A Summer Redux
BY Grant Dodd | 27 Mar 2009
Another summer of golf has come and gone in the blink of an eye. The Australasian Tour may not be what it once was in terms of numbers of events, but in the present climate it is no small feat to simply maintain the status quo, let alone alter it.
Not withstanding the dearth of big overseas names in our fields, the tournaments of the 2008/2009 season provided outstanding drama. From Rod Pampling’s impressive Master’s win to Alastair Presnell’s cinderella story in the Moonah Classic, the golf on show was of high quality even if the likes of Woods, Mickelson and co were in absentia. Whether or not the current financial crisis will induce some rationalisation of the extortionate appearance fee environment is yet to be seen. Nonetheless, the days of decades past where we were treated in person to a who’s who of world golf are unlikely to return in a hurry.
Fortunately, the current depth of our home grown product is at an all time high. Almost without exception the top Australian names return to play in at least some of our major events. With nine players in the top 100 in the world and numerous others knocking on that door, our domestic tour has its legitimacy without the need for the participation of expensive imports.
A brief glance back over the past few months reveals much that is worthy of mention. Geoff Ogilvy continues to evolve as a player, his previous combustibility on the golf course seemingly a thing of the past. Playing now with a palpable sense of freedom and maturity, the reigning Australian PGA champion has continued his stellar form of late 2008 into the new year, winning in Hawaii and at the WGC Matchplay event. Few would be surprised to see him chalk up a second major this year and to further his claims as one of the few legitimate challenger’s to the throne of Tiger Woods.
Adam Scott seems to be caught in something of a nether world at present. When Scott is the subject, talent is often referred to as a noun, as though it is somehow quantifiable. Exuding a tangible sense of the aforementioned quality, the Queenslander has an uncanny knack of making the game look impossibly easy. Yet despite such gifts, Scott incongruously wears the tag of underachiever, somewhat harshly given that he occupied the world No.3 ranking just over twelve months ago. Injury and personal issues are said to have been influential in seeing him fall to his present ranking of 20, but it would be a brave man who is prepared to gamble that he will stay there for any great length of time.
Robert Allenby further enhanced his reputation as a ball striker par excellence, producing remarkable consistency throughout 2008. An ability to hole short putts under pressure seems to be the only thing that stands between him and a much deserved major victory. His long time running mate, Stuart Appleby, simply continues to be a money making machine, riding steely determination and a short game of unadulterated wizardry to another $2 million plus year. In the process he passed $25 million in career earnings on the US PGA Tour alone, underlining the fact that he is one of our most consistent performers.
One player who deserves mention for continued ball striking excellence is Peter O’Malley. The 43 year old still manages to amaze all with the bullet-like accuracy of his iron game, his metronomic swing as repetitive as the finest Swiss watch. For all this, there are times where it seems that with putter in hand, O’Malley would have a better chance of hitting the hole with a handful of rice. Such an exagerration would be argued as fanciful except by those who observed the universally liked New South Welshman’s torturous putting over the weekend at the 2008 Australian PGA , where even a moderate performance on the greens would have seen him hoisting the trophy on Sunday afternoon. It is the cruelest of conceit’s for one of the finest swingers of the club in this country.
Greg Norman’s slow amble into the sunset has inevitably led to the question being asked as to who the new talisman of Australian golf might be. A number of false dawns have come and gone in the past decade, the impossible task of meeting the formidable precedents set being too heavy a load for most. Yet the current crop of up and comers are as gifted and well schooled as any in living memory.
Jason Day is still only 21 and barely missed keeping his card in his first year on the PGA Tour. The modern ball and driver has further emasculated truely gifted players like Day, rendering their superior ball striking skills to a mere supporting role. Even the most agricultural swing motion can prove effective with the oversized modern driver and a golf ball that spins less and is harder to shape. To make it in professional golf now one must have a brilliant wedge game and be a marksman with the blade. Fallibility in either area means almost certain failure. Gifted players like Day, Nick Flanagan, Michael Sim and Steve Dartnall will need to ignore the Australian obsession with swing aesthetics and devote themselves to the art of scoring if their unquestioned potential is to be fully realised.
Whilst Karrie Webb still holds sway as the figurehead of Australian womens golf, the emergence of Katherine Hull as a serious force couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Webb, the most successful Australian women golfer in history has little left to achieve in the game despite being barely in her mid 30’s. With long time rival Annika Sorenstam now retired and the emergence of a pack of ambitious and youthful opponents now vying for centre stage, her time at the forefront of tournament golf appears to be drawing to a close. Hull’s convincing win in the 2009 ANZ Ladies Masters was impressive, her final day dominance and aggression reminiscent of another tall Queensland golfer of similar physicality but differing gender. Australian womens golf needs Hull to continue her growth and to be ready to take up Webb’s mantle when the legend eventually moves on.
On the amateur scene, the governing body of Golf Australia finds itself at a crossroads. The Tony Hallam experiment has come and gone. Hallam’s time as CEO was brief and profligate, the former accountant departing his role just as the ramifications of his tenure were becoming apparent.
Golf Australia’s balance sheet has taken a heavy hit. Its primary asset has been sold off, and with a flawed strategic plan forecasting revenues of $20 million by 2009 in place, the governing body needs to take stock and regain its former equilibrium. A revised strategy put together by new CEO Stephen Pitt is near completion, and keenly awaited.
Finally, the much vaunted OneAsia tour has become reality despite vehement opposition from the Asian Tour, and will incorporate six events in 2009 across Australia, China and Korea. It is a major development that allies professional golf in Australia with two of the world’s most powerful economies (with more to come) and one that introduces a brave new world of opportunity for golfers and corporates alike.
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