Golf stories from journalist Peter Stone

Katherine Hull-Kirk

It was, perhaps, a daunting third shot off a barren lie in the vacant stretch of land adjacent to the left side of the 18^th hole at Royal Canberra for Katherine Hull on Sunday in the final round of the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. The high carry over trees of 60 metres and she hit her sand wedge with perfection to just outside a metre.

The resultant birdie gave her a four under par 69 for a 72-hole tally of 11 and tied eighth, seven shots behind the champion Jiyai Shin, but she was the leading Australian against the formidable international challenge.

Standing Strong

There is a late 1990’s film ITAL The Vanishing ITAL that is, well, something of a horror movie. That title could well be given to any number of professional golfers who reach such giddy heights as winning a major and then plunge into obscurity.

It is well documented Ian Baker Finch, the 1991 British Open Champion, in one of them. He shoots in the 60s every time he plays socially but, put a tournament scorecard in his hand, and those very hands begin to tremble as the gray matter in his brain whispers quietly: Fear of Failure. Thankfully IBF has found another golfing career as a TV commentator, and his expertise and inside knowledge of players is quite superb.

Scott Gardiner

It is the feel-good story of this past week in Australian golf. Scott Gardiner, a proud Aboriginal, will next year become the first of the original Australians to play for the massive dollars on the USPGA Tour.

We all knew Gardiner had talent in shag bags-full when he first introduced himself to the Australian golfing public at large when, in 2000 as an amateur, he finished tied eighth in the Greg Norman Holden International and then tied seventh in the Australian Masters.

Scotty turned pro, and finished tied fourth in our now defunct Players Championship. In 2001, he played on invite on the European Tour in 12 events and won 156,000 Euros. Some financial genius will surely convert that to our dollars, but it is of no matter in this comparison – in 2000, Adam Scott played 11 events in invite on the European Tour and won the lesser 146,000 Euros.