27
The European Tour and Ryder Cup legend talks extensively about some
of his most special memories and his undying love of golf in Scotland
SamTORRANCE
AN INTERVIEW WITH
Talk us through your early
beginnings as a golfer. At what
age did you start playing?
Do you really think my memory is that
good? Ha ha! Well, I was born in Largs
and when I was five we moved to
Manchester. I think I was about six or
seven years old when I started playing
golf at Rossendale, where my dad was
the pro. I played quite a bit of golf
there but when we moved back to
Largs, when I was 9, I was full-tilt at
golf. I played every day during the
summer holidays, four rounds a day.
Obviously your dad, Bob, was a
big influence in your early career?
My dad was and still is a big influence
in my career. I couldn't have done
anything without him. But I had a lot
of friends that also played. I actually
played with a lot of the members.
There wasn't a huge amount of
juniors back then but I did play in
a lot of junior medals. From 9, 10
and 11 years of age, I was full on.
I played pretty much at Routenburn
and in quite a few Ayrshire team
matches, which involved playing
somewhere else, but I didn't actually
play a lot of other courses back then,
mainly Routenburn.
And you turned pro at 17?
Yes, but I didn't go straight to the
tour. Jimmy Letters, from the John
Letters Golf Company, got me an
interview with Arthur Lees at
Sunningdale in late 1970. I had the
interview, got the job and went there
in '71. I spent a year there, then
Norman Mackenzie, one of the
members, sponsored me on the tour.
I played two tournaments in '71 as an
assistant at Sunningdale. Went on tour
in '72 and I'm still there! I'm still
enjoying the Seniors Tour, it's just as
competitive. I was the youngest on
tour twice � there's not a lot of sports
where you can do that. I was Rookie of
the Year twice, too!
You've obviously played a lot of
courses as a Scottish pro, but the
King's and Queen's at Gleneagles
were very popular in the `70s and
`80s. Were you always a fan of
those layouts?
Well the King's was and still is superb.
The Queen's, which didn't hold events,
is lovely and has a wonderful back nine.
But the King's is just magnificent.
Viewing-wise it's beautiful. Playing-wise
it always had great greens and great
fairways � it's just a great golf course.
They also weren't monster courses,
which is why everybody liked them.
They attracted big names in those
days, like Faldo, Seve, Olazabal,
Langer and so on.
Absolutely, and those guys loved
coming to Gleneagles every year.
How exciting is it for Scottish golf
that the Ryder Cup is coming to
Gleneagles in 2014?
Well it's been at Muirfield before (the
Ryder Cup was held at Muirfield,
Gullane, in 1973) so this is the second
time the Ryder Cup has come to
Scotland and I think that is fantastic for
Scottish golf. The Ryder Cup has gone
all round Europe and I think it's great
that it has come back to Scotland so
quickly. France, Germany, places like
that are going to get it but we've got it
before them which I think is great. And
it's a wonderful thing for Scottish golf.
The Ryder Cup is such a huge event and
it will be such a good thing for Scotland
in so many ways. The Ryder Cup is the
third biggest sporting event in the
world and something like a billion
people watch the opening ceremony
alone � so it provides massive exposure
for golf in this country.
Ireland seemed to really benefit
from the hosting the contest in
2006. So do you expect the event
to have a major kickback for
Perthshire and Scotland?
Well they did, yes, and there are figures
covering what it means to the area,
millions upon millions of pounds. That
will filter out and hopefully a lot of
junior golf will get help and it will just
get moving around a bit. The money
the event generates will go into
developing the game at grassroots level
while hotels and golf courses in general
also see an increase in visitors and
income which is great for the country.
Obviously the most famous venues
in Scotland are the Open
Championship tests. How do you
view Carnoustie?
Carnoustie is the hardest of them all. In
1999 the course was set up too tough,
the rough was too severe and they
realised that. I mean, you could shave
the rough at Carnoustie, like Augusta
National used to be, and it would still
be an unbelievably good test of golf. It
really is a fantastic golf course.
Players really enjoy playing
Carnoustie, don't you think?
Oh yes, good golfers enjoy playing a
good course. A course like Carnoustie?
You queue up to play there, it's just out
of this world. It is the hardest of them
all, by far. The finish is the hardest finish
in golf. I have to be honest, it doesn't
get much better than that.
What about Muirfield?
It's always been the fairest of all the
Open venues. It is one of the better
tests, a great test where precision golf
has to be played. It's almost a mix
between parkland and seaside, the way
it plays. You don't tend to be running
so many shots as you would in St
Andrews. It's more good shots onto
small greens. It's fantastic and I like the
emphasis on getting it onto the green
and not having to try and just two-putt.
If you hit a green, you should have a
chance of trying to hole the putt. It was
my favourite Open venue for many years
until I got to know St Andrews better.

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