The legend and the world champ
World shot put champion Tom Walsh may be 56 years younger but he predicted 82-year-old golfing great Sir Bob Charles would ‘‘out-drive’’ him at a proam event.
Walsh, who will be lifting weights with All Blacks prop Owen Franks later this year, teed off yesterday afternoon with Charles on the eve of the Harewood Open in Christchurch.
The 26-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medallist quipped that he was ‘‘a keen golfer – but it doesn’t mean to say I’m any good’’.
Walsh plays ‘‘whenever I get a chance’’ at the Christchurch Golf Club in Shirley – where Charles is also a member.
The duo were also paired together in last year’s Harewood Pro-Am, and Walsh, who plays off a 10 handicap, said it was ‘‘cool to meet an icon of the sport’’.
‘‘He’s a guy who paved the way for a lot of New Zealand golfers and to do it when he did wouldn’t have been easy, either.’’
At 120kg, Walsh packs a fair bit of power behind his tee shots.
But he said: ‘‘Sir Bob will outdrive me a few times today, I’m sure.’’
Speaking before hitting a longer ball than his young playing partner at the first tee, Charles, the 1963 British Open champion, said ‘‘clubhead speed, which you generate more by flexibility than by strength’’, was the key to driving the ball further down the fairway.
The octogenarian, who lives and plays at the Clearwater Golf Club and at Shirley while in Christchurch, does not play competitively now.
‘‘I’m a super, super, super senior now,’’ he said. ‘‘We don’t have any events to play.’’
He last played during a recent stay in Florida – his United States home – where he ‘‘had a round with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player’’.
Charles, who had 76 tournament victories, including six PGA Tour triumphs, likes playing with up-and-coming golfers at events like the Harewood Open, the opening round of the Charles Tour, named in his honour.
‘‘I don’t get the opportunity to play with that many of the younger people now, but I do enjoy it, although I am embarrassed by the distance they hit the ball off the tee, particularly the girls.’’
Charles said the average clubhead speed in the Ladies PGA was ‘‘95 mph (152kmh) ‘‘ with some of the top PGA Tour male pros reaching 200 kmh (125mph).
‘‘Right now, when I play with Jack Nicklaus [aged 78] and Gary Player [82], we are not even reaching 90 miles an hour.’’
For Walsh, golf is a relaxing way to ‘‘get away ‘‘from flinging a
7.2kg silver orb in track and field stadia around the world.
‘‘I’m an outdoors guy and I enjoy the hands-on stuff. Any time I can get out to play, I try to, and I try to enjoy it as well.’’
‘‘Ryan Whiting [shot put coach] is probably my best mate on the shot put circuit and I play him a bit, he’s probably a
15-handicapper, so we are pretty evenly matched.’’
Walsh, who enjoys mixing with people from other sports, is taking six weeks off before resuming training. ‘‘I might be doing some training with Owen Franks, who wants to lift some weights with us. I’d be happy to have him along.’’