It was on this temporary facility that an impromptu lesson was given to the struggling young Queensland pro by Australia’s greatest golfer.
]]>It was on this temporary facility that an impromptu lesson was given to the struggling young Queensland pro by Australia’s greatest golfer.
Baker-Finch had piqued Thomson’s interest the year before at the 1981 New South Wales Open. The young pro-played in the event with the current Open Champion, American Bill Rogers. Playing with the tournament drawcard, Baker-Finch at one stage scored six birdies in a row. The next week in the Australian PGA championship at Royal Melbourne, Baker-Finch ran hot again, this time playing with the Spanish star Seve Ballesteros. “Finchy,” as his mates called him, scored 30 on the front nine, attracting media attention and the further interest of Thomson. Baker-Finch may have been short off the tee, but he made up for that with a short game and putting stroke unmatched on the tour at the time.
At age 53 Thomson could still play. He was about to launch his spectacular, but brief, career on the US Senior Tour and was in New Zealand playing in events that he had enjoyed competing in since 1950. Over three decades Thomson had made many friends over the Tasman, but by 1982 he was bidding farewell to the circuit that he and Kel Nagle had dominated. Thomson had an unusual set of interests for a pro golfer - writing, reading, painting and listening to classical music. By 1982 his course design business was thriving and earlier in the year he had even dabbled unsuccessfully in politics. Thomson could at times appear rather aloof and did not hand out advice to every young professional. Earlier in the year in Australia a young pro sought Thomson’s counsel, hoping for detailed advice from the great man. Thomson cryptically advised the crestfallen young player that he should try to “shoot lower scores.”
There was something about Baker-Finch that drew Thomson to the young Queenslander.
Baker-Finch recalls his struggles of the early 80s. He did not look much like winning anything and recalls “it was at Peter’s suggestion that I was playing in New Zealand at the end of 1982. Our practice ground for the Air New Zealand – Shell Open was a public park not far from Titirangi. Peter had taken an interest in my golf the previous year and there I was, hitting the ball terribly as he happened to wander past. My problem was a weak high fade off the tee. He watched briefly as I cut several shots on to the road. He stepped in and said to me “this is what I think you should do.” This was the first time he changed my swing.”
Baker-Finch had learned golf on a nine-hole country course in rural Queensland at Beerwah, using a copy of the Nicklaus book “Golf My Way” as his guide, practising hard and mimicking the Golden Bear’s swing. Nicklaus positioned his hands high on his back swing, with a steep arc and a high follow-through. The method worked well for Nicklaus with his immense strength, but for Baker-Finch it only served to contribute to a high, weak cut. Thomson’s method was the opposite of Nicklaus’s. Thomson studied Ben Hogan first hand on the American Tour in the 1950s. Hogan’s swing was on a flatter, more powerful plane. His delivery of club back to the ball resembled more of a hit than a swing.
The lesson Thomson gave to Baker-Finch in December 1982 was simple. His feet were repositioned, and the ball moved back in his stance. Thomson encouraged his pupil to make a bigger turn on a flatter arc. Magically Baker-Finch started finding the centre of the park. He was almost instantly drawing the ball on a lower flight in the process gaining more distance. It would take time, but Baker-Finch was on his way.
There was a stark contrast in the appearances of master and pupil during that career changing session at Titirangi. Thomson was dressed conservatively in shades of white and grey in the style of his idol Hogan. Baker-Finch, tall with long dark hair had a liking for brightly coloured (often pink) clothing.
After returning to Australia from the New Zealand circuit Baker-Finch received a surprise invitation to spend the Christmas holidays with the Thomson family at their holiday home in Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula. Delighted to accept, Baker-Finch spent four weeks soaking up everything that Thomson could pass on to the 22-year-old about golf.
In 2023 Baker-Finch recalled “I think Peter could see that I really wanted to succeed at golf. We played a lot together. I asked him what he did to exercise for golf, and he said – “I walk, what else would I do”? So, we would walk on the beach together. After finishing a round with him, I would want to go and hit balls, but he would say “take four balls and go and play the 17th and 18th - make four with them all, learn how to win.”
Baker-Finch reflects ‘I could fill a whole chapter with what he taught me. He passed on these pearls of wisdom about scoring and winning that I still remember today. It was just what I needed at that stage of my career.”
Later in 1983 Baker-Finch would return to New Zealand to win the New Zealand Open at Middlemore - his first professional victory. The same event had also been Thomson’s first professional win - 33 years before. Practising before the 1984 Open at St Andrews Thomson gave Baker-Finch a four-round masterclass on how to navigate the intricacies of the Old Course. Baker-Finch surprised everyone, apart from Thomson, to lead a world class field after three rounds of his first major. Learning from that 1984 experience, he would turn on one of the great performances in 1991 at Royal Birkdale to win the event that he had dreamt of playing in as a boy – The Open Championship.
The pupil had learned his lessons well.
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High hopes were held for the spectacular course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr sited on the scenic Whangaparaoa Peninsula. Shortly after opening, Gulf Harbour further enhanced its reputation by hosting the 1998 World Cup of Golf. Visiting golfers including Sir Nick Faldo and John Daly enhanced the event. Spectators came in droves to watch with many congregating on the dramatic signature hole, the par 4 16th hole perching on the dramatic clifftop. Gulf Harbour had become the name on golfers’ lips throughout the country.
In July of this year the current owner of Gulf Harbour Country Club, property developer Greg Olliver, closed the course that he had purchased two years ago, abruptly ending the Gulf Harbour dream. Oliver knew nothing about golf and had been banned in 2021 for four years from acting as a company director for “mismanagement” and to protect the public from the “risk” he posed. The closure announcement was made by Wayne Bailey; the director appointed to control Olliver’s company. Bailey stated that he had been “unable to make the running of the club viable” and that it would close “with immediate effect.” Had Oliver and Bailey ever intended to achieve their stated objectives? From the start members and locals had suspected that purchase was a cynical property play by Olliver. Bailey has since confirmed no part of the course is for sale.
Is this seemingly orchestrated closure the end of the Gulf Harbour story?
Looking back over the troubled 25-year history of the course permanent closure of Gulf Harbour may have been inevitable. From inception Gulf Harbour has suffered under a series of owners with little genuine interest in either golf or the members. Deferred maintenance and faulty membership structures have not helped the cause. In 1997 Mr Goh established the club. Member shareholders paid $25,000 for a membership interest and carried a subscription liability in perpetuity.
Two European Tour events were held in 2005 and 2006 at Gulf Harbour when the venue hosted a pair of New Zealand Opens. The flawed financial structure of the two events ensured substantial losses were inevitable. The European Tour’s contribution to the event reduced as the staging costs increased, creating a ticking financial bomb for New Zealand Golf. Mark Bryers and his faltering Blue Chip companies entered the scene and became the naming sponsor in 2006. A result was a $900,000 loss for New Zealand Golf. A swift extraction from the five-year contract with both Blue Chip and Gulf Harbour followed as the Open was moved to a safer haven of Sir Michael Hill’s private course in Arrowtown.
Bryers continued his trail of destruction at Gulf Harbour. He announced in 2006 that he had “bought” the course from the 2004 owner Jamie Peters. He paid for Gulf Harbour by transferring a parcel of degraded assets to Peters. A number of these assets had already been sold to third parties.
Bryers played with 2005 US Open Champion, Michael Campbell, in the winning team at the pro-am preceding the 2006 New Zealand Open. Campbell was then unwittingly dragged into the mess announcing “Mark Bryers and I have a wonderful vision for New Zealand Golf. It is more than just me being associated with the course, it is about the development of the practice facilities, getting coaches and making this the home of New Zealand Golf.” Campbell cut his ties with Kauri Cliffs, showing up to the Masters in 2007 with the Gulf Harbour logo emblazoned on his golf bag.
Shortly thereafter, the Bryers pack of cards fell over; his investors had lost $80 million by 2008. Bryers was personally bankrupted in 2009 for $220 million. The vendor of the course, Jaimie Peters, fared little better and was himself bankrupted in 2009 for $3 million, leaving behind claims for a further $14m based on his personal guarantees.
Where did this leave Gulf Harbour and the well-meaning Campbell? In 2008 12 members known as “The 12 Apostles” banded together to buy the golf assets from Bryers’ and Peters’ receivers for $5m. On the takeover date they found three unpaid invoices sitting in the club’s office. The first invoice was for an initial instalment of US$100,000 owing to Michael Campbell for his endorsement of the club, the second invoice was from IMG for US$1m for design services and the third invoice was from a US hotel consultancy firm for US$500000. All three were passed to the receiver of GHCC and remain unpaid.
The group of investors tried valiantly to make their investment, and the club, work - but they were faced with serious underlying issues relating to deferred course maintenance. The bunkers and watering system both needed investment. Construction and maintenance issues with the clubhouse did not help. The club limped along with the group of well-meaning investors trying everything possible to make the club viable. An incorporated society was formed to simplify administration but, unfortunately, the 400 members did not provide enough critical mass to ensure financial success.
In 2016 yet another investor purchased Gulf Harbour. Mr Lee from China wished to obtain a business visa and purchased Gulf Harbour to achieve his goal. Several of “The Apostles” had dropped out at this stage and those that remained were becoming fatigued. They were relieved to recover their capital of $5 million with two years interest (the first three years interest was forgone) from the sale. Mr Lee knew little about golf but did at least invest in machinery and made a modest capital reinvestment in the course. The underlying deferred maintenance issues continued to mount as did the cash flow problems.
In 2021 an even more unsuitable owner in the form of Greg Olliver arrived on the Gulf Harbour scene. He purchased the 89-ha course with property development as his clear objective. Olliver had escaped bankruptcy a few years before by offering his $90 million worth of creditors less than one half a cent in the dollar. (National Business Review.) One long-time member, ex-Apostle and ex-general manager Graeme Rothwell recently reflected “we continued with the long line of owners disinterested in the business of golf.”
Covenants on the land may possibly protect the course from further residential development by Olliver. Bailey seems confident that obtaining resource consents will overcome this issue. Olliver has bought into a fight with the locals who will oppose him all the way, but will there be any winners at Gulf Harbour?
A course design by an eminent architect such as Trent Jones is clearly not enough by itself to protect a golf resort from fundamental structural and ideological flaws. Two of Jones’ courses - Whitesands in Vanuatu, and Coolum on the Sunshine Coast (recently partially revived) have failed in the past. David Graham’s A$120m masterpiece at Laguna Quays in the Whitsundays lies derelict. On a smaller scale Greg Turner’s skilfully remodelled Oreti Sands in Southland has sadly also been abandoned.
