Peter Williams: Amateur life begins at 38 for old head Sipson

Dean Sipson's selection for the New Zealand team to play the Lake Macquarie Championship at Newcastle, New South Wales in January is a throwback to a time in men's amateur golf when not only youngsters were picked. Sipson, a 38-year-old from the Peninsula Club at Whangaparaoa, is a one-time touring professional who's been reinstated as an amateur.

He's in a team with Josh Geary, James Gill, Mark Purser, Richard Wright and Riki Kauika. All of those players are in the 19-22 age group from which virtually every New Zealand representative of the last 15 years has been drawn.

In days past, players of Sipson's age were commonplace in our national teams. Our second-best Eisenhower Trophy team, the 1970 quartet which was runner-up at that year's World Amateur Championship in Spain, was anchored by the legendary Stuart Jones at 45 years of age. He was teamed with Ross Murray and Ted McDougall, then both well on the high side of 30, and the 24-year-old Geoff Clarke.

But things changed in the late 1980s. By the time New Zealand produced its best ever team, the 1992 world champions of Michael Campbell, Phil Tataurangi, Stephen Scahill and Grant Moorhead, the die had been cast in the shape of youth.

The New Zealand selectors took the attitude they were there to help youngsters on the way to the pro game by providing a chance to play top level amateur golf. Virtually every New Zealand player in the last 15 years has gone on to become a professional. Brent Paterson, David Somervaille and Chris Johns are among the few who haven't.

So Sipson's selection represents a sea change in selection thinking. The concept of having a more experienced player in a team of youngsters has surely been discussed by the panel.

It's worked well for some in the past. For years, successful American amateur teams were a combination of young and old. For example, the US team at the 1990 Eisenhower included Phil Mickelson and Alan Doyle, who's more than 20 years older. In 1992, New Zealand beat a US combination including Justin Leonard and Jay Sigel.

Sipson wasn't a successful professional. He tried to make a living in Australia, Asia and the United States but couldn't. Earlier this decade he tossed it in and worked as a golf equipment company salesman. He didn't know whether he wanted to play golf seriously again or not. For a time he struggled with the idea that competitive amateur golf could ever hold the same appeal as the professional game.

But in the end it was his love of golf that came through. He wanted to play for New Zealand and told the selectors. They had to change their attitudes to older players but top performances can convince even the most sceptical.

Sipson had a consistent run through the late winter and spring tournament schedule of the Waikato Winter Strokeplay, the Bay of Plenty Open, the Auckland Strokeplay, the Cambridge Classic and the Waikato Strokeplay. He led three of those events at some stage and looked like winning the Auckland title until he shot 77 in the final round at The Grange.

Sipson admits he doesn't have the consistency he wants but believes he has an advantage because of the number of years he's played competitively. "You don't know what experience is until you've got it," he told me this week.

With Brad Iles, Kevin Chun, Doug Holloway and Matthew Holten all turning pro this month, there's another changing of the guard among the top amateurs.

2006 is Eisenhower Trophy year. Could a player aged nearly 40 once more be called up for duty?