After the Christchurch earthquakes the Australian golfer Peter Thomson contacted the Shirley golf club and arranged to come over and visit the course. He wanted to know how he could help. He has friends there he has known for fifty years.
Peter won the New Zealand Open golf title nine times. When I was growing up, you knew it was summer when there were nectarines on the ground and pictures of Peter Thomson in the paper. He looked elegant, compact, determined and ironical. I’ve played a bit of golf with Peter over the years and have had the opportunity to study him at close hand. He is elegant, compact, determined and ironical.
After winning the British Open five times Peter retired and came home. He became an excellent writer and commentator, flirted with politics and now runs a successful international business designing golf courses.
I asked him recently if he’d always been competitive. ‘I think I’ve always been pretty competitive, yes’ he said. ‘I had brothers and we were all competitive.’ Then he thought for a moment. ‘I’ll tell you how competitive I am’ he said. ‘My oldest friend in golf is Kel Nagle. I’ve played golf all over the world with Kel. We won the Canada Cup together. We’ve been through a lot and he’s a great friend. And it has occasionally occurred to me that Kel would be a nicer bloke if he didn’t putt so well.’
When the Presidents Cup was played at Royal Melbourne in 1998, the first ball hit down the first fairway in the first match on the first morning was hit by a New Zealander. The Presidents Cup is between the USA and a team of Internationals. The captain of the International Team that year was Peter, and he’d selected two New Zealanders among his twelve players. They weren’t ranked in the top fifty in the world but Peter thought they could do some damage. He was later asked by the media why he’d sent the New Zealanders out first. ‘New Zealand is two hours ahead’ explained Peter. ‘They’re awake a bit earlier’.
And so it was that Greg Turner and Frank Nobilo went out and beat Mark O'Meara and David Duvall who were ranked 2 and 3 in the world. Greg’s brother Brian and his wife and I had followed them around the course and as Greg came off the 18th we considered the prospect of lunch. ‘No’ said Greg, who was pretty pumped at the time. ‘Let’s go out to the 8th and cheer Ernie and Vijay through. If we can get away to a start today we might get amongst it’.
So we walked out to the 8th and at about driving length on the 8th fairway, sitting on his own with his feet up on the dashboard of a buggy with ‘Presidents Cup Captain’ written on it, was Peter.
‘Hello Greg’ said Peter. ‘You and Frank played very well. I thought you two might do that. Good on you.'
'Yes. It was good’, said Greg. ‘I don’t think you’ve met my brother Brian and his wife Barbara.'
'Nice to meet you,’ said Peter.
As they said hello, Brian congratulated Peter on his excellent speech at the opening ceremony the previous evening.
‘Thanks,’ said Peter. ‘That’s very kind of you.
Brian is the senior Turner brother. He’s a fine poet, a mountain man and a wily judge of sport. He captained the New Zealand hockey team, caddied for Greg and plenty of others on the tour and he sometimes tosses up between a cup of tea and a bike ride around the South Island.
'Yes, I thought your speech was excellent’ continued Brian, warming to the task. ‘Telling the Americans they were the greatest assembly of golfing talent ever to come to this country. That was brilliant.'
'Thank you Brian’ said Peter. ‘I’ve actually just been sitting here thinking about what I might say at the closing ceremony’.
‘Have you worked it out?’ asked Brian.
‘Yes’, said Peter. ‘I thought I might thank them for coming’.