Developing top class golf courses is not for the fainthearted. Success in New Zealand has been achieved by owners with deep pockets coupled with a genuine passion for the game. Examples of this are the Ishii family at Millbrook, the Hill family at The Hills, Gary Lane at Wairakei, the Robertson family at Kauri Cliffs and Cape kidnappers. Ric Kayne and his small investor group seem certain to make a success of their stunning trio of courses Tara Iti, and Te Arai North and South.
Gulf Harbour may be in the right place but is fast becoming a monument to the wrong owners arriving on the scene at the wrong time.
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Does New Zealand have a new No 1?
The Cut Golf visited Te Arai Links last December to play the recently opened Coore-Crenshaw South Course. Our small group of three that had visited Te Arai went on to play Tara Iti the next day. Tara Iti is New Zealand’s current No.1 rated course.
These two experiences naturally provoked debate on comparison of the two courses. A member our party is on Golf Digest’s Course rating panel, and after playing Tara Iti he steadfastly maintained the course had retained its number one ranking, another member of our party rated the two courses first equal, and I promoted Te Arai to my personal No.1 ranking.
It was clearly too close for our group to agree on a clear winner. With the Tom Doak North Course ready for play by October this year, the final rankings of each course in this cluster of three magical golf layouts will be intriguing. One thing is clear - New Zealand will shortly be able to boast two additional world-class golf courses.
The other great news is that Te Arai is more accessible to New Zealand golfers than many may imagine. It is expensive, but most Kiwi golfers will regard a visit to Te Arai as a “special occasion” golf course or possibly the experience of a golfing lifetime.
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Bill Coore - ‘’Ben Crenshaw and I have sought sand-based sites where the land more than the designers determine the design and character of the course.
Te Arai’s heaving sand ridges and meandering valleys to rumpled contours are reminiscent of the classic seaside links on which the game began.”
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I paid a 2020 visit to Bandon Dunes in Oregon, and then in late 2021 visited Barnbougle in Tasmania. These two iconic golf resorts share designers and other similarities with Te Arai. The underlying strategy of all three resorts is to encourage golfers to stay for 3 or 4 days and play on each of the resort’s courses. Bandon and Barnbougle also provide shorter par-3 courses - often to be played late in the day with a beer in hand, once the serious business of tackling an 18-hole championship course in the morning has been completed.
On arrival at Te Arai we parked our four-wheel-drive rental outside the clubhouse at and were surprised not to be surrounded by luxury German autos. There were plenty of standard Kiwi sedans in the car park. Our fellow players looked like average club members drawn from a range of golf clubs. Some unloaded their own pull carts for the round while others clearly planned to engage the services of one of the local caddies. (More on the caddies later)
Jim Rohrstaff, the managing partner of Te Arai Links, explains where he sees Te Arai’s positioning in the New Zealand and international markets –
‘’most of our play would be local at present - New Zealanders. But we are now getting a lot of inbound enquiries from Australia and the US. We have also been thrilled with the members who have joined the club, bearing in mind that this may be a second or third club for some of them’’.
We chatted about the role of caddies at Te Arai. Caddies are not compulsory with Jim commenting -
‘’We see some groups of Kiwis that are clearly not used to using a caddie. However, a group of four may decide to share a forecaddie between them. The forecaddie gives them a general guide on each of the holes and shows them where to play. When you break one caddie fee of $225 down between four it is not that much - just a burger and a couple of beers’’.
Our group did take three caddies who were young, low handicap Waikato golfers and were exceptionally friendly and helpful. They were unobtrusive and would only provide us with specific clubbing advice when requested. Their accurate and helpful tactical advice was delivered to us in the nicest possible way.
At Bandon Dunes and Barnbougle we had observed groups of mainly male golfers playing and staying – with all that goes with “boys’ trips’’ - lots of beers and noisy laughter in a pub like atmosphere at the resorts’ hospitality outlets. The two resorts provide comfortable accommodation in a 3-to-4-star range, each catering to their own markets.
Te Arai operates at a different level. Jim believes Te Arai “matches the experience anywhere in the world. We see ourselves being compared with Pebble Beach and Spyglass. The way we build the buildings and finish the interiors I would say Te Arai is quite different from both Barnbougle and Bandon - these courses cater for a 90% male target market. We probably sit at around at 60% of male golfers. Our style is understated and elegant but also approachable. We are not uptight and not pretentious.’’
‘’We are on one of the most spectacular locations in New Zealand. It is a beautiful destination - whether you play golf or not. More men than women play golf, we get that - but women are also the fastest-growing market in the game. We are also building something that says you do not have to play golf to enjoy this place - we will have a beautiful spa, and a wonderful wellness and fitness centre ’’.
Jenny Kane of Los Angeles has designed the interiors of the suites (43m2) and the two-bedroom cottages (140m2). –
“She has hit every single detail brilliantly. It all speaks to a great luxury experience not just a golf experience. The main attraction here is golf - we are building two world-class golf courses - but if you are a non-golfer, you can have a wonderful time here at the beach where you can also take private surf lessons. We have great mountain biking trails - it’s an all-inclusive place’’.
The room rates fluctuate throughout the calendar year for both New Zealand and international guests. Jim highlights that the suites are an entry level product, and the aim was to maintain a price point well under $1000 per night.
“The room rate sits at $800 per night in peak season but drops to as low as $500 in the low season, a product that we believe will appeal to New Zealanders and Aussies. We are perfect for that special occasion - for Kiwis, the absolute peak season rate is $800 so a couple could come for two nights and play two rounds of golf each for a total of around $3200.”
The golf rates for New Zealanders vary from a low of $250 per round to a high of $400 per round, depending on the month. International golf rates vary from a low of $350 to a high of $600 in peak season, so Kiwis do enjoy a substantial discount at Te Arai. Golfers planning that dream trip to Scotland for instance, will realise just what excellent value Te Arai represents in comparison to rates of over $800 per round that they may encounter at Scotland’s top courses.
Dining at Te Arai at present is confined to Ric’s Pizza Barn, but a casual water view restaurant will shortly be added. Ric’s is situated next to what is promoted as the World’s Largest Putting Green – another great after match diversion.
Now to the course itself, we were fortunate to have Te Arai’s Marketing Director Grace Rokela make up our four on our first outing around this exceptional, very playable golf course. We played the Back Tees at 5881 m. (6432 yards) It is very much a links golf experience and a relatively easy walk.
The sound of the waves crashing in was ever-present during our round and we were constantly presented with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, the Hen and Chicken and Little Barrier Islands. The first three holes rise inland with the fourth returning downhill to the sea. After the intriguing par 3 fifth comes an absolute beachfront run of four great holes to the ninth green.
The course finishes strongly with the evil, but tempting short par four 14th, another tight drive on the par 4 16th, followed by the short par 3 17th hole. My personal favourite was the par 5 18th where the golfer is presented with the temptation of playing left on the second shot to try to get close to the final green in two. Fortunately, my caddie guided me well away from the largely concealed, cavernous bunker and wasteland on the left of the fairway by the green to a far safer pitch from the right side of the final green.
At Te Arai it is first class all the way from your arrival in the carpark through to the 18th green - and then on to Ric’s for a beer and pizza.
Grace Rokela – Living the Dream
Grace was born in New Zealand and raised in Naples Florida. She played College golf in the United States for Savannah College of Art and Design. She held the position of marketing and brand manager at Golf New Zealand before being offered the opportunity to be part of the legacy project that Jim Rohrstaff and Ric Kayne have created at Te Arai. She shares her thoughts (and a favourite hole) with the Cut Golf.
‘’Jim has a vision of greatness for Te Arai - from the quality of the facilities to the level of the service. Not only is Te Arai Links the best in New Zealand, but it will also soon be at the top of the best Golf Resorts in the World.
Picking my favourite hole is near impossible for me. However, walking off the 11th green to the tee box of the 12th you get the first glimpse of the 17th green on your right - throwing your mind all over the place and wondering what that hole is……
When reaching the tee box of the 17th is too easy to get distracted by the waves crashing on the coastline - which stretches all the way to Pakari. My advice on the 17th par 3, playing anywhere from 94 to 119 yards, is to focus on the wind direction and commit to the swing. Do not try to get too fancy with your shot! Last week I played the 17th at 7:30 p.m. with cotton candy skies and the waves crashing in, pitching wedge in hand.
This hole will become one of the most photographed in golf in the next few years. “
]]>It may be hard to imagine the 2023 champion 48-year-old Australian Brendan Jones as a potential major winner. Having said that, he finished strongly over the closing holes to take the title from the younger, and exceptionally talented, group following him. Jones was an immensely popular winner with the Millbrook galleries.
There was plenty of New Zealand talent in contention coming into the last nine holes. Local hope, and joint runner-up, Ben Campbell was derailed by a double bogey on the par 3 15th hole. Rangiora’s Kazuma Kobori, a 21-year-old amateur, started badly on the last day but finished strongly in sixth position to win the Bledisloe Cup for leading amateur. Michael Hendry tied Kobori on 14 under with Harry Hillier and Daniel Hillier handily placed one shot further back at 13 under par.
Another potential star is the 20-year-old left-handed Australian Elvis Smylie, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the 18 -year-old Bob Charles in 1954. Smylie has a fine sporting pedigree with his mother Liz having won four Grand Slam titles in her tennis career.
From Bobby Locke to Michael Campbell, the select group of first time New Zealand Open champions who graduated to accumulate 14 major wins are, in order -
Bobby Locke - South Africa - 1938.
Locke arrived in New Zealand in 1938 as a 20-year-old. After playing number of exhibition matches throughout the country, he won the New Zealand Open at Balmacewan with a par score of 288 – or “even fours”, as it was known at the time. His underrated career was interrupted by service in the South African Air Force from 1940 to 1946. Encouraged to travel to America in 1947, Locke excelled there. He won 11 events over two seasons in the US and finished in the top three 30 times. The American pros did not like “Old Muffin Face” - as they called him. The PGA Tour banned him from playing in the US in 1949. The 1948 Masters champion, Claude Harmon rationalised it thus – “Locke was simply too good. They had to ban him.” He went on to win four Open championships between 1949 and 1957.
