Wyn Drabble has been a long-time follower of golfer Ryan Fox. Photo / NZME
Wyn Drabble is a teacher of English, writer, public speaker and musician. He is based in Hawke’s Bay
For years I have closely followed the career of New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox. International travel was out of the question so I’ve had to track his progress online though I did drive to Auckland to see his Chasing the Fox in December.
One of the endearing moments of that visit was seeing his two young daughters sitting tee-side on hole one and calling out to tell him what they were currently eating. A less favourable moment was when I found myself only about 1.8m from David Seymour who was playing for the politicians’ team in the tournament.
Most weekends, I take my first coffee to the PC and check the leaderboard of his current tournament. Saturday mornings are tense because he might miss the cut.
After the first two days of a four-day event, officials work out the cut-off score so that only the top 65 or so players come back for days three and four.
Pro golfers take missing the cut pretty hard; they might go and have a few beers or get straight into practising for next weekend’s tournament. It’s also expensive as they are no longer part of the prize purse.
Friday morning (Thursday in USA) finds me checking the leaderboard before going to work. Saturday is the same and I follow Foxy’s progress and keep a constant eye on what the projected cut will be. If he makes the cut, I’ll be following on the Sunday and Monday mornings.
But I’m not watching live footage; rather I am simply refreshing the scoreboard, at times irritatingly often. I’ve just realised how pathetic that sounds. An ageing man refreshing a scoreboard for hours on end?
Sometimes I do something else before the next refresh. I have been known to make a cup of tea, read a couple of pages of a book or attend to toenail trimming between refreshes, so you can’t say I’m fixated.
Of course, I watch the TV coverage afterwards, but already know the result so it lacks the excitement of repeatedly refreshing.
I’m no golfer, but have dabbled in social stuff. A group of us used to play nine holes each week in Sydney, but it was all for fun as illustrated by the following anecdote.
One of our foursome was a psychologist, and he took his place on the tee at a par three which was fronted by a deep bush-covered gully. The idea was to hit the ball across the inhospitable terrain so that it plopped pleasingly on to the green ready to be putted into the hole.
His first attempt was an airshot. I know how it feels, but I giggled. On his second attempt, the club face caressed the top of the ball and knocked it gently from the tee. Distance achieved, about two inches. We laughed raucously.
Using a number of psychological tricks of the trade, he approached the ball for his third attempt and connected. The ball plunged straight into the impenetrable bush. We were rolling about the place, clutching our stomachs and aching from laughter.
Yes, social golfers at best.
So it came as a delight to see Foxy win his first PGA tour game on Monday morning and earn himself the last available place in the PGA Championship coming up this weekend. I have watched the Golf Channel’s 30-minute summary of round four at Myrtle Beach several times, including in the midst of writing this.
The part I treasured most was seeing both those daughters and their mother all celebrating the joyous victory together beside the 18th green.
If you’re looking for me this weekend, I’ll be in front of a screen. I’m hoping to find it very … well … refreshing.