Golf: Shooting age a regular thing for Tauranga golfer Bob Lunn

Bob Lunn has shot his age on the golf course more than 300 times. Photo / George Novak

Shooting your age sounds like an unusual achievement, but on the golf course it is a treasured result – to do it 300 times is something else.

Bob Lunn shot his age, or better, for the 300th time on May 11 and the 85-year-old Mount Maunganui Club golfer is not done yet having already raised his tally to 304 in past two weeks.

"I guess living long enough helps," Lunn says.

"I have had a reasonably fortunate few years of golf. When you have nothing else to do, playing three times a week keeps you fit-ish."

The window for achieving the feat even a handful of times is somewhat narrow as most regular golfers would complete a round in somewhere between 70 and 100 shots.
Lunn was 71 years old when he first broke his age and says he kept track of his record since he achieved it for the 190th time.

"At age 85 I expect it will become easier, weather permitting. On the cold days the body seizes up. A lot of good golf depends on a good course and the Mount provides that, especially this season.

"I am on a 10.2 handicap at the moment and I expect that to go out as winter approaches. Every round of golf I play, good or bad, is recorded whereas years ago good rounds could be dreamed up."

Lunn has been a member at Mount Maunganui Golf Club since 1994 and Mount Maunganui Golf Club general manager Mike Williams says Lunn's feat is something special.

"Bob is a great club member and, as well as being a great golfer, he has volunteered over the years in particular as the club painter. To shoot the scores he is able to at his age is quite rare, but he shoots them on a weekly basis. It is special for the club to have a member of this calibre."

Lunn is a former member of the Tauranga Golf Club, where he played off a two handicap and had a best gross score of 66, and is a life member of the Morrinsville Golf Club. He has achieved six holes-in-one and has won two age group national titles. He started playing in 1952 in Morrinsville where he was a Waikato representative between 1966 and 1972.

"When I was 16 I was a fairly slight build and, if you didn't play rugby back in the 1960s, you were a bit of a wuss. I was given a set of clubs, which my brother won in a raffle, and that was the beginning."

New Zealand Golf championships and golf general manager Dave Mangan said: "Shooting your age is a goal that many golfers dream about achieving and even some of the very best golfers may never do so. For Bob to achieve the feat 300 times is truly remarkable and an outstanding accomplishment.

"There would not be too many other New Zealand Golfers in this special 300 club. New Zealand Golf believes that golf can provide life-long enrichment and it is certainly proving to be the case with Bob."