Peter Thomson – Australia - 1950.
Thomson was Australia’s best golfer. He was given a start to his professional career at the New Zealand Open. He arrived at the Christchurch Golf Club aged 21, to win his first professional tournament with a record aggregate of 280. He would go on to win the New Zealand Open nine times. His simple, elegant method made him the best links player in the world for more than a decade from the early 1950s. He did not practice much; his warmup consisted of hitting a few balls until he was sure he was ‘’finding the middle of the bat’’. The Thomson method returned him five Open Championships. Thomson summed up his golfing life – “I had a very joyful time playing a game that I loved the sheer pleasure of. I do not think that I did a real day’s work in the whole of my life.”
Bob Charles - New Zealand – 1954.
New Zealand’s greatest golfer stunned everyone (including Thomson and Bruce Crampton) in winning the 1954 New Zealand Open at Heretaunga. “Our Open” gave Sir Bob his start in the game and he has never forgotten that. He won again in 1966, 1970 and 1973. In 1963, he became the first left-hander to win a major when he triumphed at Royal Lytham and St Annes in the Open Championship. One of his finest performances in the New Zealand Open came at the age of 71 when he found himself the star attraction at the 2007 Open at The Hills when Sir Bob became the oldest golfer to make a cut in a European Tour event. Now at age 87 his almost unchanged swing, together with his philosophy and fitness are extraordinary – ‘’hit the middle of the fairway, the middle of the green and putt the ball into the middle of the hole’’. Sir Bob still makes it deceptively simple.
Kel Nagle - Australia – 1957
Nagle had a later start in the game than his close friend Peter Thomson. He won his first New Zealand Open at the Manawatu Golf Club at the age of 36. He had been a professional for 11 years and, like Locke, had lost five years of his professional career to World War II. As a young man he had the nickname “The Pymble Crusher’’ with a long swing that propelled the ball vast distances. In the most productive part of his career Nagle shortened his swing and exchanged length for accuracy. Three years after his first New Zealand Open, he would go on to stun the golfing world by beating Arnold Palmer in the 1960 Centenary Open around the Old Course at St Andrews. Nagle was one of golf’s gentlemen and was close to Thomson. Sir Bob Charles referred to Nagle as the ‘’the epitome of a gentleman’’.
Ian Baker-Finch – Australia - 1983
Baker-Finch was brought up in rural Queensland. He arrived in Auckland at the beginning of his professional career to win the 1983 New Zealand Open played around Middlemore. He scored 280 to win by three shots from Kiwi Stuart Reese. It was the 23-year old’s first tournament victory and gave him entry into the 1984 Open Championship at St Andrews seven months later. Propelled into the limelight in the games oldest major, Baker- Finch lead the Open after three rounds. He would disappear in the last round with a 79. However, he took a lot from the experience and has credited the lessons learned from 1984 with giving him the strength to win in a commanding fashion at Royal Birkdale in 1991 with rounds of 64 and 66 over the last 36 holes - still an Open record.
Corey Pavin - United States – 1984
Pavin was 26 when he conquered Paraparaumu Beach golf club with a score of 269 to win by four strokes from Australia’s Terry Gale. Like Locke, Thomson and Charles, Pavin was making his way in the game and had been the US “rookie of the year” in 1984. He had been working on a new swing back in the US the month before the event. He would go on to win the major, viewed as the toughest to win -The US Open, at Shinnecock Hills in 1995. His four-wood to the 72nd green was one of the greatest shots in the event’s history. He overtook Greg Norman, who had been three shots ahead of him in the last round, to win by two shots.
Michael Campbell- New Zealand – 2000
Michael Campbell also liked Paraparaumu Beach. He and fellow Kiwi Craig Perks tied at nine under par on 269 after 72 holes of regulation play. Campbell, 31, took the title in fine style, scoring an eagle on the second play-off hole to take the tournament. He had already come close to winning the Open Championship at St Andrews back in 1995, holding a two-shot lead going into the last round. He fell away with his final round 76, but still only missed the play-off by one shot. John Daly won his second major and the Claret Jug. It is easy to forget just how good a player Campbell was. Much like Thomson, he had a simple and well-balanced golf swing. In 2005 he took Tiger Woods on head-to-head in The US Open, finishing better than Woods to win the gruelling event by two shots on 280.
The New Zealand Open has a proud history. It has produced a select group of first-time champions who would use their win to go on and achieve golfing greatness.
Based on their 2023 performances, it is easy to imagine players like Campbell, Kobori, the Hilliers and Smylie winning ‘’our Open’’ and then going on to major success.
Geoff Saunders was the Chairman of the NZ Open when the event was relocated to The Hills in 2007 and won the Bledisloe Cup for the leading amateur in the in the 1976 Open.
]]>The collateral casualties of the trend are some of the classic golf courses such as Prestwick, Merion and potentially, even the Old Course at St Andrews. These courses are now defenceless against technology. If equipment enhancements continue in the same direction new golf courses may need to stretch to over 8,000 yards. It does seem the R&A and USGA may act soon to limit the ball and even shrink driver sweet spots.
In the meantime, a small, dedicated group of golfing enthusiasts are heading in precisely the opposite direction. They are limiting the performance of their clubs – and loving it!
In their world the ball, even when struck perfectly, flies a much shorter distance. Virtually every course in the world can provide a challenge to these golfers - who are arming themselves with the tools of 100 years ago.
Hickory golf is starting to take a toehold in New Zealand and those that play it have become ‘’hooked on hickory’’. The pioneers of the hickory game in New Zealand seem to be centred mainly at older clubs in the main four centres.
This year The Christchurch Golf Club celebrates 150 years since its formation in 1873. On 12th March, the course will host The New Zealand Hickory Open for the second year. Trying hard to capture yet another national title at the age of 86, will be Sir Bob Charles. (He turns 87 two days later) The club he joined 67 years ago is a perfect fit for this vintage form of the game. After a redesign process taking approximately 25 years, the Shirley links have been restored to their former glory, accompanied by a more traditional links character. Part of this has been due to the club board’s steadfast adherence to a Peter Thomson master plan commenced in 1997, and regularly updated (as recently as 2015) by the five times Open champion.
After the pine trees were cleared and the last of the eucalyptus trees removed, a wonderful landscape of rolling sandy soil was unveiled. What better place to go back to ‘’the way golf was meant to be played.’’
Hickory wood was imported from America during the 1860s for golf shafts and remained popular right through until the 1930s when it was gradually replaced by steel. Hickory enthusiasts seek the satisfying feel of the ball coming off a club made entirely from wood and the pureness of a perfect strike. The pure strike from the middle of the small clubhead delivers a soft satisfying sensation through the hands. Hickory golf is a world away from the current huge-headed space aged driver where even an unskilled player’s mishits fly just as far, and just as straight, as drives struck from the centre of the clubface.
Are hickory golfers a lunatic fringe out of touch with the rest of the world? In mixing with them, playing with them and chatting to them it is clear they are a rather different bunch. It may be tempting for mainstream golfers to dismiss them as lunatics and Luddites – but they just seem to have so much fun!
Most of the Christchurch group are recent hickory converts and their enthusiasm is infectious. This golfer/writer paid a visit in January to the epicentre of hickory golf in Christchurch - The Hickory Sticks Golf Emporium. This is the domain of the eccentric Doctor of Hickory (his doctorate is self-conferred!) Peter van Eekelen. PVE, as he is also known, has set up a very well-equipped workshop and showroom in Ferrymead near the Port Hills. It is fortunate that Peter has a “day job” as a successful owner of a construction and property development company in the city. His part-time hickory job involves sourcing, importing and refurbishing and rebuilding clubs for play. His cabinet-making background is useful in dealing with broken shafts and club repairs in his hickory “hospital”. During a visit, Sir Bob was so drawn to the Emporium and its club making and repairs, he enquired of The Doctor if there was a position available for an 86-year-old apprentice.
Peter caught the hickory bug from his friend and fellow golfer at the Christchurch Golf Club, Mark Lawson. Mark has been the superintendent at the club for over 20 years and during that time has had an important role in the restoration of the links character of New Zealand’s second oldest golf club.
While chatting to Mark and Peter at the Emporium, the heady odours of glue, shellac, linseed and gun oil blend nicely with their enthusiasm. Commitment is one thing that this pair do not lack. Van Eekelen has imported and sourced, locally and overseas, hundreds of hickory clubs of all makes, origins and price ranges. There are 200 sets of hickory clubs under construction or renovation in the Emporium and 50 or 60 sets waiting to go out. Classic brands with names like Tom Stewart, George Nichol and Robert Forgan line the racks mixed with more well-known brands such as Wilson, Slazenger, McGregor and Spalding.” For those that choose the upper range of clubs, the hickory obsession can come at a price. Half sets cost approximately $1500-$1800, a full set $3500-$4000 and according to Peter “specialist sets that can go up to $10,000.” However, there is nothing wrong with taking grandad’s old clubs down from the attic and playing with those.
Peter Van Eekelen’s obsession with hickory only started in March 2022 and has taken a firm hold on him. He notes he has moved on from the stage of trying to “be the longest or the best and using the latest or the greatest clubs” to “playing for the joy of playing.”
A regular group plays hickory on Thursday evenings during summer at Christchurch. I joined them for a few holes in December and the banter and competition is much the same as in regular golf. With tiny clubheads and hickory shafts some of the misses can be rather dramatic, and bunker shots require a higher skill level with a niblick head resembling a butter knife, rather than a modern sand wedge. One thing I did learn is that it is essential to finish the back swing and ‘’feel” the clubhead at the top of the backswing. Both Van Eekelen and Lawson have taken hickory golf to another level by turning up to regular club matches at Christchurch on Wednesday and Saturday with a set of entirely hickory clubs. They make quite a statement in their period dress, plus fours and flat caps, but somehow, they still seem to fit happily into a field of club members armed with the latest technology.
Mark Lawson possesses a swing made for hickory and can propel the ball vast distances off the tee with his vintage driver. He admits to having caught an extreme form of the hickory disease and now plays exclusively with hickory clubs in both social and competition play. His handicap has only slipped out from 5 to about 6.6 after the change to his vintage clubs. To quote him -” the fascination for me is that for people who may have become bored with golf will find their love for the game can be rekindled with hickory.”
