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Bob_Huntley

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Simon Hobday A golfing Character.
« on: November 18, 2010, 01:18:41 AM »
Bob,

Was Simon Hobday so upset with his putting one year that he only practiced putting in the off season and in his first tournament of the next season proceeded to 3 putt the first green?

Steve.

I hope Steve will forgive me for using an IM to start a new thread but I knew Simon as a teenage phenom in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia in the early 1960s. I spent a bunch of time with him in 1972 in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia ,at the Chapman Golf Club.

My favorite story about Simon was his attempt to improve his nerves on the putting green. He was convinced that Hypnotherapy was the answer. He was to compete in the Open, I think at St. Andrews. After extensive sessions with his hypnotherapist he declared himself cured of any thoughts of self destruction on the greens.

After his first round at the tournament he was asked "How did it go."

His reply, "I hit a wonderful three iron off the tee. A perfect wedge to fiftten feet and then.... I four putted."

If anyone saw him win the US Senior Open on his closing hole you could see the demons at work.

David Leadbetter, one of the best comedians around, could put on a one man show of Hobday's quirks.


Bob

Bob
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Kevin_Reilly

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Re: Simon Hobday A golfing Character.
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2010, 01:29:28 AM »
Did he ever switch to a long putter?
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"GOLF COURSES SHOULD BE ENJOYED RATHER THAN RATED" - Tom Watson

Mike_Clayton

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Re: Simon Hobday A golfing Character.
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2010, 07:22:13 AM »
Bob,

Hobday was the funniest player ever - and one of the craziest.
There are so many stories about him and going to dinner with the South African's and having them start of the Hobday stories is hysterical.
He played an event in SA a while ago and turned up with a broad hat and David Frost written on the top of the hat.

He three putted the 3rd or 4th hole and took off the hat,looked up and said 'I knew it wouldn't take you long to figure out it was me under here and not Frost'


He was also one of the great ball strikers but a horrific putter.
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Steve_ Shaffer

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Re: Simon Hobday A golfing Character.
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2010, 08:12:35 AM »
Bob,

No problem.

As one who struggles with the putter, I remembered the Hobday putting story but forgot that he 4 putted from 15'

I just discovered this on youtube-" Hobday's Secret"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a4QbXwVSjo
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"Some of us worship in churches, some in synagogues, some on golf courses ... "  Adlai Stevenson
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Chris Buie

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Re: Simon Hobday A golfing Character.
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2010, 09:42:42 AM »
You can see the entire final hole of the 1994 Senior here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9vPNc_P4ls

Hobday and Graham Marsh were tied going into the last hole.  I think about Graham's approach there occasionally because his distance was between clubs - 5-iron and 6-iron.  He went with the longer club.  The moral being what do you do when you are between clubs?  Hit the longer one softer or put some heat on the shorter club? 
I bet 0% of us practice that shot - and yet it happens often.

By the way, Hobday had a lively time hanging out at the really great Magnolia Inn that week.  Mr. Huntley is right, he was a character.
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RJ_Daley

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Re: Simon Hobday A golfing Character.
« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2010, 11:17:54 AM »
It would be fun if one of these golf writers made a project of assembling a compilation of Hobday stories.  I think it would make a pretty amusing golf humor book.  There should be a blog where those that knew Simon could submit their best Hobday stories.  

Has golf lost its characters, or are they around, but due to the way things are marketted and sanitized, we the golf fan don't get to hear about the humor.  It can't be just Feherty and McCord, or the antics of Bill Murry, keeping golf from becoming seriously dull.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2010, 02:57:46 PM by RJ_Daley »
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RJ_Daley

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Re: Simon Hobday A golfing Character.
« Reply #6 on: November 18, 2010, 02:58:51 PM »
Well told Dave!  ;D 8)
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Dan King

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Re: Simon Hobday A golfing Character.
« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2010, 06:43:33 PM »
The number of golfers that make you feel good after interviewing them can be counted on one hand. Simon deserves the middle finger of that count. You could buy him a beer, ask him about anything and then just turn on a recorder. Classic Simon. Unfortunately by the time I was covering the tours he wasn't around much.

Simon is the cat's meow. It makes sense that Simon was a pal of Mr. Huntley's.

Cheers,
Dan King
Quote
If you don't send me a couple hundred pounds a week, I'm going to start wearing your clothes.
 --Simon Hobday (a golfer who was not very fashion-conscious, when asked what he wrote in a letter to the manufacturer of Munsingwear, a line of clothes endorsed by many European golfers)
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