ASK any serious golfer and he (or she) will agree . . . a par round beats a hole in one every day of the week.
And to shoot one at the age of 90, well, a golf round doesn’t get much better than that.
Roseville’s John Todd is, quite simply, a golfing marvel.
As he heads into his 91st year, this popular amateur, who plays two competitions every week, actually cannot recall the last time when he DIDN’T break his age in a competition round.
Without any sign of a boast, Todd, has long been a fixture in the first group out and usually plays alongside Roseville’s long-serving golf course superintendent Mark O’ Sullivan.
“It’s quite funny because we spend half our time out there fixing little things around the course while we are playing,” grinned the veteran golfer, who only took up the game when he was in his 50s.
With his recent par round, John Todd keeps on winning!
Every morning he heads for the practise nets to hone his game as he continues to strive to get better and lower his handicap, which ‘blew out’ to 10 in recent months.
“I chipped in for a birdie at the par five 16th, then birdied the par four 17th which I really enjoyed,” he said.
“Then to par the 18th, also a par five, was really satisfying.”
Not bad for a senior golfer that cannot even reach the longer holes in regulation, these days.
Playing off an eight handicap that day, Todd’s 44 points gave him an easy win in the day’s competition.
So, what’s his secret? Well practising every day is a heck of a good start.
This late starter in the game, Todd was an accomplished cricketer, who would head to the SCG as a net bowler for the likes of cricketing greats Bobby Simpson and Norm O’Neill at the peak of their powers.
That involved setting the alarm for 5am and heading to the cricket ground before going to work.
Although long since retired, he’s still an early riser to this day.
Naturally, the most valued club in his bag is the wedge.
“It has to be when you lose your distance,” he says.
“But I do go home and work out where I went wrong in each round and decide what I need to work on to improve the next time I play.”
Todd says cataracts on his eyes meant he was hitting the ball out of sight – his sight – until a recent operation has opened up a new world for him and he can now see where it’s landing.
He also invested in a new electric buggy.
His golfing buddies revealed that he let his son choose the new buggy “in case it lasted longer than he did.”
A good round by any measure, exceptional for a 90-year-old.
The old one served me for 20 years, not a bad innings,” he said.
And John Todd’s going heroes? “My fellow members,” he says.
“I love hearing their stories and their backgrounds and where they have come from and how they came to be here playing golf with me,” he said.
“And it’s great to hear how their kids have come along and taken up golf as well.
“It’s such a great game for all ages and I’m only sorry I took it up so late in life.”
His goal this year? More par rounds.
“It’s been about 20 years since my last one and that was special too as I made 18 consecutive pars,” he said.
“And that’s never easy to do around Roseville.”