I have succumbed to the sales pitch from the Doctor and have purchased a full set of George Nichol irons from his Emporium. The only area in which I have managed to economise is by the re-commissioning of my 100-year-old putter; a Rollins and Parker putting cleek that I started playing the game with at the age of 8. (Carefully restored and re-gripped for me by another enthusiast – Stu Upton)
For me, the true joy of hickory golf is wandering out by myself for a few holes with five clubs in a canvas pencil bag over my shoulder and no scorecard. The perfect time to play is in the evening, on a deserted course, with the wind gently swaying the fescue and the rolling contours of the course highlighted by the setting sun.
All is at peace with the world of golf and the game seems simple again.
]]>Jack Nicklaus described the first hole at Machrihanish Golf Club as ‘’the best opening hole of golf in the world’’.
The McCartney family has owned High Park farm overlooking Machrihanish Bay since 1966. When McCartney and Wings recorded their bestselling ‘’Mull of Kintyre’’, accompanied by local pipers, they dedicated the song to the area.
Once you have golfed at Machrihanish you may feel like McCartney in his song and acquire the desire ‘’to always be there’’. For golfers, the four-hour drive on ‘’the long and winding road’’ from Glasgow will return the time invested. A visit of three to four days will allow the golfing traveller to do justice to the peninsula.
From 1876 the primary attraction has been the Old Tom Morris course - The Machrihanish Golf Club - but from 2010 there has been further reason to visit. A new course, Machrihanish Dunes, was designed and built by David McLay Kidd on adjoining land. It was the first links course to be built in the West of Scotland for 100 years. Sheep still grazed the Club’s course until the 1970s and are still to be seen on the neighbouring Dunes course.
Both courses are ranked comfortably inside the United Kingdom’s top 100 (44th and 83rd). Interest in the two links courses at Machrihanish has been growing in the last decade. This is due in no small part to an American company, Southworth Development, who have invested heavily in the region.
The Machrihanish Golf Club – Par 70 – 6226 Yards.
Your round begins with check in at the small but surprisingly well-stocked pro shop owned and operated by ex-top golfer Jennie Dunn. There is no more friendly welcome in any pro shop in the world – nor can there be a better view from the 1st tee.
The 424-yard first hole, Battery, opens with a stunning vista. There is no way to escape the lengthy carry over the beach. The long hitter taking an aggressive line is gambling on a shorter approach to the green. On a fine day picnicking families on the beach can be off-putting for the opening tee shot.
Number four is a short 131-yard par three. The view over Machrihanish Bay gives the golfer the chance to take a breather before taking on the two cavernous bunkers that protect the green.
The next few holes are known as ‘’the gauntlet’’ and if you make it to the ninth green without losing a ball you are indeed having a wonderful day. The fairways wind through large dunes covered in knee-high fescue. The chances of recovering your ball if you miss a fairway are slim. Golfers also need to become conditioned to blind tee shots. It takes a special type of courage to aim, generally into the prevailing wind, at a distant post marking the middle of an invisible fairway. At the end of the outward nine, you have an enticing glimpse of the neighbouring Dunes course, and the remains of RAF Machrihanish also come into view.
The historic base was commissioned during the First World War, used by the Fleet Air Arm during World War II and later for training Korean War pilots in the 1950s. The 10,000-foot runway was one of the longest in Europe and could accommodate the delta-winged Vulcan bomber. Still visible are concrete structures (known as igloos) that were built for the storage of nuclear weapons during The Cold War. Then in the 1980s US Navy Seals used the base for training. From 1981 the base was certified as a potential emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle. Campbelltown airport now has scheduled Loganair flights from Glasgow, bringing in mainly American golfers.
The back nine of the course does not disappoint. There are many fine holes winding through the dunes. Players emerge from the dunes onto the 16th tee, Rorke’s Drift, a 243-yard par 3. The friendlier, flatter landscape deceives. This is more of a short par 4 than a long par 3! The nerves are not helped by the fact that the distant small green is partially obscured by a dune.
The final hole ‘’Lossit” is only 314 yards but has an out of bounds along the left side. The fairway merges with the 1st and is protected by the same four bunkers on the right that the golfer has encountered on the first hole. The green is large but banked on all sides.
The round finishes with a short walk to the new clubhouse, completed in 2021 after fire destroyed the old clubhouse in 2018.
It is difficult to argue with the summary on the club’s website.
‘’Often described as spiritual, Machrihanish is a love affair of sport and nature - challenging but fair, charming, and thrilling. Golf as it was intended to be.’’
Machrihanish Dunes - Par 72 – 7082 Yards
The Dunes is a different experience to the Machrihanish Golf Club as it is not a club course with hundreds of members. It is the only course ever created on the site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The sensitive dunes are managed carefully in conjunction with Scottish Nature.
Of the 259 acres the holes occupy, only seven were disturbed during construction. The tees and greens were shaped, and the fairways were found, not built. It is fair to say the lies may not all be perfect, and that placing is required. However, there is nothing wrong with the turf around the playing surfaces. Spectacular views of the sea are revealed on six of the holes.
The sensible tee selection is white, at 6,349 yards. It is unusual to face the challenge of the Dunes on a windless day and rain is common, so take good wet weather gear.
The 3rd hole is a lengthy par five close to 600 yards. This is balanced nicely by a driveable par 4 of around 250 yards on the 4th with an intriguing punchbowl green making for a fun second shot.
After the demanding par 4 18th hole it is time to swap tales from the day in one of the smallest clubhouses in Scotland. In the charming stone building you will find ever- present host Peter Stogdale dispensing sandwiches, home-made soup and golfing wisdom. A quick chat to Peter before you head off on the course may save the first-time visiting golfer from getting completely lost. (Peter caddied for Sir Bob Charles in 2010 on his visit to play The Dunes).
There is no cause for alarm if you are suddenly surrounded on the course by a small group of large black sheep with white faces called Zwartbles. (A Dutch breed) They are friendly, cheeky creatures, and are probably looking for the gingerbread that they are fond of– a weakness attested to by their girths. Many of the bunkers on the course were shaped by livestock creating natural bunkers while trying to find shelter from the wind.
The walking may not be easy, but caddies are available, as are decent quality electric carts. The designer David McLay Kidd summed it up accurately ‘’we are returning golf to how it should be played; no longer is it a gentle walk in the garden, it will be a full-fledged mountaineering expedition at this course’’. Minor modification to the course took place in 2011 to reduce long walks between holes and the severity of some greens. At Mach Dunes nature and golf seem in perfect harmony.
This is a unique golfing experience - in a rugged and dramatic corner of Scotland.
Dunaverty Golf Club – Par 66 – 4799 Yards
Having played the two main Machrihanish courses golfers may feel they need a second chance to master either or both layouts.
However, if the golfer feels like something completely different the short drive to Southend and the Dunaverty Golf Club will pay dividends.
This is a charming little course often referred to as ‘’a hidden gem’’ with truly spectacular views in most directions.
Accommodation and dining.
In its heyday Campbeltown used to sustain 34 whisky distilleries. Only three remain – Springbank, Glengyle and Glen Scotia. As far as whisky is concerned, the town is now a pale imitation of what used to be known as the ‘’whisky capital of the world’’. However, the town won an award for Scotland’s Most Improved Place in 2020. A bronze sculpture of McCartney’s late wife Linda, holding a lamb, sits in her Memorial Garden in the town. Her ashes remain on the peninsula.
The standard of hotels in the area has improved dramatically since the time of my first visit, 30 years ago.
The Ugadale Hotel and Cottages are a short walk to the first tee at Machrihanish. The hotel has been restored to its former glory and the rooms are comfortable and large. It is a wonderful place to stay. The two-bedroom Ugadale cottages enjoy relaxing views of the Atlantic Ocean and have every amenity that the travelling golfer may require.
The Royal Hotel in Campbeltown has also been restored by Southworth Development. The Old Clubhouse Pub next to Ugadale dates to 1876 when it was originally the Machrihanish Golf clubhouse. It serves good casual pub food and is presented in a manner that the patrons may feel transported back to the time of Old Tom Morris.
Number 42 Restaurant and Kitchen in Campbeltown serves fresh seafood and is the area’s best restaurant. The nearby Harborview Grille is also highly rated.
Machrihanish, its unique golf courses, accommodation and other attractions may take an effort to access. It is a place for the serious golfer who is looking for something undeniably Scottish and authentic. The post-COVID golf tourist in Scotland faces greatly increased prices in the well-known areas around St Andrews, Carnoustie, Turnberry and the like. Machrihanish seems uncrowded and moderately priced in comparison to these more famous golfing hotspots.
My advice is to get there sooner rather than later.
Geoff Saunders writes for various golf and other publications and has been visiting Machrihanish for over 30 years.
]]>Norman has been there before. In 1994 he formed an alliance with the Fox Network and announced his own World Golf Tour. He announced eight WGT events to be televised and underwritten by Fox starting in March 1995. Prize money would be set at US$25m, a far higher level than the PGA Tour. WGT planned to sign 30 of the game’s top players for these events. The new organisation aimed to schedule four of their own events in the week before each of the four majors. WGT’s tactics were designed to destabilise and disrupt the established PGA Tour. One further WGT objective was to protect a small group of golfers who had their best playing days behind them.
The 1994 Norman initiative never quite got off the ground. He had only signed one player – Greg Norman. The announcement of his World Tour initiative was premature. The then PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Fincham, in a swift counterpunch, announced the formation of a “federation” that would sanction three World Tour style of events to be added to the 1999 PGA Tour.
Arnold Palmer joined the fray on Fincham’s side. He addressed the PGA Tour players at the Shark Shootout on the 16th of November 1994 telling them ‘’you should all do a lot of thinking before you decide to do anything’’. ‘’The King’’ had spoken – and the players listened. Rory McIlroy seems to be filling a similar role in 2022.
The Presidents Cup started on the 19th September 1994 and became the scene of a bitter head-to-head showdown between Norman and Fincham. Norman cornered Fincham in the lobby of a hotel in Virginia during the event. A spectacular row between the two men ensued. Following this, Fincham’s announcement of the three WGC events took the wind out of Norman’s sails.
The following day Norman commented on Fincham’s initiative ‘’it’s the end of the rope for me. He hung me out to dry.’’ Fincham had secured his own relationship with Fox, at the same time hijacking part of Norman’s concept. Norman’s World Golf Tour was dead and buried - until 2022. Fincham had won, and commented rather lamely ‘’hopefully, Greg and I can work through this.’’
