A new golf film is being made to be released this year called The Phantom of The Open. It is about the legendary Maurice Flitcroft, pictured with Seve.
Long before Eddie The Eagle Edwards and the Jamaican Olympic Bobsleigh team this man led the way, In 1976 Flitcroft, a chain smoking crane driver from Barrow-In-Furness, decided to enter the qualifier for the Open Championship. He had bought a mail order half set of clubs and plastic shoes and taught himself to play from a Peter Alliss instruction book borrowed from the library. He got himself banned from several local clubs for sneaking on to practice without paying. Having seen The Open on television, he applied to enter the Qualifier only to find out as an amateur he needed to present an official handicap. So he declared himself professional.
He shot a 49 over par 121 and caught the interest not only of the R&A but the world’s media who contacted his mother. When she asked reporters if he had won the Open she was told his score and replied “well, everyone’s got to start somewhere”.
The R &A changed the entry rules but this didn’t deter him. He continued with a cat and mouse game of disguises and false identities. One of his previous employments had been in showbusiness and his theatrical inclinations found an outlet trying to outwit the golf officials. He returned in 1984 as Gerald Hoppy, a pro from Switzerland – and was chased off after two holes, another year as James Beau Jolly before his entry was queried and in 1990 as a professional called Paychecki. He managed to shoot 63 – for nine holes – before he was escorted off and banned from the sport.
He told reporters “I was looking to find fame and fortune, but only achieved one of the two”.
The great golf writer and broadcaster Henry Longhurst wrote in his newspaper column:
“Every instinct tells me that Bobby Jones was the most popular golfer to visit our shores in my lifetime. We all, I suppose, lift our hats to the professionals for their skills, their prowess and their millions but reserve the warmest spot in our hearts for the gifted amateur par excellence.
How good was he? How would he stand beside the heroes of today? Well, it does not seem to matter at this moment and anyway Jones himself settled this old locker room argument when he said:
“all a man can do is beat those who are around when he is around, He cannot beat those who went before him or those who are yet to come”.
It is a matter of history that he retired in 1930 after conquering all worlds by the age of 28. Six years later, his game now rusty, he crossed the Atlantic to visit the Olympic Games in Berlin and, having met some friends on the boat, accompanied them to Gleneagles for some golf. Being near to St Andrews, where he had won both the Open and the Amateur, he went to the town on a sentimental pilgrimage to play a round on his last morning.
He arrived, unheralded, just before lunch. By the time he reached the first tee, the word had spread round the town “Bobby’s back!” and no fewer than 2,000 people were assembled to greet him.
“I shall never forget that round” he wrote later “It was not anything like a serious golf match, but it was a wonderful experience. There was a sort of holiday mood in the crowd. It seemed, or they made it appear at least, that they were just glad to see me back, and however I chose to play golf was all right with them, they only wanted to see it”.
So he did the first nine holes in 32 and on the eighth tee he was paid “the most sincere compliment I can ever remember” one which he did not reveal until 25 years later. As he put his club back in the bag his young caddie looked up at him and said “My, but you’re a wonder sir”.
In 1958 Bobby, now in the throes of that crippling ailment which took so tragically long to end his life, was back at St Andrews, mainly to Captain the United States Eisenhower Trophy team but partly to receive the freedom of the city, only the second American to do so. The first had been Benjamin Franklin 199 years previously. Already, though, the people had accorded him the freedom of their hearts. “It is a wonderful experience” he wrote ” to be able to go about a town and have people wave at you and call you by name, often your first name and where a simple and direct courtesy is the outstanding characteristic”.
The ceremony at which he received the Freedom of the City from the Provost of St Andrews (thus becoming entitled to “take divots and hang out washing on the first and last fairways”) was one of he most moving occasions in the memory of those of us who were lucky to be there. The great golf writer Herbert Waren Wind summed up: “Bobby spoke for about 10 minutes, beautifully and movingly and he said “I could take out of my life everything except my experiences at St Andrews and still have a rich, full life”.
He left the stage and went off in his electric golf cart and the whole audience burst into the old Scottish song “will ye no come back again?” so honestly heartfelt was this reunion for Bobby Jones and the people of St Andrews that it was a full 10 minutes before any of them could speak.”
The Jehovahs Witnesses knocked at the door today. And while the erstwhile young man was trying to sell me a magazine which promised the key to eternal happiness I suddenly thought about a rainbow afro wig that we used to see on TV all the time at American golf tournaments when I was young, What had happened to Rollen Stewart? After I had shooed the JW team politely away, I decided to find out. And what a sorry tale it was.
