The Joy of Golf: A fear of flying lands Florian Fritsch in a tricky situation

Joy Chakravarty 13:31 06/11/2014
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  • Hoping his career will take off: German Florian Fritsch.

    The top-45 players at the end of the regular season qualify for the Challenge Tour Grand Final, which is being played this week at Al Badia Golf Club in Dubai Festival City.

    The tournament is of great importance for these players, as those who finish in the top-15 of the rankings after the event, earn their card for the 2015 season of the European Tour.

    So, you would expect all 45 players to give their blood, sweat and tears and a last final push towards ensuring they are among those 15. However, one of the players is missing from action – Florian Fritsch of Germany, who was ranked No10 before the Grand Final.

    The 29-year-old Fritsch suddenly developed an acute fear of flying in 2010, and the situation was so bad, he gave up playing competitive golf for eight months. For a modern-day professional golfer, to reject airlines as a mode of transport is a bit like having a phobia of putters.

    Fritsch has started competing again, but the Frankfurt-based player only drives to tournaments, which means he plays most of his golf in continental Europe. There have been times when he has driven more than a thousand miles one-way to take part in tournaments.

    This year, Fritsch played in 15 Challenge Tour events and finished inside the top-10 in seven of them to be ranked 10th. That’s a remarkable performance considering he did not take part in any of the big-money events in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, China and Oman.

    Fritsch has earned ¤92,943 (Dh426,000) so far, which should keep him inside the top-15 and earn him a European Tour card. It will be interesting to see what he does next year.

    Perhaps the German should have a word with hypnotherapist Russell Hemmings and the parents of Joe Thompson, the boy who was stranded in Abu Dhabi for nearly 15 months after developing a similar phobia. It was only worse in Joe’s case as he not only feared planes, but also cars and boats.

    Eventually, Joe was shifted to England last year when he was hypnotized before walking up to the plane and he had a comfortable trip back home to Manchester.

    Length does matter

    The next time you are YouTubing, do have a look at Michael Furrh and his unique golfing achievement.

    Earlier this week, the Dallas native entered the Guinness Book of World Record for hitting a shot with the longest usable golf club.

    At Rolling Hills Country Club, Furrh smashed his drive just 63 yards, but what was more important is that his driver was 20 feet and six inches long.

    I have absolutely no idea how he carries it in his bag, or in his car, and where he stores it in his house, but it helped him beat the previous record of 14 feet 5 inches – a midget compared to Furrh’s equipment.

    Among the professionals, the one player who made headlines because of the length of his drivers, was Swedish golfer Jarmo Sandelin. He once hit a 400-plus yard drive during a practice round at St Andrews, which smashed a car windscreen, using a 60-inch (5ft) driver. The conventional length is around 44-45 inches.

    Sandelin was a known maverick on the Tour, and while the 60-inch driver was an oddity for him, he regularly played for many seasons, including the 1999 Ryder Cup, with a 52-inch driver and five wedges in his bag.

    Quote of the Week


    “I’ve never played with Obama, but I would… I’d take him out. He’s a hack and I’d be all day playing with him… I never said he wasn’t a great politician. I’m just saying he’s a sh***y golfer.” – NBA legend Michael Jordan on how good a golfer he thinks President Barack Obama is.

    Stat of the Week
    13 – inches, was the difference in winning $250,000 (Dh918,000) and nothing. In the World Long Driving Championship at Las Vegas, it came down to two Jeffs – Jeff Flagg and Jeff Crittenden. And Flagg won the winner-takes-all cheque with a 365 yard 20-inch drive into slight headwind. Crittenden’s drive was just a foot short.

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