IN MY OPINION: GEOFF OGILVY
When I moved back to Australia a couple of years ago, I wasn’t really playing much competitive golf.
But during a social game I met Angus McQueen, who works in finance and is a member at Kingston Heath in Melbourne. We got chatting about the transition every elite amateur has to make when he or she turns professional.
My generation was lucky enough to cross that bridge relatively smoothly. When I turned pro, I had some great company. Guys like Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Richard Green, Craig Spence, Matt Goggin, Steve Allan, Stephen Leaney and Greg Chalmers all did pretty well quite quickly in the pro ranks. They got their cards and progressed. So, suddenly we had a lot of good players out there. Early in this century, in fact, we had about 20 Aussies exempt on the PGA Tour in the United States.
That trend hasn’t continued though.
These days we have only a handful playing at the highest level. More and more of our best amateurs aren’t making successful transitions into the professional game. Some are even giving up golf after only a couple of years playing for money. And more seem to be getting stuck on ‘mini-Tours’ and never making it to the big leagues.
Anyway, Gus and I got talking about why this is happening – or isn’t happening. At first, I wasn’t sure what was going on. But when I started to think about it, the picture became clearer.
Back when I was playing ‘serious’ amateur golf, there were opportunities to play every weekend, all year long. There were all kinds of events – 18-holers, 36-holers, 72-holers. All of those contributed to the ‘state averages.’ I can remember playing 50-60 rounds every year in those tournaments, as well as all the national championships.
Today, that isn’t happening. Our leading amateurs don’t play nearly as much competitive golf, which I feel is a mistake. The best way to learn the ‘craft’ of golf is by playing against others. It’s not done by standing on a range beating balls. Pro golf is actually more about that craft than it is about hitting the ball well. It’s about managing your game and yourself and scoring.
So, my conclusion was that our best amateurs need to be playing more. And to that end, maybe I could help in that regard. My idea was to get a group of experienced pros – guys like Marcus Fraser and Nick O’Hern – to tee up alongside the younger lads and play some tournaments. Not even that, just play together a lot more often. That makes sense to me. No one with any ambition is really going to get better playing in the Thursday Stableford at their local clubs. To really get better, we all need to play with better players.
Don’t get me wrong, Golf Australia has done a great job educating our best youngsters on the technicalities of golf, stuff like fitness, the swing, nutrition and
psychology. We do really well in those areas, the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the game. These guys are taught the skills of golf in a technical sense, which is fine. But a massive part of golf – at least half of it – can only be learned. It can’t be taught. And you learn it by playing lots of different courses with lots of good players in lots of different conditions.
So, when it comes to the craft of golf, we’re not doing well at all. We produce plenty of ‘flushers’ but too many of them struggle to make the jump from amateur to pro.
My initial plan was to form a foundation to fill that space. So we had a dinner. We raised some money. And everyone got a bit excited. But then COVID-19 happened. And the whole thing understandably lost a bit of focus through lockdowns. No one was playing golf. At which point, my fellow Golf Australia
magazine columnist Mike Clayton stepped up. He sent out a few texts to fellow pros and some of our best amateurs, organised a tournament and we played 36-holes at St Andrews Beach. It was brilliant. Everyone had a good time and left saying we should be doing a lot of more of the same.
Then, of course, lockdown returned. The Vic Open was cancelled. The Australian Open was cancelled. Everything was cancelled. But once we were back playing again, we rustled up maybe 15 pros (all of whom won more than the cash they paid to enter) and a bunch of the best amateurs and teed-up in what became known as the “Gen-Z Pro-am” at Wodonga Golf Club, Tour pro Zach Murray’s home course. All of which raised a bit of money for the (Geoff Ogilvy) foundation.
The plan is to have as many of these events as possible. It is the one thing that my upbringing in amateur golf lacked – playing more golf more often with good professionals. I have to think the way guys like that approached the game would have helped my progress. I’d have seen a level of play I hadn’t seen before. I’d have seen things I didn’t even know I was looking for. And that is the sort of stuff our leading amateurs need to be exposed to, faster than they are now.
Everyone wins in these events. The amateurs come with an enthusiasm to beat the pros, so it becomes a proper challenge for all concerned. Besides, for too long Australia has been stuck in what might be termed the “British mentality” of players versus gentlemen. We are emerging from that, but I would like to speed up the process. Alongside events for just pros and just amateurs, we should have joint tournaments where, say, the best 50 players in the state – however that is made up – compete. Yes, there needs to be a bit of money for the pros. But we can raise enough to allow the amateurs to play for free. There would be benefits for both camps, just by getting together and going at it. Everybody wins.
All of the above can be done in what might be called a “casual” atmosphere, one where the amateurs can learn from the pros without the stress of an Australian Open. That’s too much pressure. There needs to be interaction between the two groups so that the amateurs can relate best to the pros in a relaxed setting. That was something I never got to do as amateur.
Back then, the leading players were guys like Wayne Grady, Ian Baker-Finch, Peter Senior and Clayts. But I didn’t have access to them or their expertise.
The bottom line is that I want every young amateur in this country to have that access, to me and my network of contacts in the game. I don’t know anything like everything, but I know a few things and a few people in golf. I’ve got Adam Scott’s phone number. I’ve got Marc Leishman’s phone number. I’ve got Cam Smith’s phone number. I know a lot of people in the game. My golf network is extensive. And exponential. If I call someone I know for help, I get access to everyone he knows too.
All of which can help our best youngsters connect dots and open doors before they turn pro. If they play more high-level golf and see more high-level golf before they make that jump, they are going to be better players once they do.