Greetings Golfers,
Last week, the world lost everyone’s favorite James Bond – Sean Connery. Actually, his full name was Thomas Sean Connery. You can never have enough Toms … especially when it comes to golf: Old Tom Morris, Tommy Armour, Tom Watson, Tom Weiskopf, Tom Kite, Tom Lehman, Tom Nicklaus, Tom Palmer, Tom Woods, Tom Mickelson, Tom Ballesteros, Tom Norman, Tom Fowler, Tom McIlroy, Tom Koepka … the list just goes on and on.
Well, Tom/Sean Connery was a golf fanatic. In fact he became a member of the Royal and Ancient and played in a lot of club tournaments on the Old Course at St. Andrews.
Of course he did … he was a Scotsman. And he kept that Scottish brogue throughout his 60+ year acting career.
No matter what role he played … he was cool. And he was especially cool as 007. You need to rewatch the movie “Goldfinger” … it’s fun and hilarious. The best scene in the movie is when Bond plays golf with Goldfinger and his caddie Oddjob.
Connery had a good golf swing … you can see it in “Goldfinger”. He partnered with Hale Irwin to win the 1996 Lexus Challenge with a 21-under par total of 123.
Like a lot of us, he became obsessed with golf. In his own words: “I began to take lessons on a course near the Pinewood film studios, and was immediately hooked on the game. Soon it would nearly take over my life. I began to see golf as a metaphor for living, for in golf you are basically on your own, competing against yourself and always trying to do better. If you cheat, you will be the loser, because you are cheating yourself.”
How good was that? Spoken like a true Tom.
R.I.P.
Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com
Deer Run Golf Club
8661 Deer Run Drive
Victoria, MN 55386
(952) 443-2351
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