The Washington Post did not hold back in commenting ‘’maybe Greg Norman really is a shark at heart. And that’s no compliment. Norman’s gall and greed stunned much of golf’’.
Norman has a better chance of recruitment success in 2022, with an unlimited Saudi bankroll. Unlike the situation in 1994, there seems little that the PGA Tour can do to stop players signing on to the LIV events for massive cash incentives.
In response to the signings, tour Commissioner Jay Monaghan published a list of LIV players that were ‘’suspended or otherwise no longer eligible to play in PGA Tour tournament play, including the Presidents Cup’’. LIV described the PGA Tour announcements as ‘’vindictive and that the bans deepen the divide between the tour and its members’’. Norman commented back in February ‘’surely you jest’’ when referring to the threatened bans.
Some of the players don’t seem too concerned about being banned. Dustin Johnson, for example, seems perfectly happy with his revised schedule of about 8 LIV events and the majors. ‘’DJ’’ joked he ‘’may go fishing for the rest of the year’’. The PGA championship is controlled by the PGA of America, not by the PGA Tour. Entry into the Masters is by invitation. Entry into the U.S. Open and the Open Championship is by qualification, so all four majors may continue to be accessible to the outcast LIV players.
It is difficult to judge where the present rift in world golf will end. Veteran broadcaster Jim Nantz was quoted as using the word ‘’betrayal’’ when discussing decisions made by Mickelson and Johnson. The battle lines are drawn. Nine major winners have joined LIV – Rick Reilly from The Washington Post observed ‘’the trickle of golfing ratfinks is turning into a fire hose’
Greg Norman is in the front line of the present conflict, as he was in 1994. Norman has a bottomless war chest and an old grudge to settle. He has only just started in his second quest to demolish the PGA Tour.
There is only one certainty – golf will never be quite the same again.
]]>The main story in the final major of the year on the Old Course at St Andrews had to be Cam Smith storming home over the last nine holes in 30 to take the Claret Jug. He also became the first Champion Golfer of the Year to score two rounds of 64 in the same event.
The attendance of 290,000 spectators smashed another record at an event run on a grand scale by the R&A. Running in parallel with Smith’s exceptional performance were other stories that made the 150th one of the most interesting Opens in the oldest major’s long history.
LIV Golf was on everyone’s lips - from players to the media and spectators. Greg Norman was being Greg Norman, by asking for a special exemption to play in the event. His request may be viewed as nothing other than a publicity grab. He has not played competitive golf for years and was seven years past the age limit (60) set for guaranteed entry to past champions. The R&A was never going to accede to his request and went even further by announcing ‘’we contacted Greg Norman to advise him that we had decided not to invite him to attend the Celebration of Champions or the Champions Dinner’’. Norman described the banning recently as a ‘’petty, cheap, childish shot’’.
LIV convert, Phil Mickelson, looked out of sorts during Open week and chose not to participate in either of the events for past winners. When questioned by media about his non-attendance Mickelson bristled and said ‘’let it go, dude. Let it go’’. He looked scruffy and disengaged in the process of missing the cut by five shots and was logo-less after being abandoned by his sponsors.
Several other LIV players received chilly, or even hostile receptions. Ian Poulter was booed on the 1st tee of the first round and snap hooked his tee shot close to the out of bounds on the left of the 100-yard-wide fairway. He salvaged par, proved his strength of character by scoring 69 in his first-round and professed not to have even heard the booing. Patrick Reed showed up with an appropriately black hat emblazoned with a large silver LIV logo. He wore a look of mild amusement that helped diffuse any spectator disapproval. Poulter and Reed slipped steadily down the leader board as the event progressed.
And what of the game’s greatest and most influential player of the current era -Tiger Woods? Woods was clearly restricted by pain and was out of the event after 78 in the first round. His 36-hole score of nine over par beat only six of the 156 players in the field.
Has St Andrews seen the last of Woods? The stage for farewelling greats of the game is the venerable stone Swilcan Bridge crossing the burn on Tom Morris, the home hole. As Woods walked towards the bridge, he became aware that his caddie Joe LaCava, and playing partners Max Homa and Matthew Fitzpatrick, had dropped well behind him. It was as though they sensed this was an unscripted farewell to Woods at the Old Course, and possibly to the Open itself. Woods was clearly emotional and wiped away tears as he navigated the last fairway. Uncertainty surrounds the Open rota at present with only the next three events being scheduled at specific venues. Traditionally the Old Course hosts the event every five years, so 2027 is likely to be the earliest for the event to be back at St Andrews. The 15-time major champion, Woods, clearly doubts that his injuries will allow him to play in the event again at St Andrews.
And what of the course? Weeks of warm and dry weather before the 150th Open made the course hard and fast. The almost windless conditions left the Old Course with extremely limited defences against low scoring. It was playing far shorter than its 7297 yards (the same length as 2015). Five of the par 4s (the 7th,9th, 10th, 12th and 18th holes) were either driveable or close to driveable for many players. For instance, Jordan Spieth is not one of the longest players on tour, but he comfortably reached the 371-yard seventh hole with his drive in the last round leaving himself a 12-foot putt for an eagle 2.
The R&A did their best to stiffen the test with difficult pin positions on the last two days. Keeping such a large field moving was also a challenge. The length of rounds stretched out to well over five hours as players had to wait on the tee for the groups immediately in front of them to clear the shorter par 4 greens. Further complications arose around the holes that cross over each other (the 7th over the 11th) or where there were two pin positions set near each other on the seven double greens, servicing 14 holes.
It would be heresy to suggest that the Old Course may no longer be capable of hosting an Open Championship, but an answer may lie in the hands of the governing bodies. Should The R&A and the USGA be jointly considering the possible limiting of the distance the ball can travel? This is no recent phenomenon - in four seasons from 2000 to 2003 inclusive the median driving distance on the PGA Tour increased by 5% - almost 15 yards. Unless action is taken to wind back the distance of the golf ball, classic courses such as the Old Course are surely in danger of becoming redundant as venues for future championships? Iconic courses such as Merion and Prestwick have already been discarded and more are likely to follow without regulation of the ball. Tennis went through a process to slow the ball in 2001 for the good of the sport – why not golf?
Moving on from LIV Golf, the course, and the ball, the Open itself built to a memorable climax on the final afternoon. Rory McIlroy looked like everyone’s favourite after the first three rounds. The Irishman had been winless in majors for eight years. At 16 under after rounds of 66 68 66 he and Victor Hovland had a joint four-shot lead over the two Cameron’s - Smith and Young. Cam Smith had severely diluted his 64 in the second round with a struggling 73 in the third round.
On the final afternoon Hovland started poorly and fell out of contention almost immediately with a 74. Smith was handily placed after nine at two under for the round but still three shots behind McIlroy. That is when the fireworks started, as Smith started the back nine with five birdies in a row. His wedge play to the tricky pin positions was sublime. This type of golf is his specialty with his great touch from 100 yards in. On a course with an effective par of about 68 McIlroy’s last round of 70 was just not good enough. He looked frustrated and defensive at times. It may be possible he had become distracted from golf by his self-appointed advocacy role against LIV.
Cameron Young made a last-minute grab for the title with an eagle on the 18th and was home in 31 for a 65 to finish runner-up. McIlroy blew his makeable birdie chance on the 17th and failed to birdie the 18th and the tournament was Smith’s. His sole crisis on a back nine containing 6 birdies came on the toughest hole on the course, the 495-yard Road hole where he pulled his 9 iron second shot to the left of the green. He then skirted the bunker with a rollercoaster approach putt to 10 feet and calmly holed his par-saving putt to maintain his one-shot lead. He did all that was required on the 18th with a birdie 3 to win.
The mullet wearing Smith is a low-key character – and a proud Aussie. He deflected a question from a journalist at his final press conference on his LIV intentions. He batted it away unanswered by saying it was ‘’not that good a question’’. By then, he must have been in negotiations with LIV CEO, and double Open champion, Norman. The pressure on Smith in the final round may have been increased with his knowledge that entry into future majors could become more challenging for him after his signing with LIV. Whatever the future holds for him, Cam Smith was a worthy Champion Golfer of the Year.
There was also a nice piece of symmetry in the 2022 result.
Australian Kel Nagle won the Centenary Open at St Andrews in 1960, and 62 years later at The Home of Golf, his countryman Cameron Smith captured another landmark Open, the 150th.
Geoff Saunders attended the 150th Open for The Cut Golf and had R&A Media accreditation.
]]>It seems hard to believe that over 30 years have elapsed since an Australian last held the Claret Jug and was crowned ‘’The Champion Golfer of the Year’’. Ian Baker- Finch was Australia’s fourth and last Open champion in 1991. His dominant win was followed by more success, and then a catastrophic loss of form for the talented and likeable player.
Six years after his win, Baker-Finch’s last round in a major championship may be the most harrowing tale of professional golf. The closing scene of this disaster was set at Royal Troon on the 17th of July 1997. He had won the Claret jug in 1991 at Royal Birkdale, closing with two triumphant final rounds of 64 and 66. Within a mere six years he was struggling to make contact with the ball.
He stood on the 18th tee at Troon needing an impossible eagle two on the 452-yard hole to break 90. He eventually finished the last hole with a double bogey 6 to score 92. He was unable to face a conventional 60-yard wedge shot to the final green for his third. His nerve was gone, and in the manner of a 20 handicapper, he bunted the ball along the ground onto the green with his 8 iron. He putted out ashen faced and left the course as quickly as possible. He signed for his score and made his way with his wife Jennie, and his caddie Todd Woodbridge, the tennis player, to the safety of the Champions Room in the Troon clubhouse. Once there, he collapsed on the floor for 45 minutes in the foetal position, crying. Baker-Finch is certainly no coward. He pulled himself together as well as he could and faced the press. He readily, and publicly, admitted that he had reached rock bottom. The press corps were sympathetic, and some could hardly bring themselves to report the tragedy that they had just witnessed.
Ian Baker-Finch withdrew from the 1997 Open after that disastrous first round and has not competed in a another major to this day - despite an exemption that would have allowed him to play in the Open until 2025, the year of his 65th birthday.
The Baker-Finch story is testament to just how cruel golf can be.
What went wrong, and what caused such an inexplicable loss of form for a world-class player?
