IBF’s glory due to his precision
THE GOLD COAST HAS PROVEN A MECCA FOR GOLFERS OF ALL ABILITIES. IN CELEBRATION OF THIS THE BULLETIN IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP FIVE GOLFERS TO HAVE CALLED THE COAST HOME. TODAY WE REVEAL NO.4 ON THE LIST
DRIVE for show, putt for dough.
Nobody exemplified this more than golfing great Ian Baker-Finch, who truly rose to fame with his British Open win in 1991.
Fellow Gold Coaster Stuart Bouvier was also coached by Baker-Finch’s mentor Gary Edwin throughout parts of his own career.
Bouvier – a Southport Gold Club professional – said the major winner’s work on the greens propelled him to his success.
“He was a very good putter and that was probably the best part of his game and something known to most people,” Bouvier said.
“If you can’t putt you can’t play and that’s what he was very good at.
“You couldn’t meet a nicer guy. He was very good with the juniors and members.”
Baker-Finch spent much of his life at Sanctuary Cove where he was married and where his two daughters were born.
The now 57-year-old has been rated the fourth greatest player to have called the Gold Coast home.
Baker-Finch famously missed 32 cuts in a row on the PGA Tour from 1994-1997, with a snap-hook across the first and 18th fairways in the first round of the 1995 British Open at St Andrews among his lesser moments.
Baker-Finch could have used the help of Bouvier who became the first Australian to win the St Andrews Links Trophy amateur event with a four-under par total in 1990.
Former professional Jeff Woodland and Baker-Finch forged a close friendship through the sport and were the best man at each other’s weddings.
They finished their apprenticeships at the same time and Woodland revealed the conditions they met on the Sunshine Circuit in outback Queensland helped Baker-Finch mould his talent on the green.
“As young fellas we split costs and travelled together so we could halve everything,” Woodland said.
“We were both very comeptitive together. At Caloundra we would play people for money. We had to learn to how to play quick before we went on tour.
“You can imagine some of the greens we had to putt on in those days. They were cut with an old Victor lawn mower.
“They were pretty rough surfaces, especially up north there is a lot of grain in the greens. We really became good green readers from that Sunshine Circuit.
“It was almost at the point the grain was that strong in some places it actually pushed the ball up hill.”