hole, Manassero’s two-putt birdie was enough to claim the €791,660 first prize.

“I feel unbelievable, really emotional,” said Manassero, who at 20 years and 37 days beats the previous record of Bernard Gallacher, who was 20 years and 97 days when he won in 1969.

“It’s been an amazing week. I have always felt something really special about this place and this tournament.

Everything has come together this week. I managed to play well and

team Sa update

managed to stay in contention after a tough day on Friday and pulled it off with this play-off.

“I am the happiest man in the world right now.”

Man? Indeed, at age 20 there are bars in America that would not let him in.

Manassero’s two-putt birdie was enough to claiM the €791,660 first prize It was a good week for the South African players.

Ernie Els closed with an impressive 67 to tie for sixth place, only two shots behind the winner.

Joining Ernie on that number was James Kingston. James is just two years away from being able to ply his trade on the seniors circuits, but his share of sixth in the BMW PGA Championship showed there is plenty of fight in the old warhorse yet.

After a forgettable 2012 on the Sunshine Tour – just two top-20 finishes saw him end 43rd on the Order of Merit, his lowest placing on the money list since 1992. He now finds himself in 10th position after winning the Investec Royal Swazi Open for his first local victory since 2010.

It was also quiet 2012 on the European Tour, where his best finish of a share of ninth in Morocco was counter-balanced by 12 missed cuts as he finished 135th in the Race to Dubai.

So Kingston has had limited opportunities on the European Tour this year, but he’s grabbed the

chances that came his way through the South African events to notch three top-20s – then came his successful weekend at Wentworth. It boosted him to 69th in the 2013 Race to Dubai – and all from a tournament in which he relied on a sponsor’s invitation to compete.

NeariNg the r100-millioN mark As we follow the fortunes of our team Sa we find, that although we had no tournament victories over the nine week period, the team still managed to bank over r28-million. Some of the team took time off after their very busy start to the season, most notably Darren Fichardt and Jaco van Zyl. Not surprisingly, Charl Schwartzel was the leading earner with r5,516,915. ernie els shows that experience still counts when accumulating money. the same can be said for tim Clark.

Both ernie and tim use the anchoring method of putting and it will be interesting to see what happens if they are forced to change.

We now enter a very lucrative time in world golf, with the US open in mid-June and the open Championship a month later. So yes, it is a ‘tip of the Cap’ to our team. all we need to add to their

success would be a major victory. only official prize money earned on the Pga tour, the european tour, the Sunshine tour and the asian tour is used in these calculations. here is a breakdown of each player’s earnings to date:

Player

Prize Money (Week 1 to 12)

Prize Money (Week 13 to 21)

ToTal

louis oosthuizen

r5,742,652

r3,346,235

r9,088,887

Charl Schwartzel

r8,705,529

r5,516,915

r14,222,444

r2,959,191

r4,867,495

r7,828,686

Branden Grace

r3,476,720

r4,123,217

r7,599,937

George Coetzee

r4,956,555

r1,159,782

r6,116,337

r7,011,903

r1,328,501

r8,340,404

r7,264,648

r4,060,414

r11,325,062

r5,191,132

r151,965

r5,343,097

Jaco van zyl

r4,745,366

r300,987

r5,046,353

retief Goosen

r2,572,056

r654,649

r3,226,705

Thomas aiken

r4,487,689

r2,054,553

r6,902,242

Garth Mulroy

r1,851,720

r461,326

r2,313,046

R59,325,161

R28,026,039

R87,351,200

ernie els

richard Sterne Tim Clark Darren Fichardt

ToTAl

Charl Schwartzel is Team Sa’s leading earner with r14,222,444

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Louis to miss us open Top-10 ranked Louis oosthuizen would seem to be a player to watch at next month’s us open... if he were playing. unless something drastic changes, don’t expect to see the south African at merion. it’s with good reason, though: his wife nel-mare is due to have the couple’s third child on that saturday of the us open.

High scores

sports iLLustrAted’s FortunAte 50

every golfer out there has put up a ridiculously high number before. here’s a look at some of the highest professional golf scores in recorded history.

“because the baby is due then” “At the moment, the tournament is going to be a miss for me because the baby is due then,” oosthuizen said. there is a chance oosthuizen may still tee off at merion, but “only if the baby comes the week before the us open,” he said.

After an excellent start to his 2013 campaign, oosthuizen is striving to get back in the rhythm of things, particularly with his swing. since starting his pGA tour schedule in February after winning a January event on the european tour, oosthuizen has just one top-10 placings in seven starts, missing the cut three times in his six stroke-play events.

Another mAnAGement move For mciLroy reporTs suggesT that two-time major champion rory mcilroy is leaving dublin-based horizon sports management to set up his own management group. it seems that mcilroy will create his own team run by his father, Gerry, along with close friends and associates.

Graeme mcdowell, a close friend on tour who also is represented by horizon, said the split was “fairly amicable” and that mcilroy wanted to surround himself with family. “that’s fair enough,” mcdowell said at the World match play championship. “But it’s disappointing, as i am soryy to lose him as a management stablemate. But we will go forward, still very good friends.” mcilroy appears to be following a model set up by masters champion Adam scott, who set up his own company headed by his father, phil, with a small group around him. horizon were behind the mega deal with nike Golf, which is said to be worth upward of $20 million a year. horizon also brought sponsorship deals with Bose and omega, structured in such a way that mcilroy’s apparel and golf bag were not splashed with logos. With nike and omega, he was able to end his previous contracts with titleist and Audemars piguet.

Tom Weiskopf

T

he 1970 Masters champion, Billy Casper deserved a better Masters send-off then the one he received, making a 14 at age 73 on the par-3 16th in 2005 after dropping five balls in the water. It was Casper’s last Masters.

Tom Weiskopf’s place in Masters history is secure with his four runner-up finishes (1969, 1972, 1974, and the epic showdown with Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller in 1975.

But he also holds a more ignominious honour: the highest score ever recorded on the famous par-3 12th: 13. It happened in the first round of the 1980 Masters. Weiskopf ’s tee shot spun back in to Rae’s Creek. Then from the drop area, he dunked four more. With his 11th shot, he reached the back of the green. At least he didn’t three-putt.

Kevin Na’s score of 16 on the par-4 9th hole at TPC San Antonio during the 2011 Valero Texas Open is well documented thanks to YouTube. The score included an unplayable lie from the tee, a two-stroke penalty after the ball ricocheted off a tree and struck him, and five consecutive strokes from the woods. During the 2012 Valero Texas Open, Na goodnaturedly returned to the scene with a camera crew. He helped clear some of the area with a chainsaw, then left the shirt he originally wore as a “sacrifice” to the golf gods.

A score of 13-over was posted by John Daly, who required 18 strokes to complete the par-5 6th on the course at Bay Hill Club & Lodge during the 1998 Arnold Palmer Invitational. His score included six shots into the water. He was actually

kevin na

trying to carry the ball across the water in an attempt to drive the green on this par-5.

As far as an entire round is concerned, Mark James, former Ryder Cup player and captain, shot a 111 at the 1978 Italian Open.

Mark wanted to withdraw with a wrist injury but was advised by the Rules Official, who believed that the injury was bogus, that he must play on or be fined. Mark played on, one handed!

And Worst oF ALL not from a Tour player this time.

Angelo spagnolo, 31, a grocery store manager from Fayette city, Pennsylvania, took 66 strokes on the 17th hole of the Tournament Players club (sawgrass) course during America’s Worst Avid golfer contest. spagnolo hit 27 balls into the water that surrounds the green before officials directed him to putt around the hazard and down the narrow path that leads to the putting surface. spagnolo shoot 257 in his round to ‘win’ the event comfortably.

Tiger Woods might be the no1-ranked player in golf again, but he hasn’t been able to reclaim his spot at the top of sports illustrated’s annual ‘Fortunate 50’ ranking of the highest earners in sports because he lost more than $20-million in endorsements last year.

Woods had been no1 on the list since its inception in 2004 until last year, when he finished third behind boxer Floyd mayweather and Woods’ old rival, phil mickelson. in 2013, the resurgent Woods has overtaken mickelson but is now fifth on the list, with an estimated $40,839,027 in income. mayweather remains no1, followed

by LeBron James, drew Brees and Kobe Bryant. sports illustrated determines income solely through salary, winnings, bonuses and endorsements based on players’ associations, tour records, online databases and media reports (golf earnings are from July 1, 2012 through April 21, 2013).

According to si here is breakdown of the top golf earners – tiger Woods and phil mickelson: Tiger Woods salary/Winnings: $7,839,027 endorsements: $33,000,000 Total: $40,839,027 despite playing much better, Woods lost more than $20 million in endorsement than the previous year. (in 2012, Woods earned $54.5 million in endorsement income, according to si.) mickelson, whose play has been uneven, still made more money off the course than Woods.

Phil Mickelson salary/Winnings: $3,528,000 endorsements: $36,000,000 Total: $39,528,000

putter comes home The puTTer Al Geiberger used to shoot the first 59 recorded on the pGA tour is staying in the ping Golf family. Last month, Geiberger auctioned off a large portion of his golf memorabilia through Green Jacket Auctions, including the clubs, putter and hat he wore during the historic round at the 1977 memphis classic. ping confirmed the putter was already back at the company’s head-quarters in phoenix, Arizona, after it was purchased for $7,222. the putter will be displayed in a trophy case alongside several other clubs, including a gold-plated version of Bubba Watson’s tour-s wedge (the wedge he used to hit the winning shot from the trees at the 2012 masters) and Louis oosthuizen’s s56 4-iron (the one he used to make the albatross two at the masters).