His upbringing is a typical Australian story. He was brought up in the small town of Nambour in Queensland. In his early teens he decided the only path for him was to pursue a career as a professional golfer. His working-class background gave him a strong work ethic. In his early years he worked at the Gympie golf club, and then moving to the equally humble Caloundra Golf Club. He did whatever menial jobs were required to make his living as an assistant at the two courses. He turned professional in 1979 at the age of 19 and worked hard to make a living on the Australasian tour. His big break came in 1983 while he was practising prior to the 1983 New Zealand Open. Never long off the tee, his ball flight at the time was a weak, but controllable high fade. His mentor, the great Peter Thomson, gave him a brief but effective lesson on the practice tee prior to the tournament. Baker-Finch related to AAP some years later ‘’I was hitting balls on the range, and Peter told me to put the ball back in my stance and swing around my body so I could hit the ball lower and with a draw’’.
The simple, but effective, tip from Thomson bore fruit immediately as he won the 1983 New Zealand Open by 3 shots at the Auckland Golf Club.
The victory gained him entry to the Open Championship at St Andrews in 1984. The Old Course, with its bumps, hollows and concealed bunkers requires considerable local knowledge. In his debut major Baker-Finch again benefited from the advice of the five-time, and by then 53-year-old, Open maestro Peter Thomson. He had the benefit of four practice rounds with Thomson, Kel Nagle and Graham Marsh as he took a crash course in navigating around the venerable old links. Again, the Thomson advice paid off for the 24-year-old, as he found himself leading after three rounds. He disappeared off the leader board in the last round with a score of 79, as Seve Ballesteros slashed his way past him for his second Open win. No matter, Baker-Finch had competed on the world stage and had learnt a lot in a crash course in majors golf. Fast forwarding to the 1990 Open, at St Andrews again, he found himself in contention after three rounds and tied for second with Payne Stewart. The third-round leader, Nick Faldo, took that one comfortably in a commanding performance, but Baker-Finch was not completely disgraced this time, finishing with a better final round of 73 to tie for sixth with Greg Norman.
In 1991 it all fell into place for the pink-shirted, stylish golfer with the great short game. His first two rounds of 71 were steady, but masterful final rounds of 64 and 66 disposed of the rest of the field at Birkdale for a life-changing major victory.
There seems to be a myth that Baker-Finch’s golf immediately fell to pieces after the 1991 Open Championship. The truth is somewhat different. He contended in the majors, and on the US and Australian circuits, for the next three years. This is evidenced by his runner-up finish in the Players Championship in 1992, wins in Australia 1992 and in 1993, and a tie for 10th in the Masters in 1994. His world ranking during those three years climbed as high as 10.
Then it all completely unravelled – why?
Baker-Finch had started taking advice from anyone, principally about a perceived lack of length off the tee. Fellow players gave him advice, coaches gave him even more advice - at times unsolicited. He consulted a never-ending list of top coaches. David Leadbetter was a voice of sanity in trying to convince his pupil that there was nothing too much wrong with his long game. Leadbetter commented in 2004 to the Irish Times that ‘’he had the perfect game for the majors. He was not ultra-long, but was very steady, with a beautiful short game, a great, great putter. But he was never content. To get longer; that was his downfall’’.
In 2015 his old friend and mentor Peter Thomson, echoed similar sentiments when reflecting on his younger friend’s career. ‘’Ian’s story is a tragedy. He was one of the best players in the world from 100 yards out and had absolutely no need to acquire extreme length. He was a well-balanced and elegant player who needed to do little to continue to succeed’’.
As a player, Baker-Finch was finished by 1995. His game had deserted him. He missed 32 straight cuts on the US PGA Tour and his income from playing was reduced to nil. He continued to try coach after coach. He moved back to Australia to be close to the top Australian coach Gary Edwin. He had already tried Hank Haney, Chuck Cook, Jim Flick, and Rick Smith. He listened to other players who tried to alleviate his distress with well-meaning advice. He acknowledged that a major part of his problems was psychological, and he had taken advice from Bob Rotella and other sports psychologists – without success.
At the 1995 Open Championship he stood on the first tee at St Andrews with a huge gallery looking on. He was playing with Arnold Palmer in the great man’s farewell Open. He had, typically, hit the ball sweetly during his warmup for the round. The first tee at St Andrews has a fairway opening in front of it that is almost impossible to miss. No caddie at St Andrews could remember any player, let alone a past Open Champion, hitting the ball out of bounds to the left and missing a fairway that was 170 yards wide. Baker-Finch managed to achieve that feat with a humiliating first drive that hit the road (Granny Clark’s Wynd) crossed the 18th fairway, and then bounced out of bounds - to the dismay of all those watching.
By 1996 he had given up on the US Tour completely and prepared to return home to Queensland’s Gold Coast. He did stop by Payne Stewart’s house in Orlando to bid his friend and fellow player farewell. Neither player could speak, and both were left in tears by the parting.
Even after the ultimate humiliation of that 92 in the first round of Troon in 1997, Ian Baker-Finch did not give up. He was a fighter, and back in Queensland, on his home turf, he willingly submitted to coach Gary Edwin in a bid to try to virtually relearn the game of golf. He stood in front of the mirror and practiced tiny golf swings. Sadly, it was too late for any sort of Renaissance in the Baker-Finch game. Sports Illustrated quoted Edwin in 1998 when it said of Baker-Finch ‘’that swing is gone, and it’s never coming back. Ian’s technique stunk’’.
There were periods where he would play competently. There was the odd low score in the low-pressure environment of local pro-ams. He could strike 50 balls in practice perfectly adequately. Then, when he stood on the first tee of the course, with a card and a pencil in his pocket, and a fairway in front of him, he knew he was doomed. He had the equivalent of the putting ‘’yips’’ but with his full swing. There could be no saviour by switching to a long putter. There is no driver remedy for the full body yips.
In 1998 there was a fleeting moment where Baker-Finch and his coach Edwin thought there may be a chance. He played some good rounds on his home course of Hope Island on the Gold Coast. There had even been a tiny cheque won in a local pro-am. The major champion had a faint glimmer of hope in a resurgence. In 1998 he entered the Coolum Classic on the Sunshine Coast. This event on the Australasian tour had a relaxed family atmosphere and was contested over a course that would have suited the old Baker-Finch. It all fell to pieces. He double bogeyed the relatively easy par-5 eighth hole, proceeded to hit two tee shots into the lake on the ninth, picking up his ball to disqualify himself at the same time as hurling his driver into a tree. Now it really was over for Baker-Finch the player. For years he had been so restrained, and so gentlemanly in distress. Even this deserted him, as he berated the sizable group of journalists watching on, labelling them ‘’sadists’’.
So how does this tragic story end?
The story has a happy ending. In 1997 CBS approached Baker-Finch with a lifeline. The broadcaster suggested he may like to consider an on-course position in their golf commentary team. Initially sceptical, the Baker-Finches discussed the opportunity – and they decided to take it. From 1998 on Ian Baker-Finch has appeared on ESPN as a lead analyst, a hole announcer for ABC, and finally as a CBS Sports golf announcer. He carries out his broadcasting duties professionally and positively. He is insightful and clearly well respected by both the players and fans in a game he still loves. It seems hard now to imagine that this tall, likeable 62-year-old has been through the golfing equivalent of a journey to hell and back.
After his period in the wilderness, golf gave Ian Baker-Finch a well-deserved second chance.
]]>LIV players like Poulter (46), Westwood (49), and Garcia (42) that McIlroy is mocking unfairly are clearly near the end of their competitive careers, and in that uncomfortable twilight zone before they qualify for the Champions Tour. For these three players competing in the US from the age of 50 would involve cost, possible relocation and family upheaval. In their shoes, is it not completely understandable that they would jump at accepting the huge sign on fees and security that Greg Norman has delivered to them via LIV?
McIlroy, and some of his equally outspoken non-LIV colleagues, are also ignoring the fact that, for now at least, the law is on the side of the LIV players. In July a UK arbitration judge suspended sanctions and fines against the breakaway players and cleared the way for them to play DP World Tour events, including the Scottish Open and PGA this weekend. A ruling will be handed down by a panel of five arbitrators in February next year that will give an indication to the two major world tours what the players legal positions are likely to be in the future. The players are independent contractors after all – not employees.
The initial legal challenge was fronted by three golfers, including Poulter, and is eerily like the action mounted by three cricketers (Tony Greig, John Snow and Mike Procter) in 1977. The cricketers won that one hands down. It took only two years for sanity to prevail and for cricket to become a united sport again.
Lee Westwood’s contention that the DP World Tour ‘’should have accepted an offer from Saudi Arabia in 2021 that they insist would have amounted to more than $1 billion’’ now seems eminently sensible. Keith Pelley, CEO of the DP World tour is now mired in division and litigation and may be regretting his decision.
Litigation based on anti-trust law and competition law has also been commenced in the US against the PGA Tour.
As a predictable sideshow LIV’s Saudi funder has justifiably come under fire for human rights abuses. However, is the PGA Tour really that squeaky clean? Golf in America has a long, relatively recent, history of lack of diversity. No Masters invitation was extended to a Black player until 1975 and it was not until 1983 that Augusta National abandoned the policy of Black only club caddies at the event. In 2020 the New York Times commented ‘’golf in America has historically practised segregation by class, gender, race and religion’’. There are now only two Black players active on the PGA Tour – Cameron Champ and Joseph Bramlett. Tiger Woods’ future is uncertain, and Harold Varner III has gone over to LIV.
Greg Norman has steadily built momentum for LIV in recruiting a very talented stable of players, who have accumulated over 20 majors between them. Many of the LIV recruits are recent major champions. Players like Dustin Johnston, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Bryson De Chambeau, Phil Mickleson and Cameron Smith have all won majors since 2014 - the year of McIlroy’s last major win. The Irishman is in an eight-year drought in the majors. Granted, he won the FedEx Cup in fine style this year – but the LIV players were banned from the event, and a golfer’s legacy is surely measured in major wins?
Cameron Smith has obviously been the most significant recent signing for Norman with his July Open win. His flawless eight-birdie last round of 64 made McIlroy’s two-birdie 70 look lacklustre under final-round pressure over the Old Course where three LIV players featured in the top 10. (Smith, Johnson and DeChambeau)
It is tempting to comment that McIlroy should be concentrating on communicating with his clubs, not via frequent and divisive lectures on his view of LIV Golf. He seems intent on burning bridges with many of his former close friends and teammates. It is conceivable that, if golf follows the 1977 cricket precedent, all the top professional golfers may be back freely playing on whatever tours they choose to in the not-so-distant future.
