When Bob Green, long-time golf correspondent of the American agency, Associated Press, died last month, one of the prized possessions he left behind was a spanking-new set of clubs with a personalised bag. Yet Bob didn't play the game. He once said that he tried it as a younger man but didn't need any further frustration in his life.
But the bag and clubs were very special to him for another reason. When he retired after covering the 1995 US Open at Shinnecock Hills, having been 26 years with AP, he was suffering from cancer and was told he had only six months to live.
On hearing this, Jack Nicklaus, who had been close to Bob over the years, let him know that his private jet was at his disposal if ever he needed it. And as a retirement gift, he presented him with the bag and clubs which were given a place of honour in the den at Bob's home outside Fort Worth, Texas.
Visitors would be proudly shown them, still sparkling as the day they left the factory, without a dent, scratch or a grass stain. They were never used, but nobody could have had a more cherished possession.
I got to know him in rather curious circumstances. When cigarette-smoking was banned from media centres in the US, I was forced with other addicts to go outside for a drag. There, almost invariably, I would meet Bob, grumbling endlessly at what he saw as a deprivation of his human rights. As it happened, he died of cancer, aged 66.
His only regret about life on the road was that he couldn't own a dog, since most hotels frowned on pets and fire hydrants were few and far between in parking lots. But after he retired, his wife Iva, who travelled everywhere with him, bought him one. They named him Three-Putt.
Last month also saw the demise of a giant of US sports journalism. In fact Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times was only the fourth sports writer to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He had a great affection for this country and, during a recent British Open, he told me his ancestors came from the Sligo area.
Arising from our conversation, I was privileged to arrange a game of golf for him at Rosses Point and I sensed at the time that he knew it would be his last opportunity of going there. When he made the visit, it was done so quietly and unobtrusively that club officials actually had to seek him out to bid him welcome.
One of his more memorable pieces was at the US Masters in April 1969 when he wrote: "Charlie Sifford is a golfer, an American, a gentleman. He is not, however, a Caucasian. Until 1961, this seriously interfered with his life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, to say nothing of his occupation - because golf was a `Members Only' club till then . . . Charlie was almost 40 years old before he got to play with the big boys. You can make book Arnold Palmer couldn't have overcome a handicap like that."
"IT'S simple, elemental quality sweeps away the cobwebs of golfing theory and brings home to you once more, the original fact that golf is a business not of pivots, hip turns, wrist formation and the rest, but of grasping an implement firmly in two hands and banging the ball with it . . ."
- Henry Longhurst, in praise of Ballybunion, where US President Bill Clinton plays this afternoon.
My lasting memory of the movie Papillon is of the eponymous hero, played by Steve McQueen, diving to freedom down a sheer cliff-face on Devil's Island, into churning waters below. The image came back to me when I stood recently on the new tee on the 18th at the Old Head of Kinsale.
The owner of the course, John O'Connor, was showing me the latest developments on what has become a pet project for him. And visitors seemed to be enjoying the experience enormously, judging by the reaction of a large group of Americans. Words like dramatic, spectacle and "memorability" were bandied around and there seemed to be a clear reluctance at departure time to take their places in a coach marked "Jerry Quinlan Celtic Tours".
A television team from the American Golf Channel were also there on a day of glorious sunshine. Looking out from the chill-inducing 18th tee, O'Connor pointed to the landing area somewhere in the distance. "That's a carry of about 280 yards," he said matter-of-factly about a drive that would cause even Tiger Woods or John Daly to take an extra practice swing.
But with six tees on every hole, the course is adaptable to golfers of all categories. Still, one couldn't help but be impressed with a rather special, back tee at the 12th. It seems that while the course constructor is brilliant at what he does, his knowledge of golf of somewhat vague.
Anyway, after requesting his man to lengthen the par- three 12th, O'Connor went on business to New York, where he got a phone call informing him: "I have it back to 295 yards. How will that suit you?"
According to financial disclosure forms made public earlier this year, President Clinton, his wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea accepted $14,988 in gifts over $250 during 1997. Of those, there were golf-related items valued at $5,244.
What's the lifespan of a golf ball? Not very long if one happens to be negotiating water hazards on a regular basis. But if it avoids a watery grave or a comparable fate in dense undergrowth, a wound ball kept at room temperature should be good for about two years, while a two-piece could last up to three times that length.
Then again, it could last for 13 years, as Delgany member John Baker discovered through a remarkable sequence of events. And by way of reward, the faithful pill, which was recently returned to him, has now been mounted on a plinth for display in John's home, right beside a ball which brought him a hole-in-one on Delgany's short eighth, four years ago.
The latest phase in the golf ball's life began during the Portuguese Open at Penina last March. That was when Massimo Florioli's caddie found it deep in rough while searching for his master's ball. The caddie was Darren Reynolds, whose father, Tony, just happens to be a member of Delgany.
It was Tony Reynolds who recognised something rather special about the ball, when his son showed it to him. Written on it was "John Baker Happy 40th Birthday". And that was 13 years ago.
Baker takes up the story: "A friend of mine in England sent me two dozen of those balls as a birthday gift. The intriguing thing is that while I have played at a few of the leading Portuguese courses, I've never been to Penina. The only possible explanation of one of the balls being found there is that I gave a few of them as presents to some friends."
In the event, the near-to-last resting place of the Ultra, was confirmed by Baker during the recent Smurfit European Open in a chat with its finder, Darren Reynolds. All of which, I suppose, would qualify the ball as an unloseable buy!
This Day In Golf History . . . On September 5th 1925, in a happening unique to the US Amateur Championship, Bobby Jones took the title by beating Watts Gunn by 8 and 7 in the 36-hole final at Oakmont. It was special for the fact that they were both members of the same club, East Lake CC in Atlanta.
That was Jones's first successful defence of a title which he went on to win on a total of five occasions. But for his close friend Gunn, an excellent golfer, it was to be his only real chance of the coveted prize. As it happened, it was Jones who urged Gunn's parents to let him play.
He was only 20 at the time, three years younger than Jones and was winner of the Georgia Amateur title as an 18-year-old before going on to capture the NCAA title in 1927 as a student at Georgia Tech. Gunn was a member of the Walker Cup teams of 1926 and 1928 and, like Jones, he effectively retired from competitive golf at the end of the 1930 season.
In Brief: Kilternan GC are to stage a £7,000 "House of Names" Pro-am on September 22nd as part of their 10th anniversary celebrations . . . The Peter Pan Classic in aid of the National Children's Hospital will be at The K Club on October 8th. Details from Colette at (01) 475 0936.
Teaser: A fence which is not a boundary fence does not interfere with a player's swing but is on his line of play. May the player remove a part of the fence, which is readily movable, in order to improve his line of play?
Answer: No. A fence is an immovable obstruction and thus is something fixed. If a player removes a part of something fixed and in so doing improves his line of play, he is in breach of Rule 13-2 (Improving lie, area of intended swing or line of play).