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2013/05/28

2:15 PM

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news 7

Building Relationships

Venturi passes on

K Corporate Golf leaGue was born out of businesses’ need to use the corporate sport of choice to regularly entertain and network with business associates. “the perception amongst many companies is that the deal gets signed on the golf course. on the odd occasion, this might happen. in most cases, however, most of the time spent with business associates on course contributes to building relationships and trust that will make closing the deal easier,” says Riaan Myburgh, owner of golfbizniz.

WiTh The baRRieRs of oRganisaTional Rank sTRipped aWay, CoRpoRaTe golf league offeRs youR Company a plaTfoRm WheRe all playeRs aRe equal, alloWing you To build youR business RelaTionships on TRusT Following the successful 2007 launch of this series of golf events in Cape town and numerous companies having used the league to build relationships, this unique platform will be launched to the gauteng business community via three events, with the first on 23 august 2013.

With the barriers of organisational rank stripped away, Corporate golf league offers your company a platform where all players are equal, allowing you to build your business relationships on trust, rapport, real connections and perhaps even lifelong friendships. the league offers members a fourball to each event throughout the year, with myriad opportunities to entertain and network with business partners. the perfect tool for building long-lasting business relationships, this tailor-made system eliminates the time-consuming hassle of arranging your own golf outings, and the league gives you plenty of

time to invite your business associates and plan your golf fun around work. should you wish to enter the hunters Corporate golf league and enjoy a unique golfing experience, contact Riaan Myburgh at golfbizniz on (021) 975 5358, 083 628 7395 or riaan@golfbizniz.co.za. For online entries, go to www.golfbizniz.co.za.

CoMpany leadeR BoaRd – top 15 Company

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91

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91

Linley Wiener

86

Wilhelm meyer

84

Hans-Georg Czepluch

80

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76

Dustin Coombe

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en Venturi, who overcame dehydration to win the 1964 US Open and spent 35 years in the booth for CBS Sports, died at age 82. His son, Matt Venturi, said he died in a hospital in Rancho Mirage, California. Venturi had been hospitalised the last two months for a spinal infection, pneumonia, and then an intestinal infection that he could no longer fight.

Venturi died 11 days after he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He couldn’t make it to the induction. His sons, Matt and Tim, accepted on his behalf after an emotional tribute by Jim Nantz, who worked alongside Venturi at CBS. A prominent amateur who grew up in San Francisco, he captured his only Major in the 1964 US Open at Congressional, the last year the final round was 36 holes.

In oppressive heat, Venturi showed signs of dehydration and a doctor recommended he stop playing because it could be fatal. Venturi pressed on to the finish, closed with a 70 and was heard to say, “My God, I’ve won the US Open.’’

Venturi played on one Ryder Cup team and was US captain in the 2000 Presidents Cup. Venturi was born May 15, 1931, in San Francisco, and he developed

his game at Harding Park Golf Course. He won the California State Amateur at Pebble Beach in 1951 and 1956, while serving in the Army in Korea between those two amateur titles.

“When I was 13 years old,” Venturi once remarked, “the teacher told my mother, `I’m sorry, Mrs Venturi, but your son will never be able to speak. He’s an incurable stammerer’. My mother asked me what I planned to do. I said, `I’m taking up the loneliest sport I know,’ and picked up a set of hickory shafts from a man across the street and went to Harding Park and played my first round of golf.”

Despite the severe speech impediment he had as a child, Venturi went on to become one of the most familiar voices in golf broadcasting. He began working for CBS in 1968 and lasted 35 years.

“If there is some sense of fairness, it is that Ken was inducted into a Hall of Fame that he very much deserved to be in and, in fact, should have been in for many years,’’ Jack Nicklaus said. “While I know he was not able to be there in person for his induction, I am certain there was an overwhelming sense of pride and peace that embraced Ken. It was a dream of Ken Venturi’s that became a reality before he sadly left us.’’

8 BLAST FROM THE PAST

Moe Norman – The Best Golfer Nobody Has Heard Of

Many golfers nowadays look blank when you mention the name Moe Norman, but to those who were lucky enough to see him play, he was a legend.

L

ee Trevino ranked him with Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson as one of the greatest ball-strikers of all time. Paul Azinger first saw him hit balls on a driving range in Florida in 1980, when Azinger was in college. “He started ripping these drivers right off the ground at the 250-yard marker,” Azinger told Tim O’Connor, a

Canadian sportswriter, “and he never hit one more than 10 yards to either side of it, and he hit at least 50.” In 2005, Tiger Woods told Jaime Diaz, now the editor of Golf World, that Norman and Hogan were the only two golfers in history who had “owned” their swing, and that one day he hoped to own his, too.

Despite such accolades, Norman spent much of his 40-year competitive career in obscurity and poverty. He played almost exclusively in Canada, where he was born, and made only a brief attempt, in 1959, to play on the US Tour. He sometimes carried his

own bag in tournaments, because he couldn’t afford a caddie, and he sometimes slept in bunkers on the courses where he competed. He often hitchhiked to and from tournaments, and he had to juggle his competitive schedule with a succession of dreary factory jobs, including one stitching rubber boots.

Norman grew up in a small house in a working class neighbourhood in Kitchener, an industrial city about an hour-and-a-half outside Toronto. The house was just a block or two from a Uniroyal Tyre factory. The sky was often black; the air smelled of burning

rubber. Money was very tight.

Norman’s grade-school years were difficult. He had trouble getting along with other children and with other members of his family. He struggled in all subjects at school, except math, at which he was a prodigy. He also had a phenomenal memory. Even late in his life he could recite the yardage of virtually every golf hole he has ever played, and he remembered every golf shot from every tournament that meant anything to him. But at school other children teased him mercilessly over his academic difficulties, his shyness, his big ears, his high voice, and his tendency to repeat himself.

There has been some speculation that Norman’s speech and personality quirks, and even his unusual mathematical ability, may have arisen from a mild autism.

Whatever the reason, Norman’s childhood was mostly lonely. He found refuge in sports, and especially in golf, which he pursued with a devotion verging on mania.

Norman’s first golf club was a tree branch; he and his older brother used to knock balls around their backyard.

His second was a hockey stick. At the age of 12, he began caddying at a local club called Westmount. He bought his first real golf club, an old 5-iron, from a member who let him pay it off at 10 cents a week.

Norman practiced in his family’s tiny backyard by hitting balls against a neighbour’s garage.

Norman assembled his swing by feel, with a few clues gleaned from photographs in newspapers and magazines, and occasional encouragement from a kindly local pro. His progress was not immediate; he didn’t break 100 until he was 16.

But gradually his golf game fell into place. By the time he was 19, he felt he had his swing ‘trapped’. From that point forward, he says, “I knew I could hit a golf ball where I wanted it to go for the rest of my life.”

The first significant step in Norman’s competitive career came in 1949 at the St Thomas Golf and Country Club, at a one-day amateur event later known as the Early Bird.

He had not been invited. He showed up the day of the tournament and was given an empty slot. He was wearing sneakers. He had just seven clubs and carried them in his own bag, which was falling apart. Against a field that included several of Ontario’s amateur stars, he shot 67 and won by two strokes. Too shy to attend the awards dinner, he slipped away after finishing his round. A friend had to make apologies and bring him his prize.

Norman also supported himself by selling the prizes he won in amateur events. As his confidence in his playing ability increased, he sometimes sold the prizes before the tournaments began. According to friends, on at least five occasions he intentionally finished second because his customers hadn’t wanted the first-place prize. In

9 1955, with a birdie on the 39th hole in the final match, he won the Canadian Amateur – the first Canadian to do so since 1951.

His victory was widely viewed as a fluke by those who felt that no one with such an unconventional swing and seemingly frivolous attitude could really play golf at the highest level.

But then the next year he won it again, and even more decisively. At the age of just 27, Norman had now laid the foundation for what might have been one of golf ’s greatest amateur careers.

But his clowning on the golf course and his penchant for selling his prizes had long infuriated the RCGA. Taking money under the table was a common practice among amateurs, but no player was as open about it as Norman was. The RCGA threatened to strip him of his amateur status.

Afraid that he would lose his two national titles, he announced he was turning pro.

His personality was eccentric, to say the least In his heyday, Norman translated his ball-striking genius into an impressive competitive record. His best year as a pro was 1966, when he won five of the 12 Canadian tournaments he entered, came in second in five and finished no lower than fifth.

Beginning in 1979, when Norman turned 50, he won seven consecutive Canadian PGA senior championships, finished second in the eighth, and won the ninth by eight strokes. He has set more than 30 course records, including three with scores of 59 and four with scores of 61. He has now been inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

StorieS

S

am Snead played an exhibition match with Ed (Porky) Oliver and Moe Norman in Toronto in 1969. On one par-4 hole, a creek crossed the fairway about 240 metres from the tee. Norman, a Canadian pro who lived in the area, reached for his driver. “This is a lay-up hole, Moe,” Snead warned him. “You can’t clear the creek with a driver.”

“Not trying to,” Norman said. “I’m playing for the bridge.” Snead’s and Oliver’s tee shots ended up safely on the near side of the water. Norman’s drive landed short and rolled over the bridge to the other side.

A

t an exhibition once, Norman hit 1,540 drives in a little under seven hours. None was shorter than 225 yards, and all landed inside a marked 30-yard-wide landing zone.

Asked when last had he hit a bad shot, Norman replied, “thirty years ago,” then bent over to tee up another ball.

These are considerable accomplishments. Still, there are conspicuous gaps in Norman’s record. He played almost exclusively in Canada and made only a brief attempt, in 1959, to play on the US Tour. His US debut took place at the 1959 Los Angeles Open, which was held that year at Rancho Municipal.

He putted poorly – a recurrent affliction – but was thrilled to be playing alongside Hogan, Sam Snead and his other golf idols. He continued to play indifferently, with occasional flashes of brilliance (among them a 62 at the San Diego Open) until the tour reached New Orleans. There he shot four solid rounds, played in the final group on Sunday, led briefly, and finished fourth. Soon after he packed it in and left the Tour.

