If you are one of the 100,000 people planning to venture to Kingston Heath for a glimpse of Tiger Woods at this year’s Masters, it is important that you read on from paragraph three.
If you haven’t got a ticket you will probably see more shots played by the World No.1 by watching him on TV.
Now, for those heading to Kingston Heath for one or more days of the Masters you are in for a treat. The experience of hearing him hit and seeing Tiger’s ball flight simply cannot be fully appreciated from your lounge room.
Tiger’s star has risen substantially since he was last on our shores in 1998, which means we’ve probably never really experienced a good dose of Tigermania.
I have experienced the toil that comes with tailing Tiger during a tournament and, through, 18 holes it can be hard work.
My first encounter with Tigermania was during the third round of the 1996 Australian Open in Sydney, and it led to a chance encounter with Woods.
I was mingling with the galleries in researching a story on what it was like to be among the crowds trying to get a glimpse of Woods and observing how the young man handled the attention. After trekking 14 holes of The Australian GC in sultry conditions, nature was calling … screaming actually. A portable toilet between the 14th green and 15th tee was never more welcomed. I raced inside as Tiger’s group putted out.
In my haste, I didn’t realise Woods knocked his approach stone dead and he had quickly tapped in for his birdie and made a similar beeline for the men’s. I had just finished when a man barrelled inside just as I was turning with zip in hand. My substantial shoulder caught him in the side, forcing him off balance for a split second. Then I realised it was Tiger. All I could blurt out was, “sorry ‘bout that mate.”
“No problem,” he replied, taking up his position at the urinal. But I digress.
If you are expecting to walk shot by shot with Tiger during Masters week, you’d better be equipped with a small step ladder or be able to cover the hundred as quick as Usain Bolt. Otherwise, there are going to be several holes where all you will see is the swoosh on Woods’ Nike hat scooting by.
The biggest crowds in Australian golfing history will descend on Kingston Heath between November 12 and 15. To give you an idea of what it will be like, imagine this. You’re standing courtside at Rod Laver Arena with 20,000 other people, hoping to see Roger Federer hit a serve. You might just see the top of the racquet.
Bearing this in mind, here are some valuable tips for enhancing your Tiger viewing experience at the Masters.
1. Get your day off to a good start and leave home early. Parking near Kingston Heath is going to be tight.
2. Once you are in the gate, get a program with the map of the course and establish a “Tiger plan”. As previously mentioned, you can’t possibly follow Tiger shot for shot so you need to find five or six spots around the course where you can park yourself and let the phenom come to you.
3. If you are old enough to remember what it is like to hit a persimmon driver you are too old to climb a tree for a better view of play. Just imagine how embarrassing it will be when the fire brigade has to be called to the course to pluck you from the tree limb 20 foot above the ground. Also, think the further embarrassment when it makes the evening news.
4. If you are less than 183cm tall, 6 feet in the old money, consider a millk crate to give you a boost if your option is to follow all of Tiger’s round.
5. Whatever you do, don’t piss Steve Williams off. He has been known to dress down spectators and even throw cameras into water hazards. Keep your distance.
6. Don’t Tiger’s playing partners. Respect the other players in his group by not moving until everyone has putted out on a hole.
7. If you plan to dress in a full body costume, make sure you put lashings of deodorant under the armpits. Also, see if you can be more original than dressing as a tiger.
8. Don’t expect to get an autograph from the World No.1. He will be mobbed and there will be so many security types, and Stevie, around him you will be very lucky to get anything signed. I repeat tip No.5: Whatever you do, don’t piss Steve Williams off.
Apart from that, have a great time!
As you read through this month’s issue of Golf Australia you might spot a recurring theme running through some of our features and columns. That theme is age.
The performance of 59-year-old Tom Watson at the Open Championship was an inspiration to every golfer, no matter what their ability, who thought their best golf was played before they had grey hair, prostate checks and prescriptions for Viagra.
As you will read, some of the biggest names in the game through the 1980s, like Greg Norman and Bernhard Langer, still have something to offer the game and remain competitive beyond just the Senior Tours.
The newest addition to the senior ranks is one of Australia’s favourite golfing sons, Peter Senior, who turned 50 on July 31.
If you asked anyone who has ever been involved with Australian golf at a tournament level to name their top-three nicest and easiest players to get along with, Senior’s name would feature on every list.
I discovered this early in my journalistic career. It was the early days of summer in 1989 and I was the junior reporter working on the sports desk of Sydney’s afternoon newspaper, The Daily Mirror.
As the 8am deadline for the first edition approached, the sports editor shouted “we don’t have a back page lead”. Minutes later, he almost shirt-fronted me and said: “You know about golf, find Peter Senior and get him to say he’ll win again. You’ve got half an hour.”
Four days earlier, Senior had blown the field away at the Australian Open at Kingston Heath. The likes of Norman, Nick Faldo, and the then reigning British Open champion Mark Calcavecchia and US Open champion Curtis Strange were no match for the broomstick-putter wielding Senior. The Queenslander won by seven strokes, just two weeks after winning the Australian PGA by a stroke in front of a class field at Sydney’s Riverside Oaks.
My editor was asking for much at 7.30 in the morning. Find the hottest man in Australian golf on the morning of the first round of the Johnnie Walker Classic and get him to boast that he’ll make it three wins from three starts.
I rang the only hotel in Melbourne I knew pro golfers stayed at – the Hilton. “Can you put me through to Mr Senior’s room please?” I asked the receptionist. I had struck gold and could barely believe my luck as the phone rang in Senior’s room. He answered the phone and it was immediately apparent that I had awoken the champ, who had an afternoon tee time, from his slumber.
I expected to hear the click of a hang up as soon as I identified myself but he could not have been more accommodating. We spoke for 10 or 15 minutes and then I made one last request: “Peter, any chance you can say ‘I’ll win again’? It will make a great headline.”
“No worries, I’ll win again … anything else you need.”
That was 20 years ago and that interview gave me my first back page story. Senior’s generosity of time, and quote, where others would have been dismissive and angered has stayed with me for all these years.
In compiling this column, I called Senior again, this time at a more civilised hour, to discuss his plans now he is eligible to play senior’s golf.
“I’ll play a few events in Australia but I’m going to play more overseas,” he said. In fact, as you read this Senior is playing events on the European Seniors Tour.
“Then I am going to head to the US Champions Tour qualifying in November.”
Senior’s passion for the game has helped him maintain a high quality of ball-striking during the past few years as he approached his 50th birthday.
“I still practice quite a bit and I still enjoy the game a lot, so that makes it so much easier to get out and work on the game,” he said. “If you enjoy what you’re doing it is quite easy.”
I have no doubt Senior will make it through the Champions Tour qualifying and will be a winner in his rookie year. That Tour’s gain will be the loss for several pro-ams and secondary Tour events here in Australia that Senior has supported in playing for many years. In fact, he celebrated his 50th birthday, not with friends and family at home, but by playing a four round pro-am at the Capricorn Resort near Yeppoon. For the record, Senior shot 15-under to finish second.
“I have been a member of the PGA board and it has been a twofold thing,” Senior said. “I like to play the events and meet some of the younger guys who I haven’t met before.
“I like to put in a bit, so do most of the older guys who still support the pro-ams and other events. It’s great for us to play a bit but it is more important to liaise with the sponsors and do your little bit in that area.”
There has been no greater ambassador for Australian golf, here and abroad, than Peter Senior and we wish him all the success in the United States next year.