There could be some interesting pairings and rather awkward moments at Wentworth this week.
]]>Bryson de Chambeau (‘’The Scientist”) is a polarising golfer in terms of both method and reputation. He progressed through the privileged pathway of College golf in the United States. He earned a physics scholarship to Southern Methodist University and won both the NCAAA individual championship and the US amateur in 2015. He joined a select class of five who have won both these events in the same year (including Nicklaus, Mickelson and Woods).
Almost 60 years earlier in 1956, Moe Norman (‘’Pipeline Moe’’) won the Canadian Amateur Championship. He defended it successfully in 1957. Norman grew up in poverty near a tyre factory in Kitchener Ontario with the acrid smell of smoke and burning rubber in his nostrils. His father regarded golf as a game for ‘’softies’’. Moe had to hide both his love of the game, and his ill-matched golf clubs, from his parents. He faced other challenges. Norman was mercilessly teased as a child and suffered head injuries at the age of five in a sledding accident when he slid under the wheels of a car. These injuries went undiagnosed and untreated. It is also possible that Norman had a form of mild autism.
De Chambeau went straight onto the US PGA Tour after his Amateur win. To cover expenses Norman would often sell his tournament prizes to produce cash. He was coming under pressure from the Canadian amateur body, who were hot on his trail after the 1957 win. To pre-empt the loss of his amateur status Norman turned pro. Life on tour was not easy for the fledgling professional. He could not afford a caddy and would often carry his own bag. He often slept in bunkers at tournament venues around Canada to avoid the cost of a room. He could not afford a car and often hitchhiked to the next tournament.
So where lies the common ground between Norman and De Chambeau?
It is in their method. Both players developed a distinctive method that eliminated variables by reducing the number of moving parts in their swings. The common denominator is their unconventional set up and a ‘’single plane’’ approach. Most golfers stand to the ball, allow their arms to hang naturally, and then introduce another angle at the wrists. (supination). The wrist bend inevitably creates two planes in the swing. Norman and de Chambeau address the ball with their wrists high and close to their final ball striking position. Matt Kuchar also incorporates some elements of a single plane in his swing.
There is an additional common factor in their approach to gripping the club. Norman believed that it was a mistake to hold the club in the fingers, instead gripping the club firmly in the palm of both hands. De Chambeau achieves a similar result by using exaggeratedly oversized grips. He couples this with the use of identical length shafts in his irons. A comparison of images of both players contains some striking similarities. Swing analysts have commented on these. It is tempting to imagine De Chambeau studying the Norman method in his search for ball-striking perfection.
Despite his range of handicaps Norman is remembered as a likeable character who was capable of outstanding achievements on his home turf in Canada. His appearance and manner were unacceptable on the US PGA Tour when he arrived there to play in 1959. He wore long sleeved shirts buttoned to the collar, combined with ill-fitting baggy trousers often stopping several inches above his ankles. His teeth were a dentist’s nightmare, caused in no small part by his Daly-like consumption of endless bottles of Coca-Cola. He often slept in his car. When the Tour reached New Orleans in 1959, he led briefly in the final round, despite typically indifferent putting. He finished fourth, seven shots better than Arnold Palmer. There has been a suggestion that a group of his fellow pros rounded on Norman in the locker room and chastised him for his appearance, on course demeanour and his clowning around with the extra-long tees he favoured. The vulnerable Norman immediately took this to heart and escaped back to the Canadian Tour. He won at home five times from 12 starts in 1966 and amassed 55 career wins there in total.
Sir Bob Charles has first-hand memories of playing with Norman in Canada. ‘’I played with Moe twice in Canada. The main feature of his game was his driving. The closer he got to the green the worse he became, and he was a poor putter. On a short par 4 he was likely to use his wedge off the tee and driver for his second. He was never overly long off the tee but was more than adequate in length with his fast backswing. He believed in dragging the club long and low with very stiff wrists and a short backswing. He was a very good striker of the ball and an extremely straight driver. Moe would always repeat himself and say everything twice, which took some getting used to. He lived out of his Cadillac, did not have a bank account and paid cash for everything. Despite his quirks he got on with everyone and was a likeable guy.’’
How good a ball striker was Norman? Tiger Woods has compared him with Hogan and the late Sam Snead called him the ‘’best ball striker’’ he had played with. Norman has also been compared in the quality of his ball striking with a largely self-taught Lee Trevino.
Norman and De Chambeau could not have come to golf by more divergent pathways. They share elements of an unconventional, but effective method. De Chambeau has become a controversial figure in his short time on the Tour. He refuses to yell ‘’fore’’ and his petty, over publicised feud with Brooks Koepka reflects poorly on the pair.
Moe Norman’s legacy is one of innovation in ball striking and method. He has been admired by golfers for overcoming a challenging upbringing, poverty and an element of mental illness. He has affectionately been called golf’s Rain Man.
The innovative De Chambeau has already claimed his first major, but how he will be perceived by followers of the game in the future, remains to be seen.
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He recalls ‘’I shot 68 on a tight course that was right up my alley’’. The first hurdle had been cleared. In the event proper, he shot 67 on the final day and tied for seventh. That top 10 finish ensured entry into the next event. He finished third. Slowly but surely, he built an impressive record and compiled four more top ten placings. By season end last year he had his full card on the Champions Tour. The current 2022 season is in full swing and has been spectacular for Alker. He has already compiled three Champions Tour wins and is now the Senior PGA Champion. He leads the money list with $1,813,961 after his first Major win. Golf may never have seen such a rags to riches story.
How does this happen to a player who had never finished in the top 10 in an event on the PGA Tour, and had missed 47 cuts out of his 86 events? The answer lies in a combination of factors. There have been different elements involved in his preparation for the over 50’s tour. Golf fitness is the term that Alker uses for one area of preparation. ‘’I started working with a trainer, a local guy in Arizona, 18 months out from the start of the tour’’. Alker had never enjoyed the physical fitness side to golf before, and he had avoided strength training. ‘’I had my body scanned to see what was going on with any weaknesses. We worked on stability and mobility work - this was fun’’. His strategy has clearly paid off - Alker averages 289 yards off the tee in Champions events so far. In his typically understated fashion, he acknowledges ‘’I may be a little longer than I was. I think I can become even longer if I work on my fitness’’.
In the latter part of the 2021 season, he found himself playing with the acknowledged stars of the PGA Tour, sprinkled with a mixture of past major winners. Bernhard Langer, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clark and many others. Phil Mickleson popped up from time to time. Alker acknowledges ‘’I had certainly got their attention, purely through playing well. I do not have the pedigree that these guys have. But all the players were very welcoming to me. They offered to help me with anything I needed and were happy to play practice rounds with me.’’ He recently played with Vijay Singh and was then drawn with Ernie Els and Steve Stricker. He thought ‘’whoo - never played with these guys before. What should I be doing? In the end - I just concentrated on my own game. It was hard to focus but I thought I did it well’’. He has consistently beaten them all.
Alker does confess to having had some nervous moments when paired with these star players. ‘’These guys are very competitive, especially when it comes down the stretch. They still want to win and it’s all business around the back nine. They are Hall of Famers. I really like to watch them on the range and watch the short shots they hit’’.
Aside from developing his golf fitness Alker has also tapped into an accessible bank of knowledge on Senior Golf - his countryman - Sir Bob Charles. Alker decided to contact New Zealand golf’s senior statesman several months before going on the tour. He had met Sir Bob when he was attached to the Millbrook Resort near Arrowtown. Sir Bob had a home there, and the pair had played together several times. ‘’I decided to pick his brain - he didn’t have to help me - but you know what Bob is like. As a player Bob was very disciplined. His game, like mine, suited the Champions Tour.’’ Alker points to shorter courses with not much rough. The master counselled the pupil - ‘’be conservative with your longer game and aim for the middle of the greens. Attack the course from the 9 iron in’’. That helped Alker take a lot of bogeys off his card. He recalls ‘’I remembered when playing with Bob that he very rarely made a bogey. I have tried to play the same way.’’
After the initial contact with his mentor, Sir Bob sent Alker a copy of his biography which deals at some length with the challenges that a player faces in his 40s. Both players struggled to stay competitive in that twilight zone between ages 45 and 50. Alker appreciated the assistance, emailing ‘’Bob, I wanted to thank you for your advice and inspiration over the past few weeks through your emails and reading your biography’’. 30 years after the start of Sir Bob’s career in 1986 the pupil, Alker, has outshone the master on his tour debut. (Charles took a full year before winning his first event). The Charles career lasted for 10 years and includes two Senior majors, 23 victories and 29 runner-up placings. The self-effacing Alker comments wryly ‘’now I’m only 19 wins behind Bob!’’
Fitness and mentoring have clearly been a factor to date in this reborn golfer’s results. Equipment selection has also contributed to the success story. ‘’I needed to get the clubs and the ball right.’’ There is quite an eclectic mixture of brands in the Alker bag. He uses a Callaway driver, TaylorMade 3 and 5 woods, New Level irons, Titleist wedges and an Odyssey putter. He explains his equipment choices, ‘’my New Level irons are from a small company here in Scottsdale Arizona. I met the owner in late 2019 and started using his clubs in 2020. My TaylorMade contract ended in 2018 and then I started tinkering. This led me to where I am now. I like my Odyssey putter and I earn bonuses from them. I love my TaylorMade 3 and 5 woods, Callaway driver, and my Titleist wedges. There is nothing in my bag that I’m struggling with’’. A change of ball has also helped Alker with his switching to the Titleist ProV. ‘’I find it is not spinning as much, and I can launch it and hit it straight’’.
Another contributor to his success is Alker’s caddy Sam Workman. ‘’He has been with me since 2019. We had some tough times through the Korn Ferry tour. He has stuck with me the whole way. His demeanour is great, and he is certainly enjoying the Champions Tour. He has been a good player as well’’. The pay is not too bad either – the caddy’s loyalty has finally been rewarded and he will no doubt be enjoying his player’s success.
