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Tim Hutton :   Tim Hutton started his career with 6 years as assistant to 5 time Ryder Cup Captain, Dai Rees CBE and travelled extensively as a tournament player. He was Club Professional at Sleaford Golf Club for 12 years before designing and building Sudbrook Moor. Tim is an individual member of the Golf Foundation and has received The Sir Henry Cotton Award for meritorious services to junior golf. He was Midland PGA Professional of the Year in 1995 and recently awarded Fellow of The Professional Golfers' Association.   Tim coaches Wednesdays and Saturday Mornings. Tim Charges £17 Per Half Hour Lesson. All equipment and range fees included. Tel. 01400 250796 to Book a Lesson

 

07/01/2010 With snow on the ground and time on my hands, my mind goes back to the early 1970s when I left snow at Heathrow to fly to Bermuda, a near paradise, for a Pro Am.  My Pro Am team and I were playing a practice round at the beautiful Mid Ocean Golf Club.  It started well for me, when I holed my second shot on the par 4 first hole. ( usual form for me during practice ! )  One of my team was an extremely nice chap, who took his golf very seriously, off 24 handicap.  He knew exactly how to swing the club but never ever came close to doing it.

His first tee shot went into an area that was a concreted hillside, designed to collect rainwater.  His tee shot on the second came to a similar fate.  His tee shot on the third went the other way, into deep trouble.  When I made an attempt to walk in the direction to try and find the ball, he called me back and said that he didn't come to Bermuda to look for golf balls.  His fourth tee shot went the same way as the third and he reminded everybody to "Leave it".  Up to this point he would cry out, just after the impact of club and ball, "NO".  On the fifth hole I was quite sure that the "NO" came at impact or even a fraction before.  On the his sixth tee shot the "NO" definitely came before impact.  On the seventh it was debateable whether he had actually completed his backswing before.... "NO"  So we had played 7 holes, he had hit 7 shots and lost 7 balls.  Half way down the fairway of the 7th he said that he had better hit a shot to a green, so he dropped a ball. I was working out my yardage when I heard "NO" and then a thud  ( "NO" definitely preceeded the thud by quite a time lapse ).  So 8 hits, 7 holes, 8 balls lost.  The 8th tee shot broke with tradition.  To the accompaniment of "NO" at some stage of the proceeding the club head went under the ball, sending it straight, but just off the front of the tee.  Through the blue mist, where he was descibing his impression of golf as a passtime and what he was going to do with his clubs and to himself, his caddy calmly said, "Never mind Boss, we have got one in play"  We all collapsed in agony.

It is only fair to say that "NO" as we came to call him, had a moment of extreme glory the next week when he played in the other Team.  ( 6 amateurs, 2 pros - we swapped teams for the second week )  On the 18th in the final round someone in the team missed a 4 foot putt for a 4, which they knew would have won them the tournament.  As they commiserating with each other, "NO", who had worked his way along the 18th hole, in his own time, to the edge of the green, said, "What about me, I need this for a 5 net 4".  Amidst quiet groans, "NO" took quite some time to pace up and down the green, lying out flat, plumb bobbing his putter.  Finally, evidently, he clouted the ball, as one of his Team members described it, and the ball hit the hole, jumped up 6 inches, as another of his Team members described it, and dropped into the hole.  They had won the tournament.  "NO" came from nowhere and holed the winning putt.

If the snow hangs around, I may try and recall some more.

Tim

( Thanks for the feedback on the above story.  Will try to do more but busy again !  )

 

Ben Hutton : Ben is a AA Class Qualified Member of the Professional Golfers' Association.  He divides his time between Tournament Golf and Sudbrook Moor. Ben coaches Tuesday to Sunday other than tournament days. £17 Per Half Hour Lesson. All equipment and range fees included. Tel. 01400 250796 or alternatively please call his Mobile on which he keeps his diary. Mobile No. 07966 388414