AS A youngster, Michael Bonallack idolised Joe Carr, to the extent of trying to ape all of the Sutton player's golfing attributes - with the exception of putting. That would appear to have been an eminently sensible decision, given Carr's on and off problems with the blade and the assessment, by no less a figure than Peter Alliss, that Bonallack had "probably the best short game of any British player of this or any other era".
The Bonallacks, Michael and his wife Angela, are currently having an Irish week. They attended a function at the Portmarnock Hotel and Links last Tuesday, when Michael received the "Legend of Golf Award" from the Legends Society. From there, they travelled on to Killarney where the secretary of the Royal and Ancient is officiating as a Curtis Cup referee.
In a delightful acceptance speech last Tuesday, Bonallack told of the occasion when he and Carr met in the semi finals of the British Amateur at St Andrews in 1958. The younger man was understandably nervous, given the esteem in which he held his opponent. In the 36 hole match, however, he was in front when they stood on the 12th tee, heading for home for the last time.
"Suddenly, Joe turned to his caddie," Bonallack recalled. "Then, in a voice just loud enough for me to hear, he said: `We're all right now, Andy. The wind's over his left shoulder from here on'." Naturally, Carr won the match and went on to capture the title for a second time.
Bonallack, who last year followed former US president George Bush in receiving the Ambassador of Golf Award in Akron, Ohio, was clearly charmed with his Irish honour. And the Legends Society also chose well in giving their distinguished services award to Ivan Dickson, who retired recently as general secretary of the GUI.
The Bonallacks are steeped in golf. When they married, Michael had already captured the British Boys' title and Angela (nee Ward) had been British Girls' champion. And when she was pregnant with their first child, Glenna, they combined to win the Worplesdon Foursomes in 1958. Interestingly, that was the last time they played together until the 75th Anniversary Mixed Foursomes at Thorndon Park last year.
But 1962 was particularly memorable. That year, Michael, already an established Walker Cup player, was in the British and Irish team for the Eisenhower Trophy, while Angela made her fourth of six appearances in the Curtis Cup. And the line up at Colorado Springs also included Michael's sister, Sally, who later turned professional in 1979 and was reinstated as an amateur three years later.
Michael Bonallack, a five time British Amateur champion, took up golf 50 years ago and still plays to a handicap of three. And those who might doubt the proficiency of his short game should consider that when he beat Alan Thirwell by 4 and 3 in the 36 hole final of the English Amateur Championship in 1963, he got down in two from off the green on no fewer than 22 occasions.
BRUCE' Devlin will be remembered in this country as the thin man who captured the Alcan Golfer of the" Year tournament at Portmarnock in 1970. He remains thin, but it was his emotional rather than his physical well being that concerned a female observer when he played recently in a US Seniors' event.
Clearly distressed at the sight of this fine player struggling to an 11 over par 83, the supporter remarked: "No wonder the poor guy is playing so badly. His wife just announced, she was gay."
It seems that the Australian's admirer had been reading a report in Sports Illusrated to the effect that Muffin Spence Devlin, an established competitor on the LPGA Tour, has "come out of the closet". And the supporter proceeded to add two and two together and got five.
Meanwhile, it is unlikely the remark would have been repeated, but for the fact that the supporter was standing beside Devlin's wife, Gloria, who found the entire business highly amusing.
THEY won't be in play until the Captain's Prize (Tom Shanahan) on August 31st. But Sutton's three new holes, brilliantly conceived by Paddy Merrigan, are already providing the members with the sort of challenge that golfers love best imaginary scoring.
Indeed the Walter Mitty bug has even caught up with the club's longest standing member, Michael Fitzpatrick, who joined Sutton in 1932. Fitzpatrick, who considers himself to be the straightest hitter in the club, said: "I'm delighted with the idea of what those holes are going to cost my wayward friends in golf balls and money," he said.
Situated on the residential side of the railway line, the new third, fourth and fifth holes were constructed at a cost of around £100,000, mainly with a view to securing the boundary of the course with the car park of Superquinn. Over the last two years, the club have also spent £70,000 on coastal protection to the right of the first and second holes, and a further £30,000 will be spent this year on the eighth hole.
The third changes from a 365 yard par four to a 485 yard par five the fourth, where the tee is down beyond the pumping station, is a 320 yard par four (with water to the right and rear of the green) as opposed to a 184 yard par three, and the fifth is a 160 yard par three rather than a 487 yard par five.
BARBARA Nicklaus, the woman behind the great man, claimed before the US Open last weekend that if he played well at Oakland Hills, she would be "sending Jack to Britain next month". As a dutiful husband, Nicklaus did his wife's bidding. "This has been my 147th (major championship) and my wife thinks that 150 sounds better," he said. So, he is preparing for Royal Lytham.
Nicklaus has never struck me as a sentimental man. Indeed, he seemed to go out of his way to project an image in keeping with competitive toughness. Significant chinks have begun to appear in the armour, however, especially when he talks of Tiger Woods.
One senses that it has much to do with his own appearance as a 20 year old in the 1960 US Open at Cherry Hills when, after reaching the halfway stage on 142, he found himself paired in the final two rounds with the greatest player of that era. "I remember saying to myself, `Hey, I'm playing with Ben Hogan'," he recalled. "I was pretty excited. And to go out and play with him and see him hit every green in regulation and to see the way he handled himself, how courteous he was with me. It was a special thing."
The ageing Hogan (tied ninth) and the embryonic Bear (runner up to Arnold Palmer) faltered in the end. But Hogan thought so highly of Nicklaus that he said afterwards: "I played 36 holes today with a kid that should have won this thing by 10 strokes." And a year later, Nicklaus was invited to join Hogan in a practice round prior to the Masters.
Returning to Woods, Nicklaus said: "I'm very interested in his career, very interested in what he does." His voice began to tail off as he concluded: "Maybe Hogan wanted to watch me for the same reason. I don't know ...
