Whatever happened to?... Hugh Baiocchi

I was born in Johannesburg in August 1946. At the time my parents were living in Modderfontein, a small town on the east side of Johannesburg. I attended primary school at Saint Paul’s Parochial in Orange Grove. My high school years we spent at Saint Benedict’s College in Bedfordview.

My father was an avid golfer and from about the age of 8, I realized that there were always golf clubs and balls lying around the house. This was when I first became exposed to golf, although when I was a toddler, apparently when my dad went off to play golf my mom would insist that he take me along. So, he would employ a caddie to ferry me around the course generally on his back.

My dad’s enthusiasm for the game resulted in me becoming interested in playing at the age of 12. My dad was a Bobby Locke disciple, having also competed in a Transvaal Open at Glendower which Bobby won by a street, shooting scores in the low 60’s. As a result, I was aware of the maestro’s eccentricities, such as wearing a tie on the course and wearing white golf shoes with tassels covering the laces.

My dad owned a pair of those tasseled white shoes which I would ‘borrow’ when I went to the course after school. The shoes were obviously too large for me so I would stuff socks into the toes to make them fit. I would also wear my school tie when I played on my own.

My dad was my first teacher and he drilled into me the fundamentals of the golf swing

At Modderfontein Golf Club there was a strong junior membership, and we were encouraged to improve by the club pro Stan Gates and a member Martin Smith.

Become a member of Modderfontein Golf Club

However, my dad was my first teacher and he drilled into me the fundamentals of the golf swing which he based on Ben Hogan’s books. He stressed staying in one’s posture throughout the swing and working always on good swing tempo.

At the age of 18 or 19, I began competing in amateur events, eventually being selected to a Southern Transvaal provincial team. I was able to win several amateur events notably the Transvaal Strokeplay at Randpark by 14 strokes with a score of 270 as well as the South African Matchplay Championship at Mowbray in 1970 where I came back from 3 down with 3 to play to beat Roy Joubert on the 37th hole.

in 1967, I was selected to represent South Africa at the Commonwealth Tournament in Canada. I represented South Africa on six further occasions during which time I managed to win the Brazilian Amateur in Sao Paulo in 1968.

In 1971 I was selected to represent SA at an event in New Zealand, but the United Nations passed a resolution banning SA sportsman from international competition which scuppered that event. I determined then if I wished to continue playing at a higher level, I would have to turn pro. I was thus almost forced into becoming a pro, but I had no illusions of success - it was literally a question of ‘let’s see what happens’.

in 1971 I competed as a pro on the Sunshine Tour, finishing third on the then Order of Merit which granted me exemption into the British events of the European Tour. I competed in South Africa until 1994, winning 15 events on the Sunshine and Winter Tours combined. Notable wins were the SA PGA and the SA open.

With Matt Fitzpatrick at Bears Club. His caddie Billy Foster worked for me in his early caddying days in Europe

In Europe I competed until 1992, winning seven events. 1977 was my best year with a second-place finish on the money list behind Seve Ballesteros. In 1996 at age 50, I travelled to the USA in an attempt to qualify for the Senior Tour. I managed to get through the Pre-Qualifying event in Orlando and then obtained a provisional card at the Tour School finals at TPC Jacksonville.

I do still enjoy playing and occasionally play with Nick Price, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen. Their golfing ability is amazing, they play a game with which I am not familiar

in 1997 my wife and I flew to the US to begin my foray on the tour. Fortunately, I was successful early on and managed to win a tournament in Pittsburgh, eventually racking up 14 top ten finishes in 25 starts ending the year 8th on the Money List.

With Gary Player, Bob Charles and Andy North at PGA National in Florida

1998 was more successful as I was able to win two events in Cincinnati and Indianapolis. I ended the year 5th on the Money List. In 2008 I lost my exemption on the tour, at age 62.

Currently my wife and I are living in Palm Beach Gardens in South Florida where our daughter and her two cool sons also live. Our son lives in Australia with his lovely Australian wife and three beautiful children. Their youngest is also named Hugh, although when he was five years of age, he had a problem in accepting that I was also a Hugh Baiocchi!

I have a regular Saturday golf group and we play at a Tom Fazio designed course named Riverbend Golf Club. One of our group is Brian Jacobs, brother-in-law of Gavan Levenson and father-in-law of Charl Schwartzel.

Brian and I played amateur golf and competed together on the Sunshine Tour, so it is rather special that we now play together in the USA some 50 years later. I don’t hit practice balls very often, particularly in the summer, as the heat and humidity here are brutal. As a result, my game is not too sharp with my handicap index being 4.4.

However, I do still enjoy playing and occasionally play with Nick Price, Charl and Louis Oosthuizen. Their golfing ability is amazing, they play a game with which I am not familiar.