Robinson unquestionably 'golfer of the year’

Press, 26 November 1980, Page 16

Robinson unquestionably ' golfer of the year’

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

I A magnificent year of golfing achievements by Simon Robinson had its climax last evening when the dark-headed young farmer was named as the 'first winner of the Canterbury “golfer of the year’’ award.

Robinson, aged 25, can take great pride from his outstanding performances which started with his initial success in the Canterbury P. G. F. match-play championship in early April.

In May, he earned himself national recognition by heading 117 rivals in the two stroke rounds preceding the New Zealand amateur championship. As top qualifier, he received the St Andrew’s Salver. Robinson had a very good record in Canterfa u r y ’ s representative matches and in October had the honour of captaining the province to its first victory since 1975 in the South Island inter-pro-vincial tournament. He was the No. 1 player in the Canterbury eight-man team. A week later, he was a member of the Christchurch Woodward Cup team which retained the premier inter-club championship and he contributed five wins and a half linthetopposition. Selected for the fifth successive year in the (Canterbury team for the Freyberg Rose Bowl tournament, Robinson had the honour of leading the province in that event for ■ the first time. < Canterbury’s second placing in the tournament

this month was in no small way attributable to the excellence of Robin-

son’s golf. Playing at No. 2— his highest position in the Freyberg event — Robinson was" the only player of 70 to score the possible seven wins. He has been a tremendous asset to the Canterbury team at Freyberg tournaments, having won 25 matches and hal-

ving three of his 35 contests. His percentage of 75.7 is the best by any Canterbury Freyberg representative, placing him just ahead of such notable names as Bob Charles, Ross Murray and Paul Hartstone. It is not surprising that Robinson has developed into one of the country’s top amateurs. He was introduced to the game at a relatively early age, cadding for his father in Woodward Cup matches when nine years old. His father, Andrew, is still playing Woodward Cup golf after more than 25 years in the competition. He had three Freyberg- tournaments for Canterbury. Pulling his father’s trundler and watching the relaxed and controlled swings of Robinson senior and his playing partner, Colin Caldwell, gave Robinson junior a false impression of the game. “I thought it was easy the

way they stood up and hit the ball so well and' effortlessly.”

However, his view changed hastily when his father told him to have a go himself. "I took a half day to hit the ball. I found there was a lot more to golf after all.” Robinson, whose mentors have been his father and Caldwell, the esteemed professional at

Shirley, was blessed with a natural swing and showed ability above average right from the start. He and an older brother, Tony, played at Harewood, a nursery for young golfers, in the school holidays and Simon had soon reduced his handicap to three. However, while at Christ’s College, he had conflicting sporting interests.

In his last year at college, Robinson was the captain of the Christ’s College first XI and he was a very promising cricketer, a game he still adores. “I had to make the choic between cricket and golf when I left college and it was helped for me by the fact that I wasn’t given a Brabin Cup trial in spite of the team having had a really good year. I was disappointed at not getting a trial when three or four others from the first XI did,” he said. Golf became the game for Robinson and he did

not waste any time in making his mark. One of his most significant successes occurred in his first year after leaving school. He won the Christchurch club’s senior championsuip, a title which is never easy to win at such a strong club. By then Robinson was playing off a handicap of one and his consistency in open tournaments did not

go unnoticed. He was selected in the Canterbury eight-man team for South Island tournaments for the first time in 1974 and, significantly, Canterbury had its first win that year since 1968. The Canterbury junior championship was his in 1975 and the next year he earned his first Freyberg cap. Once again the presence of Robinson seemed a lucky omen for Canterbury which had its fourth victory in the event and its first since 1965.

It was a memorable debut for Robinson who, playing at four, had five wins and a half. He was a central figure in the pulsating finish to the tournament in which Canterbury fought back over the closing holes to edge out Otago and preserve its unbeaten record in dramatic circumstances.

Canterbury needed Robinson’s win against Otago and he seemed set to oblige when he led Phil Con-

lon 4 up with five holes remaining.- Then came a time of trauma as Robinson recalls: “I lost two holes through a lack of concentration and then the adrenalin really started to pump. I hit what I thought were two good approaches on the next two holes but' I was so pumped up the balls flew the back of the greens.” Robinson had lost four holes in a row and was back to square. Standing on the last tee, Robinson was thinking of keeping his back-swing nice and slow which he did. On the down-swing, he recalled getting to within a couple of metres of the ball and then went into overdrive. The impact was perfect and he hit his longest drive of the tournament, almost 300 m.

After pacing the distance to the hole, Robinson chose an 8-iron, hit it perfectly to the heart of the difficult up-sloping green, and that was good enough to win the hole when his opponent missed the green.

That tournament, not surprisingly, remains a highlight for Robinson, who was also thrilled with his effort in this year’s New Zealand amateur championship. He had one of those “dream” rounds on the first day and, by holing four putts of more than 10m, scored a magnificent 68.

The pressure was on him the next day, but he started with two long putts for birdies on the first two holes and had three smaller birdie putts

miss on the next three holes.

“Then I realised there were still 13 holes to go and the rest of the round was all grafting,” he said. His chipping and putting saved him many times and, although he threeputted the last two greens, he scored 71 and clinched the St Andrew’s salver. Throughout his eight years of serious golf competition, Robinson has been an outstanding player and sportsman. He remains confident and calculating, accepting success modestly, concealing defeat generously. He enjoys playing golf “for the game’s sake” and

while he strives to win he gains satisfaction from playing well even if that sometimes does not mean winning. From his losses, he takes a positive outlook, seeing where his opponent was stronger and concentrating on sharpening that part of his game.. ■ ’ -'*? Robinson considers practice an essential part of any top player’s makeup and he has spent counless hours perfecting his shots. He is a true example of a person practising what he preaches. To represent New Zealand is a natural desire of Robinson — “that’s the ultimate for any player”

— but he has his list of priorities and that wish is not on the top. At present, Robinson is hard at work, on his 178hectare sheep farm at Kirwee. He enjoys the outdoor life and hard rural work and he has plans to improve and develop his farm. And heading the priorities are his wife, Debbie, and the recent addition to the family, a son, Nicholas.

Robinson may- not . find the time to play as much golf in the future but this elegant and popular player seems certain to represent Canterbury with distinction for many more years.