What had happened was that several well-known pros had cornered Norman in the locker room and chewed him out. They told him to stop clowning around, said he had to dress better and have his teeth fixed. It was a harrowing experience for someone who was already painfully shy and socially ill-at-ease, and Norman never went back.

If Norman is one of the greatest ball-strikers in history, why doesn’t he also have one of the greatest records?

The reasons are complex. One of them, paradoxically, has to do with the very foundation of his game: his golf swing. Simply put, Moe Norman’s swing did not look like the ones you see on TV. He gripped the club in his palms rather than his fingers, stood far from the ball with his legs spread wide. Nearly every time Norman teed it up in a tournament, he had to endure the laughter of spectators. He was often viewed as an amusing sideshow, not as the main event, and he reinforced his own reputation as a clown by playing to the galleries.

Norman was different in other ways as well. His personality was eccentric, to say the least. He was uncomfortable with strangers and had difficulty making eye contact with people he did not know. He did not like to be touched. He never married or had a serious relationship with another person, and he had essentially no interests outside golf.

In the 90s, an article appearing in the Wall Street Journal about Norman and his natural golf swing caught the attention of Wally Uihlein, the president of Titleist and Foot-Joy worldwide. Uihlein arranged to meet Norman at the 1995 PGA Merchandise Show.

Uihlein told Norman that Titleist would like to pay him $5,000 a month for the rest of his life.

Apparently Norman took a step back and said, “I’ve played your balls all my life. I’ve played your balls all my life. What do I have to do for that money?” And Uihlein said, “You don’t have to do anything. You’ve already done it. We just want to thank you for what you’ve already done.”

Moe-iSMS Numbers “i’m good with numbers.

Number of courses played: 434.

Number of courses i can remember the exact hole yardages: 375. Age when i saw my first doctor: 68.

Number of two-stroke penalties in one 11-year period: only one—i hit a drive that went out-of-bounds by two feet. Most balls hit in one day: 2,207. total balls hit in my lifetime: about 5 million, not counting chips and putts.”

PuttiNg vs ball strikiNg “i hated putting, and so did George Knudson, another really good ball-striker on tour. We played against each other in many betting games where putting didn’t count. if you missed a fairway, you owed the other guy $20. if you missed a green, you owed $20. if you hit the flagstick, you won $100. When we got to the green we just picked up our balls and went to the next hole.

George was very good, but i got the best of him. My best day, i hit the flagstick six times.” keePiNg it iNterestiNg “one year i was leading the Saskatchewan open by three strokes. i was putting for birdie on the last hole, but just to see if i could handle the pressure i deliberately putted my ball into the bunker. i looked at the side of the green and saw two guys with the blood drained from their faces. After i got up and down for a bogey to win by two strokes, i walked over and asked them what was the matter.

“We had a huge bet on you to win,” one of them said. “Sorry,” i said. “i needed the variety.”

this aNd that “i’m 75 and i’ve never owned a telephone. Never needed one. You reached me, and here you are, right?” “i’m good at tapping the ball on the face of my driver. one day a guy accused me of showing off, and then he wanted to make a bet. He said he’d give me a dollar for every bounce over 100. i got well over 100, and the guy’s face turned white as a sheet. i was laughing so hard that i stopped at 192. i didn’t have the heart to take more than that off him.” backsPiN “Backing the ball up on the green may look impressive, but it’s no way to play golf, because you can’t control it. every shot you hit should bounce forward after it lands. if the flagstick is just over a bunker, you get it close by hitting the ball higher, not by backing it up. With these 60 degree wedges, hitting it high is easy.”

FitNess “i don’t understand why anyone would go to the gym to get in shape to play golf. if you hit 600 balls a day, walk a lot and watch your diet, you’ll get in shape. i don’t think Sam Snead ever went to the gym, and nobody today is in better shape than he was. Hitting balls is the best workout there is.”

tiger Woods “Working on your swing is the greatest joy in golf. tiger Woods must be having a wonderful time searching for that one little thing he’s doing wrong. i wonder when he’ll notice it—the way his right heel lifts straight off the ground now instead of coming up and toward his left. His weight shift is terrible right now, that’s all. Don’t tell him. it’ll ruin his fun.”

advice For juNiors “if i had a bunch of juniors, i’d teach them to play from the green backward.

Short shots first, with emphasis on how to meet the ball solidly. i’d make them touch the green, then walk backward to the tee and touch the tee, and explain why holes are designed the way they are. then i’d teach them why everything works – why a putter has so little loft, why the sand wedge is thicker on the bottom than a pitching wedge, and why woods are larger than irons. those things mean something. then i’d help them feel the game.

Whisper when they hit a ball solid, ‘Did you feel that? that’s what you want.’ After a time – there’s no hurry – i’d finally help them learn the game. that’s the technical part. that comes last.”

This Titleist stipend made a huge difference in the later part Norman’s life, enabling him to live the very simple life he wanted - living in the same motel room and eating his meals in inexpensive restaurants.

“Golf is to have fun,” he often said.

“What do you have to lose? A lousy ball, that’s all. If you lose yours, grab another one out of your bag and hit it. That is what the game’s about, and that is the first thing I was taught 55 years ago: have fun. Most golfers don’t see the bright things. All they see is the bad things.

“But if you see the bad things, that’s where your mind will take you. If you drive a car down the

road and look at the sidewalk, where do you think you’re going to put the car? It’s the same thing on a golf course. People see only the trees and the water. But I don’t. To me, they are only there as an ornament. They are there to make the course look nicer. All I see is the tee, the middle of the fairway, and the middle of the green.

That’s golf. I hit my 18 fairways and my 18 greens, and go on to the next day.”

Moe Norman passed away September 4, 2004 at the age of 74, with hundreds coming to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada to pay their respects to the legend.

10 COVER STORY

11

There are two steps to being a ‘cheat’ in golf: first the intentional breaking of a rule and then the signing of the card with the knowledge that the score is false. Hence the power of the pencil. by Dennis Bruyns photo Dion Viljoen

12 cover story

he collective world of golf always cringes when a ‘cheating’ charge is invoked because it doesn’t happen often. That is not to say it does not happen at all.

The allegations often don’t get louder than whispers in a corner booth, but, as Tom Watson famously said in 1996, “We know who they are.”

And this applies as much to the top levels of the game as to day-to-day golf at your local club. This is a self-policing sport and the most common sentence is, ‘the golfer must live with himself ’.

Joe Dey, former Executive Director of the USGA and for decades the sport’s most powerful and passionate steward, said this: “The integrity of golf is all of golf. If you don’t have that, it’s no game at all.”

To Dey, there wasn’t any distinction between a player greasing up the face of his driver with Vaseline and exerting a bit more pressure than necessary when taking a stance to show he was eligible for relief from casual water. But getting disqualified from a tournament for playing a ball with a different side stamp from the same model on the conforming list isn’t the same as tamping down rough to make a 7-iron lie suitable for a 4-wood. Greg Norman was once guilty of the former, and he accused Jumbo Ozaki of the latter.

Usually ignorance, not malice, gets golfers in trouble. “When I was a rules official, I was never involved

with an incident where a player could be construed as ‘cheating’, “ says David Eger, who worked for the PGA Tour and USGA before playing on the Champions Tour. “It always involved someone who did not know a rule. For example, I rode up on a player taking relief for an embedded ball. He’d been on tour for 20 years. He said, ‘OK, I get nearest point of relief and a clublength, right?’ I said, ‘No, it’s just nearest point of relief.’ He said, ‘When did they change that one?’ I said, ‘They haven’t.’”

Paradoxically, for the minority of elite golfers inclined to bend the rules, there may be less reason to do so now than years ago, when it was harder to scratch out a living and Mondays were for qualifying. Today cameras and microphones are everywhere. A tight TV view of a greenside lie put Kenny Perry under scrutiny (he was absolved) after the 2009 FBR Open, and television showed Colin Montgomerie replacing his ball in the wrong position after a weather suspension in the 2005 Indonesian Open (he later acknowledged his error).

Broadcasts as security cameras and viewers as deputies go back further than you might think; at least 30 years. In the final round of the 1980 Tournament of Champions, Watson was heard walking off the 13th tee telling fellow competitor Lee Trevino that he was playing the ball too far up in his stance.

Alerted by a viewer, officials penalised Watson two strokes for violating the advice rule, but he still won by three. “I didn’t think about what I said at the time,” Watson said then. “It was just a slip.”

Most rules violations are accidental, and most golfers are honest. When they’re not, it’s news, and today more so than ever.

Cheating is a buzz word in all of sport as we mere mortals see our heroes shamed for blatantly disregarding rules in order to win.

There is no better example than Lance Armstrong. His victories in the Tour de France set him on a pedestal and, like some Greek God, he embodied all that is great about sport – dedication, rising above adversity, focus, talent and discipline. All of it false as he doped his way to all those victories.

What makes it worse is that some of these actions are condoned or simply glossed over in other sports. There was no real censure for Diego Maradona for his ‘Hand of God’ incident or Thierry Henry’s hand ball when scoring the winning goal for France against the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup qualifier.

And what about the incident in 1981 in a one-day cricket international game between Australia and New Zealand when Aussie captain Greg Chappell told his brother Trevor to bowl the last ball of the match underarm? He practically rolled the ball on the ground, therefore eliminating any chance of the batsman hitting a six and winning the game.

Within the rules at the time, indeed; but in the spirit of the game or sport in general – I think not!

In other sports, getting away with it is part of the fabric of the game. The flanker Neil Back was revered throughout English rugby for his ability slyly to use his hand in the scrum, away from the prying attention of referees – a serial piece of rule-breaking that was admiringly described by colleagues and opponents alike as a sign of his ‘professionalism’. In Formula One, small armies of computer geeks are employed specifically to see how the new season’s technical rules and regulations can be circumvented.

