The Australian Senior PGA champion on stepping up in your 50s from a pennant player to a winning pro.
Reigning Australian Senior PGA champion
AGE: 57
Dad was a good golfer, so we all played. I grew up in country South Africa, just outside a little town called Tzaneen. My dad was a good golfer, but because I had to go to boarding school, I only played golf during the holidays, because it was never a school sport. When I went to university, I was playing off a 3 or 4 handicap and made the university team. That’s when I started playing seriously. At school, I was a hockey and a squash player but broke my ankle, so that was the end of those two pursuits. I decided then to concentrate on golf.
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I relocated to Australia in 1995. I’d just turned 30. My father and all my father’s side of the family are Australian. Dad worked for South African Breweries, which is why we were born and grew up there.
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Once settled in Sydney, I joined Pymble Golf Club and played a few of the Vardon events but never won one. I played the mid-amateur series and managed to win one at Gold Creek. I won the New South Wales Mid-Amateur, played the Australian Mid-Amateurs and pennant golf. From when I started, I didn’t miss a team. I played 19 consecutive years and captained our team a few times. We managed to win it in ’97 – the second year I was here. I thought it was going to be easy, but we haven’t come close since. We’ve been in a few finals but haven’t won it since 1997.
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I only started working with John Serhan when I was 48. I ran my own financial services business, and given I was in control of my diary, I thought I would give it a crack. That’s when I started seeing John. Prior to that, my dad had been my only coach. At 48, playing off a handicap of plus-2, what I decided to do was take half a day a week off from work and practise. At 49, I took a full day a week off for practice and playing, and then went to PGA Legends Tour Q-School at 50. Only three guys get a card and I managed to win it.
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I’ve always been methodical, keeping stats and trying to learn from numbers, given that’s my background, but John’s a hell of a lot more than just a swing coach. I got to know John through pennant matches, when he was caddieing for someone I was playing against. I got to know the guy and like him. That’s the most important thing: you’ve got to respect and enjoy the guy’s company if he’s going to be your coach. I was battling a few back issues, so he put me in touch with Matthew Green, a physiotherapist with Precision Athletica at the time. We worked on nutrition around the golf course. We worked on drills and practising with purpose. Don’t just go and hit balls – John’s got a myriad of games to make sure you’re under pressure when you’re on the range.
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One of the first phone calls I made before the playoff with Peter Lonard for the PGA Seniors was to John to say, “Listen, I’m nervous as hell. What the hell do I do?” They were fairly unique circumstances at Richmond Golf Club. We played the first day, which was quite wet, and I shot four-under. The second day, we didn’t even get out there. Then on the final day, at first we were going to play, and then the PGA messaged to say, no, it was delayed an hour. Next they messaged again to say that, because there were only nine holes playable, we were going to play two loops of nine. Eventually they called to say, “It’s called off. We need you to play the playoff.”
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We played the 10th hole over and over. It’s a tiny little green and the flag was behind the bunker. It was 168 metres. The first time around, we both hit 5-irons and came up short in the trap. And then the subsequent four times we hit 4-irons. Interestingly, the first time around I should have been gone. We both hit it in the bunker. Peter played first, came out to about four feet and I came out to about six. I missed, and his putt went in and out of the hole. He should have made par and it should have been all over. The second time, I missed the green short right and he’s knocked it on. I’ve hit it about six or seven feet past the flag and made the putt for par. He missed. I thought, Well, you’re lucky. Today’s your day. By the fifth time, I hit the green and made the putt for birdie from 20 feet. He had missed the green left and nearly holed the chip, so it was good – especially given that he’s such a good long-iron player. I was definitely the underdog.
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My advice for other pennant-level or mid-amateur-level players considering making the same transition is: you’ve got to find a coach, because we can’t get better on our own. You’ve also got to play as many rounds that count – tournament rounds – as you can. A Wednesday four-ball doesn’t cut it. You’ve got to go and play courses, and that’s why – in those last few years leading up to turning 50 – I played any Vardon event I could find. I played in all the Aussie Mid-Amateurs, then all the state Mid-Amateurs, just to try to make sure I was ready when I got to qualifying school. It’s only three rounds of golf, and if you get there and you’re nervous as hell on day one and shoot 80, you’ve shot yourself in the foot. You’ve really got to get there and treat it as though it’s just another tournament and be used to playing in tournaments. And work on your short game from 100 metres in. Everyone says the same thing: learn how to score. Even when you’re playing with members, try to replicate tournament golf, hole out every putt and learn to love putting.
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Then there’s the non-playing side of it, organising and managing your life. I was still working when I got my card. For the first few years after turning pro, I still worked three days a week, effectively, and performed relatively well, but nowhere near as well as when I sold out of the business and was 100 percent focused on golf. You also need to make sure you have an accommodating wife and children to allow all the practice, preparation and travel. I’ve just had my 57th birthday and my game is as good now as it’s ever been. I’ve never played better.
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I’m now 100 percent golf. I’m not waking up checking e-mails, making phone calls to clients, talking to staff. I wake up in the morning and it’s all about golf. It’s about getting to the gym, eating the right stuff, practising and preparing. If someone’s got the ability to do it 100 percent, then they must. You end up doing both badly if you’re trying to do two things at once. – with Steve Keipert
