Low profile golfer with high profile record

Press, 4 May 1984, Page 16

Low profile golfer with high profile record

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

“Why stop at one level when there is a higher level,” said Paul Minifie. The new Canterbury matchplay champion speaks with conviction as he explains why he is still not satisfied with his golfing lot. Minifie likes to set himself goals; he has surprised himself at the rate at which many have been achieved. But there are ambitions still to be fulfilled and foremost on the list are a higher place in the Canterbury Freyberg team this year and a place in the New Zealand under-26 side to visit Australia next year. Minifie is likely to succeed in his aims. He has made giant strides in his golf progress and no barrier has so far been insurmountable. And he is only 21. A reserved, quietlyspoken person, Minifie is an intense competitor. His light frame does not suggest a golfer of power, yet he has few superiors in distance off the tee. His dedication to practice is unquestionable; 15 hours over the five weekdays, tournament play most week-ends.

But perhaps the most important key to his excellent play and fine record inside the last two years is his attitude. He admits that he enjoys concentrating, enjoys competing, enjoys hitting the ball down the middle, on the green, in the hole, while still watching what his opponent is doing. Before settling in Christchurch at the end of 1980, Minifie had lived in other parts of New Zealand. He was destined to be influenced by golf to some extent, simply because when

he lived in Dunedin he was on the back door of the Balmacewen golf course. He recalls, though, that it was not until he was about 11 or 12 that he had any desire to play the sport. He was keen on many other games, notably soccer and rugby in the winter, and cricket in the summer. He was good enough to appear in an Otago under 15 cricket trial before he left the province and stopped playing the game. Interest grew when a friend supplied Minifie with a shortened No. 2 wood when he was about 12, and that club fired his imagination as he played twilight golf with his father regularly around the four holes that bordered their house. As he became more involved and his club collection increased, Minifie and four of his friends would take a couple of short irons or a putter and play the same holes under their own competition rules. When Minifie left Dunedin for Wellington and the Hutt club, he was 15 and on a handicap of eight. He represented the Wellington under 21 team when aged 17 and also played three games for his club in the Duncan Cup competition, the equivalent to the Canterbury association’s Woodward Cup contest. By then his handicap had been reduced to three.

Minifie has made many correct decisions on choice of club and type of shot in his blossoming career. But his best golf decision, as far

as Canterbury is concerned, was when he heeded the advice of a Wellington professional, Dennis Sullivan. When his father, an employee of Caltex Oil New Zealand, Ltd, gained promotion and a transfer to Christchurch, Minifie’s initial reaction was to remain in Wellington and find a flat. He was advised by Sullivan to "get out of Wellington and its perpetual winds” if he wanted to improve his golf. Minifie did leave Wellington with his parents, who joined the Christchurch club on their arrival in the city. Minifie, anxious to start back in golf immediately, went to Waitikiri which has reciprocal rights with the Hutt club. He became a junior member at Waitikiri, and not long after, had his junior membership accepted at Christchurch. He has remained a member of both clubs since, finding that the courses complement each other ideally; Shirley with its length, Waitikiri with its smaller greens and emphasis on accurate shot placement.

Minifie failed to make the Canterbury junior team in his first year, but he was a member of the successful under 21 Canterbury team at the South Island championship in 1982 and 1983. He was the captain and leading individual at the tournament last year. Waitikiri, too, has every reason to pay a debt of gratitude to the lithe righthander. He has played 26

Woodward Cup matches for the club, more than half at No. 1, for 19 wins and two halves.

In 1982, Minifie played against Buller-Westland, Otago, Mid-South Canterbury and made the eightman team for the South Island inter-provincial tournament. He had other good results such as his victory in the Canterbury mixed foursomes and a semi-final place in the Canterbury amateur championship. But it was only last year that he “really decided to try to make teams at any level.” The motivation he needed came in rather unusual circumstances. Minifie was reconciled to the fact that the Canterbury Freyberg team picked itself last year and he saw himself as a candidate only as the reserve. “Then John Williamson badly injured a knee in a ski-ing accident and I knew there was a chance.”

He faced vigorous competition, especially when Williamson recovered sufficiently to be back in the reckoning at a late stage. But Minifie produced the form — losing only one of eight representative matches for Canterbury in the buiid up — and his fitness was never in doubt. He got the selectors’ nod for the fifth position.

It is now history that Minifie won all seven matches in his Freyberg debut. His team-mates nicknamed him “minnow” and many of his opponents at the tournament considered the unknown Canterbury player to be small fry. But

in a big pool of talent he landed many a prize catch. “When I was living besideBalmacewen I used to watch the Otago Freyberg players. The province was very strong then, and I dreamt about playing Freyberg golf. It was a dream come true playing in the tournament.”

Whereas many prominent golfers have competed for many years without success Minifie was in the winning team at his first appearance. He admitted that “it didn’t really sink in” and he was more subdued than his colleagues. This season his play has again been impressive. He was equal second behind Mark Street in the Canterbury stroke championship, and was consistently placed in open tournaments before beating Street at the twentieth hole in the provincial match-play final. In Wellington and now in Christchurch, Minifie has always been respected for his short game “probably a result of all my practice at Balmacewen.” But his long game has developed immeasurably, too. He says that the secret is in finding a good driver, and he has discovered a metal wood which suits him and gives him extra confidence.

By working full-time in Mark Guy’s professional golf shop at Shirley, Minifie has an acceptable arrangement which allows him the time he wants for practice. He is likely to be an asset to Canterbury for some time as he enjoys the strong competition, the courses, and the weather in the province.