Even in the seemingly sunlit moral uplands of the Olympic velodrome last year, there was a clear incident of gamesmanship. When the GB sprint squad found themselves at the wrong end of a poor start, Philip Hindes threw himself off his bike to provoke a rerun. In order to remain within the letter of the law, it was necessary for the team to claim that Hindes had suffered a mechanical malfunction. But in a post-match interview, the young cyclist admitted he’d deliberately fallen – leaving his more experienced colleague, Sir Chris Hoy, looking shocked.

‘Winning,’ runs the slogan, ‘takes care of everything.’ Not in golf, it doesn’t. Or at least, it shouldn’t.

Yet golf has not been immune from this sort of sharp practice, and gamesmanship occurs at all levels.

How was it that Seve Ballesteros

“The inTegriTy of golf is all of golf. if you don’T have ThaT, iT’s no game aT all”

ABOVE: Known as much for his “competitive spirit” as for his five major championships and tenacious Ryder Cup performances, Seve and Paul Azinger spent much of the ’89 Cup accusing each other of cheating.

BELOW: James Whatley (R) of the Great Britain & Ireland Team waits to play his fourth shot on the 16th hole whilst a gaggle of rules officials decide where to play from during the morning fourball matches for the 23rd PGA Cup Matches.

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cover story always seemed to have a slight dose of the flu during the playing of the Ryder Cup, with coughing fits happening just as his opponent was about to start his backswing. You have the coin rattlers and foot tappers and players who always seem to be standing just in your eye line.

The general point about golf is that it is self-policed. There are no referees out on the course checking on progress, whistling up infractions, no Hawkeye to determine whether a shot has landed on a playable lie. It is up to the player to play by the rules.

15

Deep ThroaT

(In)famous IncIdent While its history is littered with examples of integrity – “You might as well congratulate me for not robbing a bank,” Bobby Jones famously said after being praised for calling a penalty on himself – there have also been rumours of high-level cheating through the decades and claims that the ruling bodies have a vested interest in ‘burying’ such allegations in the hope that no one will notice. The roll call of alleged cheats is long and includes some illustrious names, none more so than Jane Blalock.

The Jane Blalock cheating controversy was a professional golf scandal that took place between 1972 and 1975. While Blalock was fined and suspended by the LPGA Tour executive board, a lawsuit she filed, and won, prevented those punishments from being enforced for the most part.

Blalock turned pro in 1969 and went on to earn LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year honours. In 1970, Blalock notched her first professional victory at the Lady Carling Open.

Blalock went on to win two more tournaments in 1971.

The controversy that surrounds her career began at the Bluegrass Invitational in Louisville, Kentucky. After she finished the second round, Blalock was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. Tournament director Gene McAuliff said Blalock did not mark her ball properly on the 17th green and then failed to take a two-stroke penalty for the infraction as required.

Less than two weeks later, the LPGA executive board suspended Blalock for one year ‘for actions inconsistent with the code of ethics of the organisation’.

The executive board claimed Blalock had been under suspicion for over a year, that she had moved her ball illegally on multiple occasions and that there were witnesses to these happenings, plus that Blalock had admitted to her guilt.

Blalock filed a lawsuit against the LPGA Tour. In the suit, Blalock’s lawyers motioned the court asking that Blalock be allowed to continue playing while the suit was resolved. US District Court Judge Charles A Moye Jr granted the motion. Moye did, however, rule that any money Blalock earned while her case was being resolved would be placed in a court trust.

Twenty seven LPGA Tour players signed a petition arguing that probation, a fine, and disqualification from the Louisville tournament were not enough punishment. Golfers stepped forward to say they had seen Blalock move her ball at golf tournaments prior to the Bluegrass Invitational.

Golf instructor Bob Toski, who coached Blalock, said, “She has a compulsion to win. I think she needs psychiatric help.” Toski also said Blalock had been given three warnings. LPGA Executive Director

Golfers stepped forward to say they had seen Blalock move her Ball at Golf tournaments

Near the centre of the Tiger Woods rules fiasco at the Masters this year was a call that Fred Ridley, chief Rules official for the US Masters, said came from a “television viewer”.

Who was this mystery caller, golf’s equivalent of deep throat? And what if anything qualified him to alert the officials to Tiger’s alleged indiscretion?

Turns out he was more than qualified: the person in question was a Champions Tour golfer, David Eger.

Before joining the senior circuit, Eger had a long career as a tournament director with both the PGA Tour and the USGA. Along with Mark Russell of the PGA Tour and Kerry Haigh of the PGA of America, Eger is one of the most experienced tournament officials in US golf and an expert on the rules.

In a recent telephone interview, Eger said he was causally watching the Friday round of the Masters in his Florida home. As Woods came off the 16th green, where he got up and down for par, Eger noticed Woods had dropped a shot since he had last seen his score. Eger was curious to see how that had happened.

Through the magic of modern TV, Eger was able to rewind and watch Woods on the 15th hole. He saw Woods play his third shot, the one that famously hit the flagstick and bounced back into the water. He then watched Woods take his drop.

“I could see there was a divot when he played the shot the second time that was not there the first time,” Eger said. “I played it again and again. I could see that the fairway was spotless the first time he played the shot and there was that divot hole, maybe three or four feet in front of where he played after the drop.”

The Rules of Golf are necessarily severe in their exactitude. A player, when competing under rule 26-1-a, as Woods was, is required to drop “as nearly as possible” to the ball’s previous position.

Eger knew immediately there had been a possible rules violation. He also knew he had to act quickly so that Woods would not sign an incorrect scorecard, which almost always leads to disqualification.

Had Eger not phoned in, Tiger would have almost certainly been disqualified.

Bud Erickson asked Blalock to feign a back injury so to avoid bad publicity, but she refused.

Eventually, after protracted legal proceedings over the next few years, the LPGA Tour dropped its appeal and reached a settlement with Blalock. Blalock refused to condemn her critics, including her former mentor Bob Toski, after her lawsuit was settled.

She said to a reporter in 1978: “I should not judge others as they have judged me. Life is too short and there is too much sadness. So I can’t clutter my mind with all that other stuff. It makes it hard to concentrate.”

Ironically, Bob Toski left the Senior PGA Tour in 1986 after he became involved in a controversy over how he was marking his ball.

Blalock continued playing on the LPGA Tour until 1987. When she was through playing, Blalock had 27 Tour wins to her credit. She was the first female golfer to earn over $100,000 in four consecutive years and the seventh overall to reach the one million dollar mark in career earnings.

16 rules

Different Formats, Different rules

Match Play, Stroke Play, Individual and Betterball are formats played every week by golfers. But are we all aware of how the rules differ?

G

olf at clubs in South Africa is very competitive. We have formal competitions on the go almost every time we play. And if we have formal competitions, we must have a formal application of the rules. In addition to the competition, players in a group usually have some private game on the go. And herein lies the rub, in that the rules applying to the competition can be totally different to those in the private game.

Some years ago I was asked to give advice on a dispute during a game. I generally do not like to give rulings on private games, and what made this more awkward is that I received the request while the players were still on the course! Ah, the beauty (not) of cell phones.

The competition was a Betterball Stableford and the two teams were also playing a private Betterball match. One of the players, disregarding etiquette, played out of turn on a number of holes. The problem arose at a short hole when this player, having missed the green, again played out of turn, chipping the ball close to the hole for a tap-in par – and two points in the competition. His opponent decided he had had enough and recalled the player’s ball in their private game.

And that’s when I got the call.

The rules are clear that players must not play Match Play and Stroke Play at the same time and therefore both teams should be disqualified.

Well, if this was applied every Saturday at clubs around the country, nearly all the players would be disqualified. My advice is to

remember why you are playing the game: for recreation and fun I hope.

This is not the Ryder Cup. Obviously when applying the rules the format of play is most important.

Some general match play ruleS • The general penalty for breach of a rule is loss of hole.

• If a player plays out of turn, his opponent has the right to immediately cancel the shot and make the player replay it. Or he can just leave it and make the player play it as it lies.

• On any day of a Match Play competition, a player may practise on the course before the round.

lowest score of two players partnering each other counts on each hole. Therefore if one player fails to complete a hole there is no penalty.

• Both partners need not be present at the start of play and the partner who is on time may start without penalty. His partner may join him between holes but not during play of a hole. Obviously therefore a team may be represented by either partner for all or any part of a round.

• If either partner has more than 14 clubs in his bag the side shall be penalised under Rule 4-4. In Match Play, at the conclusion of the hole where the breach was discovered, the state of the match should be adjusted by deducting one hole for every hole a breach has occurred with a maximum of two holes.

• Certain breaches of the rules result in the disqualification of both players. These include: 1. Any agreement to waive the rules. 2.

Refusal by either partner to comply with a rule. 3. Either partner using non-conforming clubs or golf balls or altering the playing characteristics of a club during play.

• If a competitor’s breach of a Rule assists his partner’s play, the partner incurs the applicable penalty in addition to any penalty incurred by the competitor. In all other cases where a competitor incurs a penalty for breach of a Rule, the penalty shall not apply to his partner.

• Consider this: A player purposely putts away from the hole to a position near his partner’s ball and on a similar line. He putts again helping his partner determine the pace and break of the putt. Is this contrary to the Rules? It certainly is contrary to the spirit of the game and, in Match Play, the player should be disqualified from the hole.

Since his action assisted his partner’s play, the partner should incur the same penalty.

My advice is to reMeMber why you are playing the gaMe: for recreation and fun i hope. this is not the ryder cup.

• If a player, when starting a hole, plays from outside the teeing ground, the opponent if he so wishes may immediately require the player to cancel the stroke and play again from inside the teeing ground without penalty. Or make the player play the ball as it lies.

