NEW CHAMPION

Press, 11 December 1976, Page 18

NEW CHAMPION

By

Twelve months ago, Simon Owen (above) took 11 strokes to play the eighteenth hole at Russley, and finished an inglorious last in "The Press” pro-am. At the Heretaunga course last week-end the 25-year-old Owen cleared out on his rivals to win the New Zealand Open golf title.

Undoubtedly, the recent achievement was far more in keeping with Owen’s usual form than his nightmarish performance at Russley.

The tall, amiable Wanganui professional deserved his Open victory. After renouncing his amateur days six years ago, he had a long, hard struggle to keep body and soul together as he

JOHN BROOKS

chased birdies and dollars in New Zealand and overseas. In his early days be worked as a barkeeper in a Wanganui hotel, using his mornings off to hammer the wrinkles out of his game at the Castlecliff course. Even then he displayed the will to succeed — there was a hint of stem resolve beneath a mild exterior.

But that success took time, and this, in turn, placed pressure on Owen's patience and his bank balance.

The redeeming feature of Owen’s career was that he never lost faith in himself. And in 1974 his patience was rewarded. He won the German Open and was second in the Dutch Open; his Euro-

pean circuit earnings reached $25,000. These glowing results on his first major tour bolstered his confidence to such an extent that he began to play with authority consistently. He has looked impressive on the New Zealand circuit, and it seems certain that he will add sev-j cral more big tournaments to his Open vict o r y . No-one will begrudge him success, for Owen combines a levelheaded approach with a sunny nature. He learned much about golf from Wanganui’s famed amateur international, Bryan Silk, and by the age of 17 he had won the ManawatuWanganui senior championship. He had two fruitful years as a Freyberg Rose Bowl player before pluging into pro-! fessional ranks.

Simon Owen is now representing New Zealand in the World Cup contest in California. There should be many more honours in store for him — even if he decides to forsake Europe for a year or two in order to match strokes with the “big guns” on the American circuit.