[Granto]

Thanks to Spike for agreeing to be the next Golfer of the week
Spike's very new to the game and is making superb progress so I thought he be a great candidate for this.

And here's a little video of the man himself in action:
(Not his usual swing as he was injured )

"Now remember I was suffering from quite a bit of pain in my right ribs, but to counter that I developed an unusual swing...."



Members Interview: Dudley Clarke (aka Spike)

Where are you from?
Dublin, Ireland

When did you start playing golf and what's your handicap?
I started playing golf on 3rd July 2009, it was a birthday gift to myself. My current handicap is 30.

How often do you play?
As much as I can afford, but recently it has been 2 or 3 times a month.

How often do you play at GG outings?
All the time...

Best GG event so far?
Difficult question as they are special in their own way. I suppose the winter golf outings to Tsutsujigaoka, especially on Dec. 20th when the greens were so hard from the frost and you needed a metal skewer so you could tee-up your ball.

What is your best golf memory?
Strangely enough, it is the first tee-shot I made on a golf course. It was also my first time to join a Gaijin Golfers event up at Windsor Park.

I won the honour to tee off first, and I set-up, on the white tee-box, and just after I hit a cracker down the middle of the fairway, Jason shouts from behind ‘What are you ladies doing playing off the Whites???”, the rest of the day we played off the blues and shot 123.

Tell me about a great shot you've made.
This would be from my second day on a golf course, playing Windsor Park with Greg (HookedHacker) and James. We were coming up on the first Par5 of the back nine and my 4th shot landed about 40 yards short of the green. I pull out my 7 iron and do a bump and run. When the ball started to roll on the green I can here James and Greg saying that’s a great shot, only to be followed by you lucky *** it went in. So that was my first chip-in and it made my day.

What is your home course?
Home course is hard to define, I’m a member at Windsor but I have played Tsutsujigaoka and Miyako more. Now that I am back working and can only play golf at the weekends, I suppose I will be playing Windsor a lot more this year.

What’s in your bag?
I started with a full-set of clones bought over the internet.

Now I have:
-TaylorMade R9 10.5degree Driver and R9 15degree 3 Wood
-4-9,PW,SW,LW Irons which are clones of the Callaway x22
-3 & 4 Hybrid, clones of Ping
-Putter, clone of a TaylorMade Spider
But my putter is soon to be replaced with a Piranha Putter
Finally, a hip-flask with 18 year old Irish Whiskey.

What ball do you play?
I started out playing with Nike1 but recently have changed to the Callaway BigBertha Diablo. I like the distance it gives me and also it doesn’t take too much spin.

Who’s your favourite Professional?
Of all time I think my favourite is/was Lee Trevino. Growing up watching golf on BBC he was always a great comedian especially when paired with Seve Ballesteros. In the current group f players on the PGA, I have to go with Padraigh Harrington. This is a player who simply pays his own game and at the end looks at the leader board. Last year in some tournament when he was playing with Woods, he caught a fairway bunker on a Par5, what does Harrington do, he whips out the driver and goes for the green in 2, and he got the green. Great shot.

Favourite golf course you’ve played in Japan?
I would have to say Manna CC, Gary Player course. This was designed to make you think and not simply grab the driver every time. Definitely want ot play there again, but I am looking forward to playing OakVillage in Golden Week.

In the world?
I have only played in Japan at the moment, but can’t wait for my next overseas trip, the second ticket will be for my golf bag and not the other half.

Dream course you want to play in the future?
Would love to play Augusta(Masters), The K Club(RyderCup 2006), St.Andrews(The Open 2010) and I came across a NewZealand course CapeKidnappers.

Best round ever?
Shot 97 a few weeks ago at Tsutsujigaoka. It really surprised me as I shot 53 on the first 9 and thought breaking a 100 was gone for the day.

What is one aspect of your golf game you would like to improve on in the next year?
Distance, is the killer for me. I’m lucky if my driver hits 230 off the tee, making Par5’s a struggle and especially the long Par4’s. I am known to use a 3wood on some Par3’s....

Interesting golf story?
Back in December 2009 I went to the Gary Player Golf Academy for a 1 day golf class. After the lunch session we headed out for 9 holes, myself 2 women and the teaching Pro. Getting set-up on the first tee-box one of the women, who had told me earlier she had just had surgery and it was her first time out since her recovery. She gets over the ball, takes a big swing with the driver and hits the ball down the middle of the fairway. I was standing behind her and noticed something fall. She bent over and picked up what I thought was a spare ball. Anyway we get to green, and as she is addressing the ball for her putt, again I saw what I thought was a spare ball fall from her, only see it roll towards me and realise it was her new glass eye. She just turned to me and said, “Do I have to putt that now that it is in play?”. All through the 9 holes her new eye kept falling out all over the place, once she laughed about it herself it was ok for the rest of us. I felt like I should have had a catcher’s mitt with me.

Message for other GG members?
My main message to other members of golfjin is one of thanks. You guys and girls, have made my introduction to golf a fun and sometimes competitive one. But most of all you have shown to me that golf is not just a sport but a community event.

Thanks Spike!

[Hooked Hacker]

Cool interview.

Thanks guys.

[Woy Woy]

good stuff Spike.

i was there for the filming of the kung fu panda swing, great day out it was.

[Hidenori Kondo]

Hi Spike !

Interesting Story.
I hope you have another chance to play in overseas.
In February, I played in Thailand with coleague.
Hope to play with again at GG events


Kondo from Kagawa-pref.
(If you have chance to visit Shikoku, come with Golf Clubs)