• If a ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by an opponent there is no penalty. The player may play the ball as it lies or cancel the shot and play another from the same spot as his previous shot.

BetterBall • As the name suggests a ‘Betterball’ is the form of play in which the

FourSomeS For the purist, individual Stroke Play is the true test of golf and naturally, therefore, it is the most common form played in top tournament golf.

Simply put, in Foursomes teams of two players must play alternately from the teeing ground (one player driving on the even holes and the other the odd) and then continue to alternate play during the hole itself. It is a true team game, with the good or bad play of a partner directly affecting the outcome.

Many players avoid playing Foursomes. I guess the main reason is they feel cheated, as they don’t play a

full 18 holes, having only played half the shots. However, if you can overcome this feeling it really is a fascinating and very exciting form of play. I remember playing competitions at Randfontein Estates Golf Club where we played a combination of formats, with six holes of Betterball, six holes of Greensomes (also known as Scotch Foursomes) and then the last six Foursomes. It was great fun and one really had to concentrate throughout.

Guidelines for foursomes:

• If a player plays when his partner should have played, his side looses the hole.

• In a mixed Foursomes in which the men play from the back tees and the women play from the forward tees, a man hits a tee shot out of bounds.

The woman must play the next stroke from the back tee.

• A and B are partners in a foursome and A drives from the tee.

They now elect to play a provisional ball. Who plays it? B must play the provisional ball.

• A player accidentally moves the ball at address and incurs a penalty of one stroke. Who plays the next stroke? The player must play, as penalty strokes do not affect the order of play.

• A and B are partners and A attempts to strike the ball and misses.

Whose turn is it to play? A deliberate miss is not regarded as a stroke. In this case A attempted to strike the ball, therefore it is a stroke and so it is B’s turn to play.

• Similar set of circumstances, only this time A purposely misses the ball so that B can be left to play a difficult shot over a pond. Is this permissible?

It is not, as A had no intention to strike the ball; it is not a stroke. So it is still A to play. playing By the ruleS One of the many outstanding features of the game of golf is the selfregulating nature of its application of the Rules. There is no need for umpires or referees; the players, with a respect for the game and its ethos, simply apply the Rules themselves.

Embedded in the game is a sense of integrity, honesty and fair play.

There is no doubt that the spectacle that is the FIFA Soccer World Cup is the greatest sporting event in the world. Even though it does not cover the scope of sporting codes of the Olympics, the World Cup engenders more interest and passion among fans and competitors than any other activity on the planet.

And as a display of skill, tactics, passion and so forth, there is no sport that can compare. But when it comes to fair play and honesty, the game may be said to display a darker and more cynical side. Put quite simply, the players, one and all, would in golfing terms be regarded as cheats as they knowingly and cynically breach the rules of the

rules

17

Hale IrwIn dIsplayed tHe type of Honesty tHat Is expected of golfers tHrougHout tHe world game for their own gain. This seems to be the norm in so many sports, where the attitude is ‘it’s okay as long as you don’t get caught’. This is not the case in golf.

Could you ever imagine the legendary Maradona stopping proceedings after the ball was in the net, going to the referee and saying the goal must be disallowed because he had handled it and not headed it?

Instead, the incident was immortalised as something almost divine and referred to as the ‘hand of God’.

Yet in the 1983 British Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, Hale Irwin displayed the type of honesty that is expected of golfers throughout the world. Irwin, right in contention at the time, had putted his ball to the edge of a particular hole.

He walked up to the ball and, as players often do, seemed to hover his putter over the ball as if having a practice putt.

He then addressed the ball and tapped it in for what seemed to be a regulation par four. His partner in turn recorded a par on the scorecard and the leader boards around the course reflected no change in Irwin’s standing in the event.

When Irwin noticed this, he went to

his marker and asked what score the marker had put him down for at the previous hole. “A four,” his marker said. “No”, said Hale, “I had a five”.

His marker seemed perplexed and Irwin then explained that what looked like a practice putt over the top of the ball had actually been an attempt by

Irwin to tap the ball into the hole. He had missed the ball – had a fresh air on a 1cm putt! – and therefore dropped a shot with a bogey five.

At the end of the tournament just one stroke separated Hale Irwin from tying for first place with the eventual winner, Tom Watson.

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18

WESTIE’S WAY

GET REAL GUYS – PLAY GOLF!

By Wayne Westner

WHOAH, THINK I OVER-COOKED THAT ONE!

H

aving played the Tour from 1983 to 1998, you experience all sorts of things: some funny, some educational, some painful. But having said that, the Tour is a lot of fun.

It has been said that the Europeans have a much better team spirit than the Americans, one of the reasons being that we travel together in groups and tend to create much more of a bond between one another, whereas the Americans seem to be the loner type.

One of the main forms of interaction between players on the SA Tour and its European counterpart is called ‘taking the piss’; in Ireland it’s called ‘having the Craig’, in South Africa we

called it, ‘it must be Hayes’; that’s what we do.

If you have any time for an individual, then that’s one of our forms of interaction. For years the South Africans mimicked the Spanish golfer’s accents; it was always taken light- heartedly.

I recall standing on the practise tee at Gleneagles with Mark Wiltshire in about ’87; Seve was right behind us. Speaking to Mark in my best Spanish accent, I said, “hey Mark, gow ju play today?” He replied, “no so good hey”. “What gappen,” I asked. “I hit the ball so so, but I putt verry bad ju know.”

“What you shoot,” I continued. To which he replied, “seven metres”. At which point Seve chirps me, “hey Wayne, why everybody speak

NICE DUCK HOOK THERE SERGIO!

Spanish? Me I am the only one who speak English!”

The biggest trickster of them all was Mark Roe; he did things like super glue Rick Hartman’s zips on his golf bag; the latter had to cut the bag open to get his balls and gloves.

Once, I emptied his suitcase into the bath and glued his air ticket to the wall. I then proceded to try and super glue his hotel door closed. He somehow knew I was up to mischief and went upstairs to check on his room. Coming down the stairs he looked straight at me, saying, “amateurs!”.

Then there’s the story of Hayes locking Bland out of his hotel room stark naked. He had to go to reception to get another key! There are countless numbers of these

stories, but at the end of the day it was all just good clean fun.

Sure, there were the serious guys: Langer, Monty and Faldo, who were far too serious for our liking, but each to their own. Even in more distant days you had the characters: Cotton, Jones, Hagen. And the serious guys, like Hogan.

With regard to the most recent incident with Sergio and Tiger (after an on-course spat the former said he would invite Woods over for a dinner of fried chicken): wow, I certainly don’t condone a blatant racist remark.

It appears to me that Sergio is a little bit jealous of Tiger. However, it seems that a lot was said in jest, similar to Fuzzy Zoeller’s remark in 1996 about Tiger ordering fried chicken for lunch the following year

19 at Augusta (the Masters champion always receives the privilege of determining the menu that is served at the next event).

There has not, and will probably never be, a nicer guy on Tour than Fuzzy. And one comment ‘destroyed’ his reputation. Come to think of it, when Lyle won, someone remarked, “I hope we don’t have to eat Haggis for lunch next year.” Was that racist?

love chicken, my son and I eat chicken all the time, so does that make me an African American?

Come on guys, let’s get over it and get on with our lives.

David Feherty once made a profound remark to me. He said, “the only way to stop the conflict in Northern Ireland would be to stop teaching history for 10 years. We are fuelling hatred; it’s a new world, let go and let God.”

Come to think of it, when Lyle won, someone remarked, “I hope we don’t have to eat Haggis for lunch next year.” Was that racist?

And they did have haggis by the way! Should an American win and someone says, “I hope we don’t have to eat McDonalds next year,” is that racist? Or when a South African wins, “I hope we don’t have to eat braaivleis next year.”

Back in the day, we all called the Irish Paddys and we all called the French frogs; my mate Thomas Levet even taught me to say frog in French (granui).

Portuguese are famous for their chicken; I believe Nando’s are owned by a group of Jewish businessmen. I

With regards to cheating, it is inexcusable in golf. However, the recent Woods incident at Augusta was not cheating, it was an honest mistake.

He was by no means at any advantage from where he played and his card had been handed in and approved by the marker. It is a nuisance with the amazing television coverage nowadays, where you get people sitting at home with nothing better to do than try and find fault and get players disqualified.

It happened to me in 1996 at the Dunhill, where I was in the bunker at the 17th hole of St Andrews and hit a backhanded put around the bunker as I was right up against the face. I was forced to go and review the incident on TV. How bored must you be to do this with the precious time you have down here? Another example: Craig Stadler getting disqualified for putting a towel down to hit a shot off his knees so as not to dirty his white trousers, how does that benefit a tournament?

I think the local rule that has been implemented by the US Tour of a two shot penalty is very fair, provided it is not blatant cheating.

Our own Bobby Locke was once seen not replacing his ball on the correct spot on the final green of the British Open; the organisers deemed he was at no advantage by doing what he did and he was allowed to keep the trophy.

Yes, you do get golfers who are good at taking advantage of the rules of golf; one of our very own is a master at that, but that’s why we have rules officials and what they say is final.

Feherty one day got a ruling from John Paramour, who did not give him a drop, to which Feherty remarked: “What happens if I call you an idiot?” John replied, “I will fine you 500 pounds.” “And what happens if I

think you are an idiot?,” asked Feherty. John replied, “nothing”. So David responded, “Well, I think you’re an idiot.”

What is heartbreaking is the fundraising and corporate events, where teams shoot scores that are totally unrealistic, yet take away prizes; everyone knows they could not have done that!

Come on guys, be cool, play the game for the love, a cheat at golf is a cheat in life. Is that how you want to be known? Chi Chi Rodriguez once said the best wood in your bag is your putter, but not too many people know that. Or maybe nowadays it seems they do.

