Bruce Devlin on his way to winning the Australian Open as an amateur in 1960. – Photo courtesy of ‘Bump & Run’ BRUCE Devlin is one of the pioneering Australian expat golfers who successfully transitioned to the United States, forging a brilliant career as a tournament professional, golf course designer, television commentator, and philanthropist. Keen […]
Richard Champion enjoyed a stellar AFL career with the Brisbane Lions (previously Bears), several times awarded best clubman and praised for his professionalism both on and off the field. These days ‘Champs’ is a well-known media personality, on radio, television, emceeing events and performing live with bands, including The Filthy Animals. ‘Champs’ is just as […]
Unflappable, naturally gifted, an Australian sporting treasure The word folklore springs to mind when Australian cricketing royalty Doug Walters AM MBE is spoken about. There are so many stories about his formidable natural talent with bat and ball, but also tales of his personality away from the cricket field. The public simply love ‘Dougie’ and […]
Ian Davis with his regular playing partner Peter Senior. FACING 150kmh thunderbolts from a battery of West Indies fast bowlers in the late-1970s didn’t give Ian Davis, aka Wiz, much time to think about taking up the gentler game of golf. It was pre-helmet days and the stylish opening batsman was too busy fending off […]
Many sports followers, golfers included, would remember the dramatic scenes when Aussie world champion surfer Mick Fanning appeared to fight off a large shark in Jefferies Bay South Africa (2015) while in the final of the WSL championship, and the heroics of his mate Julian Wilson who came to his aid. It turns out Mick […]
After a career as a rugby league referee, one which saw him officiate at the highest levels, Tim Mander turned his attention to serving the community, where he is currently the Member for Everton in the Queensland State parliament. Inside golf’s Peter Owen profiles a man who since introduced to the game as a 12-year-old, […]
CELEBRITY SWINGER Greg Dowling, a cornerstone of Queensland success during the early years of the rugby league State of Origin series, has always had a love for golf, a passion which continues today where he is a regular on the fairways of the Ingham course in north Queensland. Inside Golf’s Peter Owen caught up with […]
Irish/Australian comedian Jimeoin is one of showbiz’s true workhorses. When he agreed to sit down for an interview, a peek at his tour schedule revealed a gruelling 50 shows in just two months throughout October and November. Yet, between those back-to-back nights on stage, where he holds the audience with nothing more than himself and […]
MARK Philippoussis, the ‘Skud’, is a name familiar to most Aussie sport fans. Who can forget his athleticism and tenacity at the Davis Cup in 1999 and again in 2003, with Philippoussis using his powerful serve and courage to help claim the coveted tennis title for his country. Losing the final of the 1998 US […]
By Rob Willis AARON Baddeley was the boy wonder of the late 1990s early 2000s. A winner of the Australian Open as a teenage amateur in 1999, he backed it up a year later claiming consecutive Stonehaven Cups and collecting a cheque to go with it the second time around after turning professional in early […]
RENOWNED among avid golf enthusiasts, Greg Ritchie’s name resonates beyond his illustrious cricket career, which saw him shine in 30 Tests for Australia. His connection with the sport of golf, however, is equally captivating. A childhood ignited by hitting golf balls alongside his father cultivated a deep-rooted passion for the game. This ardour found its […]
SHE’S one of the icons of the women’s professional game in Australia. Yet these days Rachel Hetherington rarely picks up a golf club. And as the eight-time LPGA winner in the US is happy to admit … she’s probably living her life ‘in reverse’ these days. That’s because Hetherington, married to former Australian Test cricketer […]
How a cricket legend became a golfing tragic By Peter Owen A MEMBER of Allan Border’s wonderful 1989 Ashes team that pummelled England 4-0 and launched a golden era for Australian cricket, Trevor Hohns’ fondest memory of that tour was not a cricket ground, but a golf course. Those were the days of long, leisurely […]
TO become No. 1 in the world – at anything – well, it’s fair to say you’ve beaten the odds. Yet Nadene Gole has done a lot more than that. And to be named the world’s top ‘senior’ amateur is a feather in her cap she admits she never thought she’d achieve. Certainly not when […]
By Michael Davis THE superb piece on Jan Dunlop by IG’s Queensland correspondent, Peter Owen, sparked some animated chatter among the women members at Rosebud Country Club. Especially those who remembered the late, Betty Hebb, and her wonderful golf history which is kept on permanent display at the club with a range of trophies and […]
FIVE-TIME Olympian Natalie Cook (OAM) was almost lost to volleyball as a teenager, but commonsense prevailed and the rest is history. Sports fans will remember how she and playing partner Kerri Pottharst won bronze and gold beach volleyball medals in Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000). But things could have been much different had her volleyball […]
By Rob Mills A HIGH achieving youngster who transferred his amateur success into the professional ranks, Lucas Parsons not all that long ago traded shots with Australia’s best. Runner-up to Zimbabwean Nick Price in the Air New Zealand Open in just his third start as a professional and less than 12 months after dominating the […]
IT comes as no surprise that Pat Cash, like many top-tier athletes, is also a good golfer. He won’t testify to being in the same echelon as Ivan Lendl, who he famously beat in the Wimbledon final in 1987, or lanky Englishman Tim Henman, but Pat knows and loves his golf. We were having a […]
By Peter Owen MICHAEL O’Connor, rugby legend and now passionate golfer, was spending a northern hemisphere winter playing rugby league with St Helens. With him was Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin, his Manly captain and good mate. The two Aussie larrikins had just finished 18 holes at Royal Birkdale, outside Liverpool, where two years later their countryman […]
