to have the time and money to do so. No expenses from any source outside their family could be paid for any individual golfing event. Anyone who wished to win money on the PGA tour had to have been a member of the PGA for 5 years. There was little incentive to turn professional and very few did. Things changed in 1960 when the PGA decreed that the five year period would be reduced to six months. Doug Sewell and Guy Wolstenholme turned professional immediately, and many have followed. It is now quite unusual for a Walker Cupper not to turn pro.”
THERE OR THERE
THEREABOUTS “During my last term at Cambridge I had got permission to play in the English Championship at Walton Heath, and had reached the quarter final losing by 1 hole to Doug Sewell who won it. This gave me the taste for such things and as I started work I played in as many of the main events as I could. In 1959 I got time off to play in the Brabazon. I did reasonably well. I went out last with Doug Sewell – who went on to win it. He played beautifully. I blew up. But I didn’t throw my clubs, I behaved reasonably well. And I got a medal for the best first round, so that was alright. And it was a step forward, because after all those matches I was getting better at medals now. Through 1959 and 1960 I did pretty well in most of them without actually winning anything. A highlight was my first Amateur at Portrush in 1960. In the 5th round I came up against Joe Carr, who had always been a hero of mine. We had a wonderful game but I lost by a hole. Once again, there or thereabouts. Good for my morale - especially as I had crushed my right thumb in a car door the day before the first round. Blood everywhere. It was in 1960 that I was picked to play for England against France near Paris. That was terrific fun, and included my first flight in an aeroplane. And then, in 1961, I had an outstanding
English Championship. While I was at Preston, and for the only time in my life, I started going to a gym and I got quite strong and started hitting the ball a bit further. I played well all week and managed to win against Martin Christmas in about the sixth round. Martin was a certainty for the Walker Cup, and indeed secured our only point in Seattle. He still has a gorgeous swing and is a good friend. The Amateur at Turnberry in 1961 was important, too. I didn’t make much headway but in the first round managed to beat Sandy Sadler, a very strong Scottish contender for a place in the side.”
THE WALKER CUP BECKONS “I think it is fair to say that in 1961 there may have been some golfers from Scotland and Ireland who were worth a place in the side, and some lesser players, like me, who may not have been. No, I am not being modest – the selection process wasn’t an exact science and the selectors could only judge the people who turned up for the main events. I was a better player the year after, the year I beat Joe Carr at Hoylake in the Amateur. For about 3 months I really was quite good. But in 1961 I was being consistent, I was knocking on the door. I got noticed I suppose. The Brabazon at Hoylake was the final selection event for the Walker Cup. Again, in fairness, this was an event that the Scots and Irish had to travel to, and it wasn’t that easy for them. Ronnie Shade came, and won it by the length of a street, but there weren’t many others in the field. So I suppose geography helped me make the team – although, as I say, I was playing pretty well.”
PREPARATION “We each received a blazer, two Walker Cup team shirts made of wool and totally unsuitable to play golf in, and a pullover. Our air fares to the United States were paid and accommodation arranged. But there was no help with equipment then although we did get some unofficial help from a British golf ball manufacturer. In America we played with the large (1.68”) ball which became the standard here too. That’s one of the reasons we got better, you know, when ball size was standardised, because you had to get better to hit the larger ball properly. We tried to get hold of a few before we went – the only ones available in this country were made here and were not too good. In those days, the effect of the wind on the big ball was much greater. We had all taught ourselves to hold the smaller ball through the wind. The problem was fading the big ball in a controlled fashion. With the small ball it was relatively easy. And I was always a fader. So I had to get to grips with that. And this was to be my first taste of American golf, and on the west coast too, made possible for the first time by jet airliners.”
THE COMPETITION “We stayed with members of Seattle Golf Club. I was with Ronnie Shade. We’d been told before we got there by Charles Lawrie, the Captain, that, quite honestly, the odds against us winning were considerable – we’d only won one Walker Cup up to that time – but he promised us that everybody would get a game. And that was marvellous. Remember, it was
‘Nobody called Walker has ever played in the Walker Cup, so I’m going to play off the first tee.’
36 hole matches. 36 holes foursomes the first day, and 36 holes singles the next. For a practise round he put me with Jimmy Walker, who I didn’t know very well, but we knocked it round in 71 or 72, pretty good, so he said, ‘You two can play top.’ So that’s how we came to play Deane Beman and Nicklaus. Jimmy was a policeman from Ayrshire with a large capacity for Guinness and similar liquids, lovely chap, and he said to me, ‘Nobody called Walker has ever played in the Walker Cup, so I’m going to play off the first tee.’ So that’s how we decided to play the odds and the evens. And Jimmy Walker played the first shot in the 61 Walker Cup. I had a putt from about 3 yards to win the first but missed, so we halved in 5. And after 8 holes we were 5 down, which is not a good position, but at least we did play a bit better afterwards, and got them back to 4 in the afternoon. I was also lucky because I was driving against Deane, and I could hit the ball as far as him, but Jim was driving against Nicklaus, and he hit it a phenomenal distance. I remember Jim topped his drive at one hole and I hit a good 3 wood – but was still nowhere near Jack’s drive. The big, square college boy with a crew cut.”
LASTING MEMORY OF BIG
JACK “This may seem strange, but it is his putting. He never had a putt all day that either didn’t go into the hole or touch it in passing. And that’s a pretty remarkable fact that sticks in my mind. He never left a putt short. They either shaved the hole or went in. He was a delight to play against, but his game was very different to ours!”
FINEST MOMENTS? “Two I think. The first is winning the top foursome in the Home Internationals against Scotland, playing with Martin Christmas against Shade and Sadler. The other is beating Joe Carr at Hoylake in the 1962 Amateur. And I managed to play a couple of good rounds afterwards. I didn’t explode. But it is tinged with a sense of disappointment I never won the championship. Nobody could have had a better chance than I did then. But you have to know you’re strong enough to know you’re going to. And I’m not sure I was.” n
ROYAL LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB 2013 MAGAZINE
25
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