Taking this all into account, I think I will rather concentrate on doing what I do best, so in future expect more comment about the golf swing, what you can do to improve your game – and enjoy it more! Till next month then.

Profile: Wayne Westner is the winner of multiple tournaments worldwide, including two SA Open titles, the Dubai Desert Classic, the 1996 World Cup of Golf (partnering Ernie Els, they won by a world record margin) and the 1996 SA Order of Merit. He studied the golf swing for 25 years under all the top world teachers, including David Leadbetter, and now runs an advanced golf college at Selborne Golf Estate on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.

20

INSTRUCTION

By Dennis Bryuns, Illustrations Dave Edwards

MASTER CLASS

By Harvey Penick and Percy Boomer

HARVEY MORRISON PENICK, born in Austin, Texas, became head professional at Austin Country Club when he was 18 and held the position for 50 years until his son Tinsley took over in 1971.

Penick was a good competitor as a youngster, even qualifying for the 1928 US Open. But after watching Sam Snead and Walter Hagen in person, he decided he was more likely to succeed as a teacher than as a player. Penick taught many successful tournament players, including Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite. A gentle and thoughtful man, Penick was a teaching legend in Texas for decades, but world-wide celebrity came only after the publication of Penick’s Little Red Book in 1992. The book, an organised version of the personal teaching notes he had scribbled over a lifetime on the lesson tee, sold more than one million copies to become the best-selling sports book of all time.

Penick once said, “When I quit trying to learn, I’ll quit trying to teach.” Even from a wheelchair, he still dispensed his gentle and thoughtful aspirins on the Austin Country Club lesson tee until his death at the age of 91.

“WHEN I QUIT TRYING TO LEARN, I’LL QUIT TRYING TO TEACH.”

TAKE DEAD AIM Penick will always be remembered for his advice to “take dead aim”. He explained this as meaning that during the time you address the golf ball, hitting it has got to be the most important thing in your life. Shut out all thoughts other than picking out a target and taking dead aim at it. Forget about how your swing looks and concentrate on where you want the ball to go.

In his Little Red Book he says, “take dead aim at a spot on the fairway or the green, refuse to allow any negative thought to enter your head, and swing away... Make it a point to do it every time on every shot. Don’t just do it when you happen to remember... I can’t say it too many times.”

21 PULL OUT AND KEEP

PERCY BOOMER was made for teaching and golf. His father was the village schoolteacher in Grouville, on the Isle of Jersey, off England’s southern coast.

Among those the senior Boomer taught to read and write were golf legends Harry Vardon and Red Ray. Percy also taught school for a while, giving it up to become a professional golfer in 1896. But as a player he was overshadowed by his brother Aubrey, who was much better in competition. Percy did win the Swiss, Dutch, and Belgian Opens during the 1920s, but soon turned his attention to teaching.

Among those who sought his advice were his childhood friends Vardon and Ray. Based at the exclusive golf clubs at St Cloud, on the outskirts of Paris, Boomer built a reputation as a fine teacher.

He advocated learning by “muscle memory” – the feel of a correct action. “I try to teach by the pupil’s sense of feeling,” explained Boomer, “rather than his understanding of mechanics.”

Boomer endeared himself to his followers when he wrote: “Everything I have ever done in golf, I have had to learn to do,” a statement most average golfers can readily relate to.

“I TRY TO TEACH BY THE PUPIL’S SENSE OF FEELING, RATHER THAN HIS UNDERSTANDING OF MECHANICS.”

TURN IN A BARREL Boomer is best remembered for his image of swinging inside a barrel to create the sensation of a proper turn. He would ask students to imagine being inside a barrel that extended from the golfer’s chest down to his knees and big enough around to allow the golfer’s hips to turn freely, but not so big as to allow him to sway either forward or back. With this image foremost in a student’s mind, he can start making the proper turn, which will become a memory to the body without having to remember many complex technical points.

US OPEN PREVIEW

SHORT IN LENGTH BUT LONG IN HISTORY

Expect plenty of drama in the US Open at Merion this year.

23

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Webb Simpson, the defending champion; the US Open trophy; Merion Golf Club’s iconic wicker basket flagsticks; Hole 9, par-3, 216 meters.

W Will W ill the undersize Merion stand up to the modern players and prove a worthy cchallenge hallenge for the 2013 US Open Championship? The policy of the USGA has always been to protect par. They simply do not want the players ripping up the course with winning scores of 20-under and more. And now they are playing on a course that from the tips measures less than 7000 yards (approximately 6,300m in our terms). This is no longer a distance than you would expect to find your local course set for any Saturday’s play, certainly shorter than it might be for big club days, such as the club championship or something similar.

This means that the top professionals are expected to be using wedge more often than any club in the bag other that the putter. Has the USGA thrown out the window their idea of protecting par or have they some secret plans up their sleeves?

First of all, it is a par-70 anyway, so they won’t be changing that at all.

And be sure the players can expect tight fairways with thick, punishing rough. But then they will leave their drivers in the bag most of the time and use a rescue club from the tee. If that is the case it will all come down to the greens and the pin placements. If there is no rain and the USGA can be in control of how much water is put on the course, expect firm conditions throughout. In fact, the greens will be rock hard and as fast as can be made.

And with the pins cut in the corners, behind bunkers or on the front of the greens, par will be protected just fine. If it rains and conditions are soft, then the course will be defenceless.

That is fine because at the end of the day par in merely a number to give us a standard of measurement or comparison.

In a four-round stroke play tournament, the winner is the player who hits the ball the least number of times. In other words, the player who scores the lowest – and it does not matter whether that is level par, 10-under par or 20-under.

Lowest score wins.

24 US Open preview Is the USGA worried about it? It would seem not, as this is what executive director Mike Davis had to say about the challenges of playing this great Championship at an old traditional course like Merion: “A few of us that looked at this really hard had told our board that we just can’t host the US Open anymore at Merion. It wasn’t because of the golf course itself, although some would argue that it’s too short. It was because we couldn’t figure out a way to hold a modern-day Open, operationally, on that little piece of land.

“The practice range for the players is a mile down the road. It’s not even on site! It’s at Merion’s West Course. You’ve got home owners that literally sit on part of the course that have said, ‘We will allow you to use part of our yards to put up operational things.’ That never happens at our events. I could go on and on. Operationally, it has been a challenge to fit a modernday Open on 110 acres or so – you just can’t do it without incredible cooperation. This is going to be a different US Open; this is going to be a boutique US Open.

“We want to go to special venues. We want to move around the country because it’s a national championship, and Merion is so historic. If you look at all of our US Open sites, I’m not sure we have one where there’s been more history made, more great moments in time, than Merion. And it’s just a great architectural course. Even if it means making a lot less money, it’s just the right thing to do. It’s a special thing to see those wicker baskets.”

coUrse hIGhLIGhts once again we look forward to tight fairways, thick rough, great greens that reek with character; it’s a wonderful blend of short and long. and yes, one of the toughest finishes in world golf! the 16th hole is going to be a star. this is a stunning, uphill 394m par-4. seen from above, the hole is shaped like a question mark. the tee box is the dot beneath the question mark, the fairway loops around a mess of quarry rocks, bunkers and shrubs – you do not want to be in there, trust me – and ends at the green, a long, narrow, sharply sloped surface with three tiers. It’s an intimidating view from the tee. then there is new ‘hot in golf’ hole: the short par-3. Merion’s 13th will also be a star and it’s a hole to love at a mere 105m. no, that is not a typo. It is 105 metres – a sand wedge or gap wedge

17th hole

for the pros and it’s a beauty of a throwback hole. the 17th is a 225m par-3 from an elevated tee to a nasty green, a very good hole, and the 18th, which has a back tee at 476m, uphill and over the famous quarry that hogan successfully navigated. It’s an historical place Merion. hogan’s wonderful 1-iron into the 18th to set up a playoff in 1950. and maybe the greatest moment in golf, when Bobby Jones won the Grand slam here.

the contenders In lookIng for a list of potential winners, let’s ignore those who have already won Majors before and concentrate on that group of best players in the world today who have yet to win a Major.

Ian Poulter A top-rated player for several years and only 37. After his outstanding performance in the 2012 ryder cup last fall, much was expected of him for this year. It is a mystery why he can’t capture some of the magic that he exhibits in the ryder cup matches to get hot for a week and win a Major. he only has six top-10 finishes in the Majors over the past nine years and is known as one of the best putters in golf. he just needs to find a few more fairways and give himself a chance to collect a Major trophy.

Jason Dufner After finishing runner-up to Keegan Bradley at the 2011 PGA championship, Jason dufner had a breakout year in 2012.

With two wins, one runner-up and eight top-10 finishes last year, he earned $4.8 million and finished no2 on the Fedex cup standings. dufner has earned a reputation as one of the most consistent players on the PGA tour and is ranked no20 in the official World Golf rankings. In his last 10 Major tournaments, dufner has three top-10 finishes. he is 36 years old and it is time for him to collect a Major trophy.

DustIn Johnson has certainly had his chances to win a Major. In 2010, he took a three-stroke lead over Graeme Mcdowell into the final round of the Us open at Pebble Beach. things went sideways early in the last round, and 82 blows later he finished t-8.

Later that year he had a nasty encounter with a bunker on the 72nd hole of the 2010 PGA championship

at Whistling straits, resulting in a two-shot penalty that kept him out of the playoff with Martin Kaymer and nick Watney. In 2011 he was again in contention in the open championship at royal George’s. only one shot behind darren clarke, a wayward second shot on no14 sailed out of bounds that resulted in a doublebogey and runner-up finish. the golf gods owe him at least one Major title for all of the pain and suffering he has endured. Johnson is only 28 years old and one of the most talented players on the PGA tour.

