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Monty outside the ropes
To suggest that Colin Montgomerie is a busy man is something of an understatement,
as Robin Barwick discovered when he spoke to the Scot about life off the course
It would be wrong to believe that the best golfers in the world enjoy a lot of
time off, and it would also be wrong to think that Colin Montgomerie, at 38 years
old, is of an age where he can find more time to relax.
Montgomerie's remarkable run of seven consecutive European Order of Merit titles
may have come to a halt last year, but followers of the royal and ancient game
will underestimate his chances of winning a major at their peril.
After all, Jack Nicklaus was 46 when he won his last major, the US Masters
in 1986, and Gary Player was 42 when he won the same event back in 1978. More
recently, Mark O'Meara won the first major of his career, the US Masters again,
in 1998, aged 41, following up three months later with the Open at Royal Birkdale
for good measure.
Montgomerie clearly has no intention of slowing down his schedule just yet, having
returned last weekend from the Lexus European Golf Cup Final in Italy. Involving
60 amateur golfers from 13 different countries, the event is the showcase of Lexus'
support of the sport throughout Europe; from the professional, through the amateur
game to the grass-roots level, and it is one that Colin seems happy to host each
year.
Talking to him before he gave a press conference at the Lexus event at the luxurious
Palazzo Arzaga Resort near Verona, it swiftly became apparent that spare time
is at a premium for the husband and father-of-three.
"Mondays are my weekends," he says. "I try as much as possible
to get home from wherever I am on Sunday night, I spend ondays at home and then
on Tuesdays I'm generally on my way again."
This allows precious little time for the Scot to spend with his family. "My
three kids are at the same school now, and I do the school run whenever I'm at
home. It's just a complete laugh and I love it. I take them to school and pick
them up on Mondays and I take them in on Tuesdays, and then I'm off. It's not
enough."
They say that Tiger Woods could hit a golf ball before he could walk - give or
take a few weeks - and with the Montgomerie children, aged three (Cameron), five
(Venetia) and eight (Olivia), one wonders whether their father has spotted any
potential.
"We have an Astroturf putting green at home and they've all had a go at putting,"
says the doting father with a broad grin. "Little Cameron loves just putting
the ball in the hole - no matter how it gets there - whether he kicks it, throws
it or chips it. They've all got their own putters and it's quite good fun.
"You can definitely see something with Cameron. There is a slope on the green
and it's quite fast, but even if the ball is moving he manages to hit it and some
other kids don't do that."
In addition to a tournament schedule that takes up between 20 and 25 weeks each
year, and being a member of the European Tour's tournament committee, Montgomerie
is not short of other projects that limit his time at home.
"I've got 12 golf courses worldwide on the go, I've got five academies
that carry my name and I'm linked to the Open Golf Centres as well. I'm also building
junior courses in Scotland of nine and six holes in urban areas to try and get
more people there to play golf, so there's an awful lot happening off the course."
Golf-course design is a pursuit that attracts a great number of experienced golfers.
Nicklaus, Player and Hale Irwin are three players from the senior set who have
numerous design projects on the go around the world, and contemporaries of Montgomerie,
such as Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam and Sam Torrance, are also busy
establishing themselves in the field.
"Unlike footballers or tennis players, golfers are fortunate in that we can
design golf courses, and we have played enough bad layouts to know what is good,"
explains Montgomerie. "Hopefully they will play a course of mine in the Emirates
on the European Tour within the next couple of years.
Emirates Hills is the course with by far the biggest budget that I have worked
on, and it's a very good test of golf. It was a project that I enjoyed very much
because normally you can see golf holes working their way through valleys around
lakes, but in the Emirates I was just presented with a desert which was literally
flat. It takes some imagination, but we realised that we could do whatever we
wanted here, and we did. We moved a great deal of earth and it worked out well."
The newest string to Montgomerie's professional bow sees him coaching elite amateur
golfers as they prepare to make the transition to the professional ranks. In collaboration
with one of his main sponsors, luxury car brand Lexus, Montgomerie announced at
the end of October that he will offer advice via email to the champions of the
Lexus European Under-21 Championships.
Working alongside the R&A, national golf unions and federations, Montgomerie
will provide an email advice and coaching facility for the two champion golfers
during the year that follows their victories. Each golfer - this year's winners
were Scotland's Barry Hume and Spaniard Emma Cabrera - will also be invited to
receive personal coaching from the Ryder Cup stalwart at his teaching academy
at Turnberry as part of the Lexus Mentoring Programme.
"I missed out on information and views on how to translate from a top amateur
to the professional game and I was shocked by the differences when I first turned
pro," recollects Montgomerie.
"I didn't know about the travel and the little idiosyncracies of the pro
tour that aren't a part of the amateur game, so if I can help these players in
any way, shape or form, and give them opportunities that I didn't have, I'd be
delighted to do so."
In addition to practical coaching on their swings and an open forum to seek advice
from Montgomerie, the overall Lexus programme will offer the elite golfers training
in media skills, psychology, nutrition and physiotherapy.
"There is a certain way of handling the media," claims Montgomerie,
"and I have learnt to do that over the years; the word 'diplomacy' springs
to mind. Also 'patience'; one shouldn't rush into answering a question and then
regret the answer later."
As much as golfers enjoy Montgomerie's clinics at Lexus events, relish playing
his golf courses and benefit from his advice, it is to be hoped that the three-times
runner-up in majors still devotes enough of his time to chasing that elusive major
triumph.
"This year's Open Championship at Royal Lytham has given me added incentive
to say, 'right, this can be done'," concludes Montgomerie. "The crowd
are on my side, particularly in Britain - they were super at Lytham - and I look
forward to Muirfield and Augusta next year."
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