No, he's not going to be Donald Trump's Director of Golf at Balmedie!
PETER SMITH COMING HOME FROM NEW ZEALAND
IN AUTUMN FOR GOOD
Down there, Smith won the New Zealand club professionals’ championship in 2003 and one other event around that time.
In 2006, he was head-hunted by Hilversum Golf Club to become its head professional but his family never really settled in the Netherlands and he returned to New Zealand.
The last couple of years, Smith played various satellite tours on the Continent to prepare himself for last year’s European Seniors Tour School on the Algarve.
“I started badly but was playing well by he end of the tournament. I just gave myself too much ground to make up and there are not a lot of qualifying spots on the Seniors Tour available.” he recalled earlier this week on a flying visit to Aberdeen and was my guest for tea and scones at the Kippie Lodge Club (pictured above) on the western outskirts of the city.
“But I came over recently and qualified to play in the PGA Seniors Championship at Slaley Hall last weekend. I played with guys like Sam Torrance, Barry Lane, Sandy Lyle and Andy Oldcorn and I thought I was a little bit unlucky to finishwith a triple bogey and a double bogey which pushed me well down the final placings from seven at time to 37th.
“But it has whetted my appetite to have another go at the Seniors Tour School later this year. The friendly atmosphere at a Seniors Tour event was great. Sam, Barry, Sandy and Andy could not have been nicer. I knew them 20-30 years ago but, compared to them, I'm just a rookie as a senior golfer.
"That did not make the slightest bit of difference. They were as chatty on and off the golf course as if I played with them every week. The atmosphere was in direct contrast to what it's like at the Seniors Tour Qualifying School, must of it caused by nerves, just like at the younger guys' Q School. But having now experienced a Seniors tournament as a player, I am determined to make the grade at the second attempt.
"Why are we coming back to the North-east for good after 10 years in foreign parts? The answer is that Carol and I are simply homesick. I want to spend my senior years back in the North-east which has a great golfing scene and great golf courses. People who live here don't really appreciate what they've got. You've got to be like me and travel round to the other side of the world to realise that the North-east in general and Aberdeen in particular is a very nice place to live."
Smith laughs at the suggestion that he is coming back to the North-east to be Director of Golf at Trump International but he does admit that he is looking to get involved in some way in the North-east golf scene on his return.
“Even if make it to the Seniors Tour, it really is a part-time circuit, with not nearly so many events as the European Tour. So there is scope to play on the over-50s tour and have a fulfilling job at the same time here in the North-east,” he says.
“I'm not blowing my own trumpet but I feel I have an awful lot of golf experience – I was manager of a golf resort for two years in New Zealand, for instance – that could be of use to someone, some club or business when I get back here to stay. I am open to offers."
Peter Smith knows he is coming home at a bad time, when Britain is still struggling to come out of a recession but he's a self starter, intelligent and articulate. If he has to, he will start his own golf-orientated business.
. . . AND HE’S OPEN TO OFFERS
A COLIN FARQUHARSON "EXCLUSIVE" STORY
One of the North-east’s leading golf personalities of the 1980s and 90s, Peter Smith is coming from New Zealand to spend his senior years among his ain folk.
Born at Udny Station 50 years ago the son of a Highland League footballer, Peter Smith, was Murcar Golf Club professional from 1983 to 1986 and won the Northern Open at Murcar in 1992 with an aggregate of 264 which still stands as a record for the tournament.
He qualified from Challenge Tour to play on the European Tour from 1990 to 1994 and then was Newmachar’s director of golf from 1996 until 2000, the year he and his wife Carol emigrated to New Zealand.Down there, Smith won the New Zealand club professionals’ championship in 2003 and one other event around that time.
In 2006, he was head-hunted by Hilversum Golf Club to become its head professional but his family never really settled in the Netherlands and he returned to New Zealand.
The last couple of years, Smith played various satellite tours on the Continent to prepare himself for last year’s European Seniors Tour School on the Algarve.
“I started badly but was playing well by he end of the tournament. I just gave myself too much ground to make up and there are not a lot of qualifying spots on the Seniors Tour available.” he recalled earlier this week on a flying visit to Aberdeen and was my guest for tea and scones at the Kippie Lodge Club (pictured above) on the western outskirts of the city.
“But I came over recently and qualified to play in the PGA Seniors Championship at Slaley Hall last weekend. I played with guys like Sam Torrance, Barry Lane, Sandy Lyle and Andy Oldcorn and I thought I was a little bit unlucky to finishwith a triple bogey and a double bogey which pushed me well down the final placings from seven at time to 37th.
“But it has whetted my appetite to have another go at the Seniors Tour School later this year. The friendly atmosphere at a Seniors Tour event was great. Sam, Barry, Sandy and Andy could not have been nicer. I knew them 20-30 years ago but, compared to them, I'm just a rookie as a senior golfer.
"That did not make the slightest bit of difference. They were as chatty on and off the golf course as if I played with them every week. The atmosphere was in direct contrast to what it's like at the Seniors Tour Qualifying School, must of it caused by nerves, just like at the younger guys' Q School. But having now experienced a Seniors tournament as a player, I am determined to make the grade at the second attempt.
"Why are we coming back to the North-east for good after 10 years in foreign parts? The answer is that Carol and I are simply homesick. I want to spend my senior years back in the North-east which has a great golfing scene and great golf courses. People who live here don't really appreciate what they've got. You've got to be like me and travel round to the other side of the world to realise that the North-east in general and Aberdeen in particular is a very nice place to live."
Smith laughs at the suggestion that he is coming back to the North-east to be Director of Golf at Trump International but he does admit that he is looking to get involved in some way in the North-east golf scene on his return.
“Even if make it to the Seniors Tour, it really is a part-time circuit, with not nearly so many events as the European Tour. So there is scope to play on the over-50s tour and have a fulfilling job at the same time here in the North-east,” he says.
“I'm not blowing my own trumpet but I feel I have an awful lot of golf experience – I was manager of a golf resort for two years in New Zealand, for instance – that could be of use to someone, some club or business when I get back here to stay. I am open to offers."
Peter Smith knows he is coming home at a bad time, when Britain is still struggling to come out of a recession but he's a self starter, intelligent and articulate. If he has to, he will start his own golf-orientated business.
Labels: SENIOR PROS
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Wednesday, June 30, 2010
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home