Matt Kuchar the form player at the moment after his superb victory at the Memorial. he has become one of the most consistent golfers in the world, seemingly gracing the top of leaderboards every week. he won the 2012 Players championship and had nine top-10 finishes last year. he also won the WGc-Accenture Match Play this year, moving into the top-10 in the world. Kuchar’s consistent play always has him in contention at the Majors and has given him five top-10 finishes in his last 12 Major championships. At 34-years-old he has had a solid career, but needs a Major title to put him in the history books. steve strIcKer At 46 years of age, time is running out for this fine player. he was the PGA tour’s comeback Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007. he announced earlier this year that he is limiting his schedule to just 10 events in 2013. It would be a shame if a golfer of his longevity and quality was not able to win a Major title before his career ended.

JustIn rose over the past three years, Justin rose has played some

of the best golf on the PGA tour. he has had top-10 finishes in Majors but just can’t seem to close the deal. At 32 years old, it is time for him to get at least one Major trophy for his mantle. serGIo GarcIa he has had unfortunate events occur at inopportune times in Major championships that have left scars on his golfing soul. taking a four-shot lead into the final round of the 2007 open championship at carnoustie, Garcia just needed to make par on the 72nd hole for the win. he missed his putt for par and eventually lost the playoff with Padraig harrington.

Garcia has been one of the best players in golf since he turned professional at the tender age of 19, and captured golf fans’ attention when he went head to head with tiger Woods at the 1999 PGA championship. Garcia has finished runner-up on three separate occasions in the PGA championship and once in the open championship. he had a third place finish in the 2005 Us open and was fourth in the 2004 Masters. luKe DonalD Luke donald has everything but a Major win. he held the no1 world ranking for 56 weeks. he has been a permanent fixture in the top-10 in the world for over two years. even though he was the first player to officially win the money titles on both the PGA and european tours in 2011, he has not received universal acclaim from golf fans and media due to his lack of a Major championship victory. With five PGA tour and seven european tour wins, it is time for the 35-year-old donald to add a Major championship to his

career statistics. donald is recognized as possessing one of the best short games in the world. If he can find just one more fairway per day in a Major and allow his putter to have four more opportunities to hole a birdie putt, we may just see him holding a Major trophy in the near future. lee WestWooD the ‘best’ of them all, Westwood has just turned 40 and feels the urgency to win a Major title. over the winter of 2012, he even moved his family from england to Florida to allow him more practice time in the favourable southern Florida weather. Westwood has played primarily on the european tour and has 22 career wins there. he only has two wins on the PGA tour. he was the no1 ranked player for 22 weeks, but has since fallen down the rankings. In the last 15 Major championships, he has finished inside the top-10 nine times.

Lee Westwood has made a ton of money in his golfing career. the only thing lacking is one or two Major trophies for his mantle. anD teaM sa We all know ernie has won this great championship twice and he showed some good form at the BMW PGA championship at Wentworth. there are many pundits who believe he has another Major in him and this might be it.

What with all the controversy surrounding the ‘anchoring putting method,’ it would be ironic if a career long ‘anchorer’ were to win, especially as tim clark has been so vocally against the change in rule. the course is perfect for him and, as he has shown in the past, he never backs off in a Major.

27

SWING THOUGHTS

UNSPORTING CONDUCT

By Theo Bezuidenhout

T

he saying in golf goes that there is one in every four-ball but as Sergio Garcia recently found out it may be that there is one in every pairing on the US PGA Tour. I am of course referring to the incident where Tiger Woods allegedly drew his trusty 5 wood from his bag as Sergio was about to hit his shot much to the dismay of the Spaniard. Some even say that this was the start of the bad blood between the two and that Sergio’s comments were his way of getting his own back after the episode at the Player’s Championship.

Having said this life on the PGA Tour is definitely not devoid of bad behaviour and unsportsmanlike conduct. Looking back over the last decade there have been incidents such as the infamous Rory Sabbatini-Ben Crane slow play debacle in 2005 and at stages rules have even been been ignored or bent (Tiger at the Masters).

The point being that proper conduct on the course and etiquette are no longer guaranteed in the gentleman’s game. This month we focus on what to do mentally when you encounter a lout on the course and in so doing not allowing it to spoil your day on the links.

INTENTIONS Unfortunately when you play regularly enough you will get to realize who the louts in your club or area are and when you are drawn with them it can feel like a sentence.

This is often the first mistake many players make when dealing with a player who misbehaves on the course: they give them way too much attention. Even the night before a club championship round could be spent fretting about how Mr. Badly Behaved will act instead of focusing on how you will tackle your own game.

So how do you overcome making this kind of player your major focus?

Work out what you want from your

round and how you want to feel when you leave the course.

By creating a clear intention for your round it is less likely that someone will steal your thunder and affect your mood. If needs be also write down what your intentions for the day are in your yardage book so that you can constantly remind yourself about them when your rowdy partner might be losing his or her cool.

CREATE SPACE This may seem very straightforward but often the lout will be all too willing to complain and whine in your ear. If you realize your are faced with a misbehaving partner, make an effort to get away from the distraction as much as possible. This may include standing on opposite sides of the green or tee-box or walking ahead or behind the person.

This tactic shouldn’t be so distracting to you that it affects your game more than that of the lout but by not being within earshot you negate a lot of the negative damage the lout can do mentally to your game.

It also has the added benefit of creating time for you to compose yourself between shots and have a more professional mindset approaching each shot. Rather than getting more and more irritated with the screaming and swearing brat.

Lastly, if you have a hold-up on a tee or a break in play, make a point of walking to the previous green or watching the tee shots of the group behind you. The reason for this is that if you are waiting for your next shot there is a good chance the lout will have something negative to say about it and this will probably lead to you either losing your focus or your cool.

By only paying attention to what is behind you, you know you have completed the hole and that there is very little the lout can say about it that will affect your game negatively.

PAY MORE ATTENTION TO OTHERS Fortunately in the game of golf we have four-balls for a reason and if one player in your four-ball is misbehaving you will probably have two other compatriots who will gladly share your company. The trick in dealing with the lout is to ignore his or her behaviour and focus all your positive comments and feedback on the other two players you are playing with.

Chances are that the lout will soon realize that he or she is getting very little attention and will either not carry on with the negative behaviour or get so upset that their game will blow up. Causing them to sulk and hopefully pipe down somewhat for the rest of the round.

WHATEVER YOU DO…..

Lastly, an action that I would never advocate is to confront the person. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, the lout probably behaves like this in other spheres of life as well and by people addressing it with him or her they create a “me vs. the world mentality”. Thus by confronting the lout you are adding petrol to the fire and chances are that you will either make the behaviour worse or have a terrible experience the rest of the day.

Secondly, in confronting the behaviour you will not change a thing that the lout’s spouse, parents, kids or schoolteachers did not try to change. If all of these people failed you have very little chance of changing the person’s behaviour and if you recognize this you can see the lout’s behaviour for what it is: cries for attention.

Attention (although negative) that you give when you confront them on the course. Remember no-one said the lout was after positive attention the negative kind will do just as nicely thank you. If you doubt that just ask anyone who has suffered at the hands of a lout.

Please share your mental issues with us (teetogreen@ ballyhoomedia.co.za; we will pass it onto Theo). The WINNING LETTER will receive a Titleist glove and one dozen Titleist Pro V1s.

PROFILE: Theo Bezuidenhout is a sport psychologist in private practice and consults with golfers of all abilities and ages. His clients include top juniors, amateurs and Sunshine Tour professionals. Theo has been a columnist for Tee to Green for over seven years. He is also an ambassador for Titleist. He has a special interest in parental involvement in sport and has also been involved with the Glacier Junior Series for the last two years as a consultant. He refuses to divulge how often he gets to work on his own golf.

UNIFORMITY PREPARATION PRECISION. PERFORMANCE IS FOR EVERY PLAYER. ER. PROVEN. COMMITMENT. CONSISTENCY. INNOVATION. THE NEW PRO V1® AND PRO V1x.™ www.titleist.co.uk

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Fearsome Four The Road Hole at St Andrews is generally regarded as the toughest par-4 in world golf. DENNIS BRUYNS considers why.

“If you ever see my ball on the green in two at the Road Hole, you’ll know I’ve made a mistake,” – Bobby Locke

37

ON THE FACE OF IT, it is just another long par-4, no water in sight, no fairway bunkers in the driving area and just one greenside bunker to avoid. Although it is long by amateur golf standards, most of today’s tour players will comfortably find the green with a mid-iron (5 or 6). And this after the hole was lengthened by approximately 40m for the 2010 Open Championship.

Statistics do not lie and, in that championship, the average score at the 17th for the world’s best golfer over the four rounds of the Open was 4.66. It gives credence to the statement that the reason the Road Hole is the toughest par-4 in golf is because it really is a par-5.

The average golfer should simply play it as a par-5 , take the 6 out of play and hope for a good putt every now and then for a four. This is how Bobby Locke played the hole.

“If you ever see my ball on the green in two at the Road Hole, you’ll know I’ve made a mistake,” he said. Locke would simply look for the fairway with his drive, then play up short and to the right of the green for two, chip up anywhere within a 3m radius of the hole and be done with it. And remember, for the record, that Locke won the 1957 Open Championship at St Andrews with a four-round total of 279 – the first player to break 280 at St Andrews.

Par-4, par-5, what does it matter?

Let’s start from the tee and see why this is such a fearsome golf hole. If you have never played the course before, it helps to have a caddie in your group when you reach this tee.

Having watched you play for 16 holes, he will have an idea of how

ABOVE: Your driving line is over the ‘O’ in Hotel.

MAIN PIC: The 17th green at the Old Course showing the bunker on the left, the road and out of bounds wall over the back of the green.

38 travel you hit; most importantly, how far you can carry the ball through the air. Talk of a blind tee shot! There is nothing like this one in all of golf.

