B48: Memories of Bobby Locke

The author has three friends with direct connections to Bobby Locke.

Most directly, Pete Coleman, now aged 81, played with Bobby in an RAF Charity event when he [Pete] was 16 or 17.

At that time Pete’s handicap was plus four, and he was being advised by the legendary 1920 Open Champion, George Duncan, who by good fortune had been associated with Pete’s father, and who was the Pro at Mere Golf Club in Cheshire, where Pete was a member.

Pete said that Bobby had a suede gripped hickory shafted putter. Bobby’s miraculous putting, rated by Ben Hogan as the world’s best, seemed to Pete to be due to Bobby’s ability to make the toe of the putter travel faster than the heel, thus imparting ‘hook’ sidespin.

Bryon Hutchinson, now aged 82, was a Tournament Professional in the fifties, and later, in 1974, as a long-standing Club Pro at Moortown was GB&I PGA Cup Team Captain, remembers how Bobby could shape any shot. His preference was for a draw, almost akin to a hook, but when required he would hit a fade, and even a straight shot!

Mrs Pam Ciceri remembers her father, James Williamson, working for Slazenger, and actually making Bobby’s clubs!