Life on tour is no doubt very different now for Steven Alker than his life was on the Korn Ferry Tour. Golf carts are permitted during the competition, but Alker elects not to take that option. ‘’Carts may be handy if you are on a three or four week stretch, it is a hilly course, or you are injured. I haven’t used a cart in an event personally, but I use them in the pro-ams to save a bit of energy. I like to walk and get into the flow in the actual tournament itself’’. There are two pro-ams before each event. Because Alker has finished in the top 20 in the last year he must only play in one pro-am per week. ‘’This gives me more time to practice and makes my week shorter’’ he comments. He clearly enjoys the stage on which he is displaying his skills. The golf courses suit him. ‘’The courses are all excellent, to be honest. They are up to 7200 or 7250 yards in length, but every now and then you may get a shorter course at 6700 or 6800. The greens might not be running at 13, and there is probably less run. They are a nice transition foe me from the Korn Ferry Tour’’.
The combination of preparation, strategy, equipment and fitness has culminated in his outstanding results. The statistics are illuminating. There seems to be no apparent weakness in the Alker game. He leads the Tour in - greens in regulation, birdie average and frequency of eagles. He is also in the top 20 in driving, putting average and driving accuracy. For many players, hitting greens in regulation does not always translate into the most birdies per round. His statistics show that he hits his iron shots close enough to convert into an outstanding birdie count of more than five birdies per round. ‘’For me success is a whole combination of things. I am a pretty good wedge player - but not as good as Steve Stricker. I am hitting it pretty close and giving myself a lot of birdie chances. I am hitting a lot of par fives in two and I have been scoring some pretty easy birdies out there’’.
Family life in Arizona seems stable and full for Steven Alker and his wife Tanya. The couple have not travelled together extensively in his first nine months on tour. However, that may change. ‘’I’m going to try and get Tanya out more, but the kids are still at high school. I will try to get her out with me more on weekends. We have a big six-week trip planned during the summer with the Senior Majors and then going to the UK.’’
The win in the recent Senior PGA Championship gives Alker the first start of his career in next year’s PGA Championship on the main tour. If he was able to emulate either of Sir Bob Charles’ two wins in the Senior Open championship, he would also gain entry into the Open Championship itself - at Royal Liverpool in 2023. ‘’The Senior Open is at Gleneagles on the Kings Course this year. It is certainly a good incentive to win’’. Alker finished 19th in the Open in 2012.
There is also the prospect of an appearance by Alker at the 2023 New Zealand Open at Millbrook. He has had discussions with John Hart and Michael Glading about playing in the event. ‘’It might be my last hurrah. I’ll be 51. I love that part of the world and grew up down there at Millbrook. That is also where I started playing with Bob a bit and started picking his brain!’’ Alker is keen to support his own country’s Open, particularly after this year’s cancellation.
The financial rewards that have followed Alker’s fine play have seemed to have changed this low-key golfer very little. There has been no rush post major win to go and buy a luxury motor vehicle. Alker gives an overriding impression of modesty, coupled with a quiet sense of satisfaction in his recent success. ‘’ I just feel more secure’’ he comments. ‘’I have not changed my lifestyle. I am still travelling coach class (economy). It has all been so quick and such a whirlwind. Nothing much has changed, but I have now been able to plan the schedule ahead’’.
Steven Alker has shocked the golf world with the speed and level of his success. He gives an undeniable impression of strength of character beneath that understated Kiwi exterior. The planning of his Senior career has been thoroughly and carefully compiled at various levels. He sums it all up neatly in the closing of an interview given by him from his local airport near Fountain Hills. ‘’My game is as good as it has ever been. I am playing with a lot of freedom - which is the key to my game. I am enjoying myself and the results that have come along with that.’’
The Champions Tour has given this likeable, determined golfer a well-deserved second chance in the game after a tough 30-year grind with very little reward. Has any golfer deserved success more than Steven Alker?
]]>Both Greig and Norman arguably under achieved as players, but then went on to try and change the face of cricket and golf.
Almost half a century ago, cricket had to deal with the challenges that currently face the top echelon of professional golfers, and the game’s administrators. On the 26th of September 1977, over 30 hearing days, a young chancery judge, Christopher Slade, heard a restraint of trade claim filed by 3 top cricketers – Tony Grieg, John Snow and Mike Procter. The three plaintiffs had all been banned by the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) for life. Their international careers were over.
Sir Christopher Slade loved cricket and was the judge assigned to the case. Slade had taken silk in 1965 at the age of 38 and had been appointed to the High Court early in his career. Mr Justice Slade faced issues he was aware would forever change the sport he loved. Cricket would never look quite the same after his judgement. After a five and a - half-hour summary, and 200 pages, Slade J ruled the restrictive rule changes and the bans on the three Test players were ‘’ultra vires’’ and void as being ‘’in unreasonable restraint of trade’’. Slade ruled the (TCCB), representing the international body, the ICC, could not prevent cricket’s elite players from participating in Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket (WSC). Cricket’s representative Doug Insole at the hearing summed it all up rather neatly – ‘’we were well, and truly, stuffed.’’
After his ground-breaking decision diehard cricket fans in England made their feelings on the judge, and his decision, very clear. A wall outside the Oval was graffitied by the fans who handed down their own brief decision – ‘’Slade Out’’. Their protest did not concern Slade. According to his Times obituary, he reportedly found that verdict rather amusing.
Both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour have adopted a similarly hard line to cricket in relation to contractual exclusivity over their players. Golf appears is now heading in the same direction as cricket - some 45 years on.
Kerry Packer was the catalyst for the cricket litigation. He had recruited the world’s top cricketers to participate in World Series Cricket in 1977. Packer was a genius, and successfully pioneered night cricket, coloured clothing and the white ball. The crowds and the players loved it. The Packer approach to the game reaped considerable rewards for the WSC players. Dennis Lillee had been a key target for Packer’s recruiters. It was not a difficult choice for the great fast bowler in his signing up to World Series Cricket. Lillee had calculated his average payday, pre-Packer, at A$30 per day playing Test cricket for Australia. Many English players (particularly those like John Snow near the end of their careers) went through their own brief decision-making process before quickly signing on with World Series Cricket. Fast bowler Snow felt particularly undervalued by his country in commenting that a ‘’dustman going down the Marylebone Road earned more than I did playing cricket’’.
The English cricket establishment was vehemently opposed to the commercialisation of the game and had even gone so far as to fine players (including Snow) displaying modestly sized advertising logos on their clothing during televised County games. In a similar scenario to LIV Golf in 2022, Channel Nine (with the assistance of Richie Benaud) recruited 28 Australian cricketers, 18 West Indians and 22 Rest of the World Players to start a series that would change cricket forever. (Saudi Golf League /LIV Golf has now signed up its target group of 48 golfers).
In 1977 the defensive response from the ICC to World Series Cricket swiftly kicked in. Greig was summarily dismissed as England captain and the ICC immediately banned all Packer players from appearing in ICC controlled matches. The governing bodies of cricket, in much the same way as golf today, believed they had the best interests of their sport at heart and that their actions in defending their own fixtures were justified.
The High Court listened to arguments that painted Packer and Greig as a couple of vulgar raiders who had shamelessly recruited the world’s best players to advance World Series Cricket’s commercial interests. During the hearing there were testy exchanges between Geoffrey Boycott (who had refused to sign with Packer) and Greig. The judge went as far as warning Greig, via his counsel Robert Alexander, about his client’s conduct during the trial. South African born, Greig had been appointed captain of England prior to the Packer revolt. There was more than an implication that Greig was letting down his adopted country. Christopher Slade may have shared this view on Greig the man, but in 2013 he attended Greig’s memorial service.
Slade did express some sympathy for the cricket establishment – ‘’I have been impressed by the obvious, disinterested dedication to, and concern for, the game’’. However, restraint of trade was the only issue that was relevant to him. He ruled in favour of the 3 cricketers, and World Series Cricket, on all points of their claim. He ordered costs in favour of the plaintiff in the order of £250,000.
This was the most significant ruling handed down in world sport at the time. Professional cricketers were relieved that sports bodies and administrators were unable to prevent the players from making the most of their potentially brief careers at the top. Cricketers (and golfers) all face issues of career interruption, and even termination, from the usual challenges such as injury, loss of form, and selectorial vicissitudes. Any professional sport is a tough life with a limited income span.
Fast forward to 2022. Greg Norman has been recruited by LIV, in much the same way as Grieg by Packer, as his recruiting officer in 1977. Both men shared a polarising reputation, and both adopted an aggressive, and uncompromising, attitude to their recruitment roles.
Nothing too much seems to have changed in professional sport. A group of top golfers (including such controversial stars as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnston and Sergio Garcia) have recently been banned by the PGA Tour for signing up with LIV Golf. Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan published a list of players that ‘’are suspended or otherwise no longer eligible to play in PGA Tour tournament play, including The President’s Cup”. The group of the 48 golfers playing in the LIV events have made the decision to put their own financial security, and that of their families, before the vested interests of their various tours. Their suspensions have quickly followed.
So where does this leave the present upheaval in golf and the inevitable legal action that both sides are currently threatening?
LIV has described the recent announcement by the PGA Tour as ‘’vindictive and it deepens the divide between the tour and its members’’. Greg Norman commented on possible bans in February by commenting - ‘’surely you jest” and has issued a warning to the PGA Tour that he has engaged lawyers to protect any of the players that have signed with his Saudi Arabian employers. The European players face similar conflict with the DP World Tour. The battle lines are drawn.
The players futures, and their eligibility for events like Ryder Cup, remain uncertain until the looming legal disputes are resolved by negotiation, court action, or possibly, like cricket, by the passage of time. Two years after Sir Christopher Slade ruling in 1977 the players had made their peace with the cricket authorities. The cricketers playing World Series Cricket re-joined their national test teams. Cricket was far stronger, with wider appeal and audiences.
Packer had succeeded in securing the broadcasting rights to cricket that he had been unable to secure before the court action. To quote Tony Grieg on Packer ‘’he improved cricket on television beyond recognition. He just took it to another level.’’ John Snow expressed similar sentiments ‘’Kerry Packer took a stick of dynamite and threw it in the Long Room. When the pieces came down, everything was in a different shape - but cricket was the better for it’’.
Cricket was far better for the upheaval.
It seems unlikely that Greg Norman and his Saudi Arabian pay masters will change the face of golf to quite the quite same degree that Packer changed cricket in 1977. However, it also seems doubtful that the restrictions and controls wielded over the players by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour in the past can remain intact. LIV Golf and Norman seem to be treading a similar path to Packer and Greig 45 years ago. Neither side seems in a mood to back down. Perhaps a judge will again send a message to the contestants to point them in the right direction for their sport. A calm head judicial head may yet play a key role in resolving the current dispute that is dividing golf.
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