IT all started way back in 1972 when South Australian businessman Alan Gillott awoke with a bright idea. “Why can’t we have women professional golfers here in Australia?” Alan thought to himself after reading a golf magazine. Well, Alan sprung into action and soon after that the women’s professional golf in Australia was born. That […]
By Peter Owen WHEN Glenn Joyner made his way to the podium after winning the Australian Legends Pro-Am at the Australian Golf Club in November, every person in the room stood and applauded. They were acknowledging not only the man’s ability to play great golf, but his courage and the audacity he’d shown in achieving […]
THERE are few golf professionals in the premier state (NSW) who have NOT heard of Kyle Francis. After all, Francis was once named in the top 100 of Australia’s most influential professionals of the past 100 years. That put Francis alongside names like Greg Norman, Alex Mercer, Kel Nagle, Craig Parry, Bruce Devlin, Geoff Ogilvy […]
By Peter Owen WHEN Josh Constable followed the World Surf League tour around the world he took with him three bags – one for his clothes, one for his board, and one for his golf clubs. When he wasn’t competing against the world’s best surfers, he would head to the nearest golf course, honing a […]
IT’S no secret that NSW Golf Club at La Perouse in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has “beaten up” many players over the years. Indeed, one former club captain admitted this marvellous layout can be all but unplayable when the weather really closes in. He once explained that there were always a few ‘desperates’ who would turn […]
CAMPBELL Kerr has taken out the 2022 Brisbane Golf Club championship to become one of the youngest to win the prestigious title. Schoolboy Campbell, who turned 17 on October 12, two weeks after winning the event, plays off a handicap of 0.4. He beat 24-year-old fellow first-time finalist Wade Edwards one-up in an engrossing 36-hole […]
WHEN you’ve just turned 12 and you’re giving away as much as four years in age and a dozen strokes in handicap, you’re not supposed to win an 18-hole stroke play tournament played on level terms. But nobody told that to little Jarvis Miller, who last month shot a sparkling round of 77 to tie […]
LEGENDARY golf coach Charlie Earp believes golf is the greatest game of all and he’s been preaching his belief for decades. “My argument goes back 20 years when people said, ‘look at all these footballers, cricketers, jockeys, tennis, soccer and AFL players who are all playing golf’,” Charlie said. “They are all playing golf for […]
VETERAN jockey Dean Yendall has been given the all-clear to return to the saddle, but his long-term ambitions is to play golf professionally. A keen and talented golfer, Yendall plans to turn professional after signing up to a golf program aimed at developing players for the PGA Legends Tour. “I’ve pushed further along the golf […]
GOLF lost one of its true trailblazers with last month’s passing of the first Australian to play on the LPGA Tour, Margie Masters. The former Victorian passed away in her adopted home of Tucson, Arizona at the age of 87. Born in Swan Hill, Masters made headlines early in her career by winning the national […]
IT’S been a tough few weeks for the Norman family with the passing of Mervin Norman. The father of golfing great Greg Norman passed away last month, aged 95. The Great White Shark shared a moving tribute to his late dad on Instagram. “When you lose that person, they are gone until you meet them […]
NAMBUCCA Heads Island Golf Club (NHGC) was at near capacity on Monday, September 26 when members and friends gathered to celebrate the life of popular member Ian Vidler. Ian started caddying at Lismore Golf Club and took up playing golf at the age of 14. He would fossick for golf balls to sell back to […]
AN unforgettable adventure awaits three disabled people who have been given a second chance at life when they travel to Tasmania to play four of the best golf courses in the country. Sydney’s James Gribble, Queensland’s Ben Tullipan and Jigs Denby from Tasmania will tee it up at Cape Wickham, Ocean Dunes, Barnbougle Dunes and […]
IT’S hard to know where to start when it comes to PGA professional and champion bloke Paul King, who died in Brisbane last month. He was 84. I knew Paul well. First met him in 1984 when he was the head pro at Wynnum Golf Club. Back then he’d turn up at tournaments around the […]
AUSTRALIAN golf lost one of its favourite sons when Bob Shearer died suddenly after a heart attack at his Melbourne home early this year. His wife, Kathie, said her husband “was what he needed to be”. “He was golf. It was his life and his love. He still played three or four times a week […]
MOST of us knew Bob Shearer as a champion golfer. But renowned course architect, ROSS PERRETT, reveals another side to Shearer. BOB Shearer was a brilliant golfer, but an even better bloke. He was a star who never got ahead of himself. First and foremost, he was a family man who loved his wife Kathie […]
IT was a tough start to the year for Australian professionals and golf fans with the passing of Bob Shearer. Shearer, a PGA of Australia life member, suffered a heart attack and passed away on January 9, aged 73. He ranks among the finest golfers Victoria has produced and is only one of a few […]
By Michael Davis ONE of Royal Melbourne Golf Club’s best-known and much-loved members, Dr John Green, has died. Dr Green was elected to membership of the club in 1951 and life membership in 2012. As the son of a member, he enjoyed access to the club before that. He played the Royal Melbourne courses for […]
DESPITE the wet and wild weather conditions, more than 90 women travelled from Royal Perth, Lakelands and Floreat in the north, High Wycombe in the east and Collie in the south to play in Pinjarra Golf Club’s annual Ladies Charity Golf Day. More than $2,600 was raised from competition entry fees, raffles and trade table […]
THINK about the last time you tried something new – maybe a gym visit, a pottery class or even golf. What inspired you? What deterred you? Golf Australia’s Jayden Zeinstra is certain that one of those answers would be “the deliverer”. “Deliverers have such an impact on our experiences, even more so for beginners,” Zeinstra […]
ONE of golf’s most successful club professionals “got into the golf industry by mistake”, but his love of the game helped him thrive beyond expectations. John “Dicko” Dixon has been the head professional at Melbourne’s Medway Golf Club for the past 32 years and doesn’t regret not following his chosen career path – accountancy and […]