Rollen Stewart is still alive aged 74. He once owned a ranch where he farmed marujana but bored with it he set off to Hollywood to become an actor. He starred in a few Budweiser commercials but then had the bright idea of raising his profile by getting his face on TV at sporting events. In order to get the camera’s attention he just wore a fur loin cloth and a rainbow wig and danced badly.
His act changed in 1979 when he saw a tele evangelist who convinced him that the end of the world was nigh and he decided to use his rainbow man persona to preach the gospel visually. He wore a T shirt saying either Repent or John 3:16. He said he had just a few seconds to reach the TV audience and give them a brief visual soundbite. He had a portable TV which he would watch where the TV cameras were and would position himself to get into their shot.
He became more and more obsessed with this mission, selling the ranch and living in his car. He lived off repeat fees from the commercial and from donations from evangelical organisations. He was at the PGA Tour stops nearly every week causing a nuisance to broadcasters who didn’t want him distracting the viewers eyes from the golf tournament. He even came over to London and got on TV outside Buckingham Palace during the 1981 Royal Wedding.
His behaviour became more desparate setting off stink bombs to give off the message “the Lord thinks this stinks” and he let off an air horn during Jack Nicklaus’ backswing during The Masters, Getting into Augusta National was an accomplishment itself as the tournament at that time was completely closed to spectators except for patrons who had their passes passed down through family generations.
His desperation about the end of the world came to a head in 1992 when he locked himself into a hotel room and took a maid hostage. When police eventially stormed the building he had a loaded .45 revolver and had been threatening to shoot down planes at nearby Los Angeles airport.
He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for hostage taking. He is still an inmate at California State prison having turned down a plea bargain which would have had him out on parole after 12 years. He speaks regretfully of his actions and says of his outings on the PGA Tour “I despised sports really”.
But his message has been taken up by other commercial sponsors. The fashion chain Forever 21 have the John 3:16 message on their shopping bags and burger chain In n Out Burger disposable coffee cups have it printed on them. And a Canadian fan , Bill King, is doing what Rollen Stewart used to do, raising the John 3:16 sign, though hopefully he’s a bit more restrained than Rollen Stewart was when he had the eyes of the world on him.
Well I hadn’t before but at the Hilversumsche Club people were handing over a document which wasnt a handicap certificate.
Since the 1980s Holland and Belgium have had a test which when passed allows people without a handicap to play on most courses without being members of a club or association.
It’s sort of like a driving test – a written theory exam with 20 questions -5 on etiquette and 15 on rules and then a playing test. This is four holes with an examiner the best three are counted and the score must be below 21. The GVB as it is called for short allows casual golfers to play and get practice in without having an official handicap.
Golf stocks have showed staying power over the last two quarters with two companies performing particularly well.
Callaway golf has had a 45% gain and is up 12% since the start of 2018. They are up 20% in net sales and are selling a lot of equipment with higher profit margins. They are helped by their 14% ownership of Top Golf which has a worldwide value of around $2 billion netting them $290 million.
Aschunet which own Footjoy are also up 15% since the start of the year. The CEO of Bridgestine Golf has said the company has already hit their forecast for the year in April. The return to form of Tiger Woods has helped enormously bringing massive television ratings and new interest in the game.
Live Under Par is the PGA Tour’s new advertising campaign launched yesterday. It replaces the These Guys Are Good message which has run since 1997, the longest running advertising in professional sports.
Moving on from the competitive excellence of the players, it focuses on the fans’ engagement with the players. Showing the fun and excitement of professional golf it has 360 degree views inside and outside the ropes. It aims to reach a new audience and exhibit the core values of sportsmanship, respect and charity. It doesn’t aim to convert fans into golfers, it’s viwed as a separate spectator sport. And that has always been the difference between US fans and European. Over here most spectators play the sport and have an in depth knowledge.
The United States Supreme Court is due to rule soon on legalising gambling across the country. It will still be up to individual states whether or not to implement but at the moment only four state, including Nevada, allow it.
The PGA Tour’s Vice President of Tournament Operations Andy Levinson has said that the Tour will support legalised betting on its tournaments as there will be a commercial gain for golf. He said it will encourage fan engagement, using the PHA Tour statistics and shotlink. Over the past 18 months the PGA Tour has been running an “integrity programme” educating players and stakeholders involved with the tour to set out rules and regulations. They have set out the responsibilities of those with direct access to competition in a bid to stamp out corruption. The Tour will not encourage betting on negative outcomes, such as betting on players missing putts, fairways or greens or losing tournaments
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