“Aim over the ‘O’ in Hotel“, the caddie will say, “and if you strike it true, you’ll be okay”. Did I fail to mention that the hole is a sharp dog leg to the right, with the tee shot needing to carry over the edge of the Old Course Hotel grounds?

As Colin Montgomerie puts it: “If you designed the hole now you would be shot. If you said now, ‘I’m going to put a tee over an old railway on a practice ground and get you to hit over a disused course and over the corner of a hotel’, people would think you were off your head.”

Simply put, don’t miss it long!

A good drive from the club tee should leave one with about 175m to the green; more or less the same distance the professionals will have from the newly constructed back tee.

You can be certain that nobody will be going for the green with an 8- or 9-iron. Consider that Tom Watson had the bottle to hit a 2-iron in his iconic battle against Seve Ballesteros in 1984, then the modern golfer should be able to cope with a 5-iron.

It must be remembered that the length of the hole had not been changed since 1900. The added length now forces players to use a driver off the tee.

What lies ahead is the stuff of golfing nightmares. The green is wide, from left to right almost double the size of most greens. But the depth is another story and should you go long, a dropped or double dropped shot is staring you in face. The green slopes sharply down to a pathway, a tar road (hence the Road Hole) and just beyond that an old stone wall that is the boundary of the course.

The sands of nakajima During the third round of the 1978 British Open at St Andrews, Tommy Nakajima came to the 17th hole 4-under for the day and tied for the lead in the tournament — until, that is, he putted his ball into the fabled Road Hole bunker, and then took four strokes to get out: quintuple bogey-9.

Yes, that’s right, he putted the ball into the bunker!

Among the witnesses to the calamity was Nakajima’s caddie, Neil Ballingall, a 15-year-old Scot who’d never worked a bag before and who’d come to the job by a quirk of fate. The week before the Open, Ballingall and a friend, both seeking summer jobs, had dropped by Lundin Golf Club, their local course and site of the final round of Open qualifying. They’d asked if they could land a loop.

Only one man expressed interest.

“He was a short Asian man in dress shoes and a jacket,” Ballingall recalls.

“And we thought, ‘Well, this guy has absolutely no chance at all’.”

The friends tossed a coin. Ballingall lost, and the job was his.

The following morning, when Ballingall showed up for work, the same well-dressed man was there, but so was a lanky, athletic-looking fellow: Tommy Nakajima. The short man was Nakajima’s manager. Since neither spoke the other’s language, Nakajima relied on gestures to give Ballingall a crash-course in caddying. “At first, I was standing directly behind him, which was completely distracting,” Ballingall says. “He preferred that I stand to the side of him, where he could only see my shoes.”

In two qualifying rounds, Nakajima shot 69, 78, then passed through a

Had to try a shot out the Road Hole bunker. Here I am doing an unintentional Tommy Nakajima imitation. This was my third attempt; you can see the divots from my previous two. I never made it out, eventually picking up the ball and throwing it on to the green!

play-off to land an Open slot. And so on to St Andrews.

Anyone watching would have guessed that Nakajima was less nervous than his caddy. While Ballingall walked on eggshells, Nakajima fired opening rounds of 71 and 70. On the 17th hole on Saturday, Nakajima was tied for the lead with playing partner Tom Weiskopf when he played a smart approach to the front right of the green.

The pin was tucked back left, and no one was firing at the flag.

Nakajima decided to take on the pin with his putt. “He hit what looked like a beautiful putt,” Ballingall says. “I was sure it was going to curl right toward the cup. But at the last minute, it caught a ridge and trickled down into the bunker.”

Nakajima hung his head.

His first attempt from the sand

was an ugly blade that hit the face of the bunker and rolled back. His second shot was short. His third landed on the green, then rolled back into the bunker. His fourth settled 10 feet past the pin.

The quintuple bogey-9 dropped Nakajima out of contention and he eventually finished in 17th place.

Nearly half a lifetime later, Nakajima’s one-time caddie works as the golf course superintendent for the Fairmount St Andrews, a resort on the bluffs above St Andrews. He hasn’t spoken to Nakajima since that fateful day. The only words the two exchanged about the Road Hole blow-up came as they walked toward the 18th tee on Saturday. Having just spoiled his chances for the Claret Jug, Nakajima turned to his young caddie and said softly: “Sorry, Neil.”

Simply put, don’t miss it long!

The traditional championship pins are all in the left half of the green and that side is protected by the infamous Road Hole bunker, also known as ‘the sands of Nakajima’, nicknamed thus after the Japanese player who took four shots to get out in the 1978 Open Championship. Again, at first glance it looks fairly innocuous. It is just a small pot bunker and should be easy

to avoid. Not so, in that the ground around the bunker, including the front of the green, funnels balls towards the bunker.

The R&A have been concerned that some of this characteristic has been lost, so under the direction of architect Martin Hawtree, who was commissioned by the St Andrews Links Trust and the R&A, the bunker will be widened by a half-meter to the right. Also, the green will be re-contoured to funnel more balls toward the bunker. All this in time for the 2015 Championship.

The lengthened 17th did bring more excitement to 2010 Open. The penultimate green is always the most populated spot on the Old Course as the crowds gather to see the best players in the world meet the challenge of the best par-4 in the world.

The former Open champion Sandy Lyle hit one drive on to the roof of the Old Course Hotel while Spain’s Miguel Angel Jiménez had the crowds purring on Saturday night with an audacious chip punched deliberately against the back wall by the road, arching the ball back over his shoulder and on to the putting surface.

And in 2015, with the bunker as it should be, expect the crowd and a host of photographers to gather in the hope of seeing plenty of ‘road kill’.

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humour Illustration Dave Edwards

dismayed and said, “Boy, I would have thought you would be doing much better than that.”

The golfer replied, “Well, for a priest, from a small town, with no car, every other week isn’t so bad.” the fortune teller Golfer: “Are there golf courses in Heaven?” fortune teller: “I have good news, and I have bad news...”

Golfer: “What’s the good news?” fortune teller: “The good news is that Heaven’s golf courses are beautiful beyond anything you could imagine!”

Golfer: “How could there be any bad news with that?”

Fortune Teller: “You have a teetime at 8:30 tomorrow morning.”

He really is good Dick brings a frienD to play golf with two of his buddies to complete a foursome. His buddies ask him if his friend can play golf; Dick says he is very good.

This guy hits the ball on the 1st hole deep into the bush, so his buddies look at him and chorus, “You said he was a good golfer.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dick says, “watch and learn.”

Next thing they see the ball come out of the bush on to the green. Two putts and the guy makes a par.

On the next hole, a par-3, this guy hits the ball in the lake, the two buddies look at Dick again and say, “You said this guy was good.” Again Dick assures them that this guy was a great player.

Anyway the guy walks into the lake, three minutes later and they can’t see him. All of a sudden they see a hand come out of the water, they tell Dick to dive in the lake to go get his friend, he’s drowning.

Dick replies “No, that means he wants a 5-iron.”

Play it as it lies Bill and Ralph, both of equal ability, decide to have a round together and ‘play it as it lies’ on all shots.

Both hit their tee shots on the par-5 1st hole down the middle and about 230m. They drive up for the second shot, and Bill hits his shot down the middle for an easy approach. But Ralph slices his over the trees and it ends up in the cart path of the adjoining hole.

“Guess I get a free drop from the cart path,” he says. “Oh no,” says Bill, “We agreed. Play it as it lies.”

So Ralph drives Bill up to his ball in front of the green, drops him off and drives over to his ball on the cart path. Bill watches in amusement as sparks shower

down from the practice swings of his opponent. Then, in amazement as a perfectly struck shot lands on the green and rolls to within a metre of the pin.

Ralph drives back to the green.

Bill says, “Great shot back there!

What club did you use?” Ralph responds, “Your six iron.” the lePrechaun A golfer hooks his drive into the woods to the left of the fairway.

While looking for his ball he happens upon a leprechaun. The leprechaun asks him, “How’s your round of golf going?” The golfer admits, “I’m having one of my worst rounds ever.” The leprechaun zaps the golfer with a

a sin to Play on sunday After church one Sunday, one of the congregants walked up to the priest and said, “Father, is it a sin to play golf on Sunday?

“My son,” said the priest, putting his hand on the man’s shoulder, “I’ve seen you play golf. It’s a sin any day.”

Golf is played by 20 million mature American men whose wives think they are out having fun.

– Jim Bishop

magic spell. The leprechaun then asks, “How’s your sex life doing?”

The golfer replies, “In all honesty, I haven’t had any in years.” So, the leprechaun zaps him with another spell. The golfer goes on to have his best round ever.

Two months later the golfer is playing the same course. He checks to see if the leprechaun is still around. Sure enough, he spots him in the woods. The leprechaun asks, “How has your golf been lately?” The golfer responds with pride, “I’m playing the best golf of my life.” The leprechaun then asks, “How’s your sex life doing?” The golfer replies happily, “I’ve been getting some almost every other week.” The leprechaun seemed

another lePrechaun This golfer was playing the famous dog leg 4th hole at Killarney, and was just about to tee off, when a voice said, “Hello there”.

He looked around and the voice said “Down here”, and there at his feet was a little leprechaun, who said, “How would you like to drive over those trees, land on the green and putt for 2, and furthermore win every tournament you enter and become champion golfer of all Ireland?

The golfer said, “You’re on”.

The leprechaun said, “There’s one condition. You have to remain celibate.”

The golfer agreed. Twelve months later the golfer was playing the same hole at Killarney when he again heard the voice.

“Tell me,” said the Leprechaun, “did everything happen as I predicted.”

“Yes,” said the golfer.

“And how to you find celibacy?” said the leprechaun.

“As Parish Priest at Ballemena, I don’t find it much trouble.”

Great trade Bill and Ralph step up to the first tee box. Bill says, “Hey, guess what! I got a set of golf clubs for my wife!” Ralph replies enthusiastically, “What a great trade!”