A GREAT GOLFING HERO?

Who is your golfing hero?

Arnold, Nicklaus, Hogan, Tiger, Rory? It makes perfect sense to have one of the world's best players as your hero.

Golf Refugees' golfing hero is Maurice Flitcroft (you can see our 'Maurice' organic t-shirt being modeled here by Mariangela).

He wasn't one of the world’s best golfers, in fact he couldn't really play at all, but he still achieved something remarkable. You could describe him as one of those Great British sporting underdogs.

Golf was his chosen sport, he practiced on his local beach in Barrow-in-Furness and dreamed of playing in the British Open.

But he wasn't a member of any golf club, and hence had no official handicap, which meant he couldn't enter Open qualifying as an amateur.

So he decided to enter as a pro.

On that infamous day, what little talent he possessed deserted him and he recorded the highest score in Open qualifying history, 49 shots over par.

The governing body of golf, the R&A, looked upon this as an embarrassment and decided to ban Maurice for life, as only small-minded-rules-officionados can do.

But this spiteful reaction by the R&A did not deter Maurice, and he continued to pursue his golfing dream by entering the Open time and time again under various disguises and pseudonyms.

A great golfing hero in our eyes.
 
http://www.golf-refugees.com/video_maurice.htm -------------------------------------------------------