Joy of Golf: Why Gavaskar could never get to grips with golf

Joy Chakravarty 04:49 12/03/2015
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  • Sunil Gavaskar is currently in New Zealand for the Cricket World Cup

    Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar is a master storyteller. He is a treasure trove of anecdotes on any subject and, as I found out recently, golf is no exception.

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    Gavaskar is in New Zealand as a TV commentator for the World Cup, and while travelling to Wellington from Hamilton, I met him and former Australian star Dean Jones at the airport. 

    The conversation turned to golf pretty quickly as I was interested in knowing how ‘Professor Deano’ was getting on with his alternate career.

    For those not in the know, Jones, who plays to a handicap of +2, turned professional a couple of years ago and competed in a few events on the Australian Seniors Tour. It was then that Gavaskar, the first batsman in modern cricket to get past the seemingly insurmountable record of 29 Test centuries of Sir Donald Bradman, revealed a couple of golf-related gems.

    Jones asked Gavaskar why he hasn’t taken up golf seriously, and this was the maestro’s reply: “Two reasons for that.

    “One, I loved to work hard for all my centuries. I toiled for each one of them and never got it the easy way. But that’s not the case in golf. I get a century every time I play!

    "And the second reason is that I will never forget the reply of West Indian legend Sir Everton Weekes some years ago when he was asked the same question.

    "He was about 80 years of age, but had a wicked sense of humour. He said: ‘Young man… all my life I played a game where I hit the ball and somebody else ran after it and fetched it. Don’t expect me to go running after my own shots at this age!’”

    Gavaskar also recalled the first time he played golf. And that’s another amusing tale. He was part of the Sir Garfield Sobers-led Rest of the World XI team which toured Australia in 1971.

    West Indies legend Sir Garfield Sobers is a keen golfer

    Sobers was a keen golfer and he had a tee time booked with Hylton Ackerman and one more player during a rest day, and while he was in the hotel lobby right on time, the other two forgot and ditched Sobers.

    It so happened that Gavaskar was walking down the lobby when Sobers spotted him. He called out and said: “Son, get ready. You are playing golf with me.” 

    Gavaskar, who had scored four centuries in his debut series a few months ago against the West Indies, tried to tell his captain that he had never played before. But Sobers would have none of it, and dragged him to the golf course, where he got him the required shoes and clothing and a golf set.

    A master of the straight drive, Gavaskar said he could not hit one straight shot in the first three holes with his cricket grip. Everything was either a slice or a pull, and everything went all along the ground.

    “I think Sobers was quite fed up by the fourth hole, and after I hit another worm-burner, he came up with what has to be the most perfect sledge. He walked up to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and said: ‘Son, it really is OK in this game to hit the ball in the air!’

    “But Sobers was very nice and he told me a lot of things about the game, starting from the grip. I was slightly better by the time we finished our round, but he never asked me out for a round of golf again.” 

    Johnson’s transformation

    Dustin Johnson returned to winning ways at the WGC-Cadillac Championship

    Dustin Johnson is not saying much about his six-month leave of absence, except for the fact that he wanted to get his head sorted out about several things. And while he was away from the game, he and celebrity fiancée Paulina Gretzky, daughter of NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, had their first child Tatum in January.

    We are not sure how much Johnson worked on his game during this break, and what effect it had on his game, but the American bomber – whose fearless 317-yard drive over water on the tough 18th hole of Blue Monster in winning the WGC-Cadillac Championship is indicative of the kind of excitement he brings to golf – feels Tatum has completely changed his perspective about life.

    After winning at Doral, Johnson said: “It’s hard to describe, but just from the first day he was born, my perspective on life completely changed. Things that were important aren’t important anymore.

    “He’s kind of the only thing that’s really important, and being there for him and being a role model for him.

    “It kind of makes life a lot easier Ithink, just because there’s just one thing that’s kind of all you think about. It definitely simplifies stuff.”

    Stat of the Week

    8 – million dollars, is what Tiger Woods is reportedly spending on his new restaurant in Jupiter Florida. And despite that humongous spend, including the use of Italian marble and Spanish granite, Woods still can’t associate his full name with it, and it is called ‘The Woods Jupiter: Sports and Dining Club’.

    That’s because it has been now revealed that only Nike has the rights to use the full ‘Tiger Woods’ name for business ventures.

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