PM has 'low-key' two-hour golf lesson

Prime Minister John Key took some time out from his busy schedule to brush up on his golf game at the Otago Golf Club at Balmacewen, Dunedin, yesterday.

Mr Key returned to the course yesterday after shooting a respectable 33 stableford points there last month, as part of a charity event to raise funds for the Edgar National Centre for Diabetes Research. Shelley Duncan, the professional at the Otago Golf Club, yesterday took Mr Key round the course for about two hours to help improve his game''We just went and played probably about 12 holes.

''It was a playing lesson really. He got a lot better.

''He drove the 16th green which is a par four, which was pretty cool, and then two putted for birdie,'' she said.

Ms Duncan said it was a very ''low-key, no pun intended'' - affair, with Mr Key wanting to brush up on his golfing skills before he headed to Hawaii after Parliament breaks for the year.

''It was very relaxed, just the two of us and his security people, obviously. It was a good afternoon.''

She said Mr Key seemed to be having a good time.

''I think a couple of hours on the golf course not talking politics was probably a nice relief.''

Ms Duncan said she came away with a good impression of the prime minister.

''It was nice to see him a bit more himself, because as I said to him, you see him on TV and he has obviously got a job to do, so it was nice to see a bit more of the man.''

Mr Key was in town attending a National Party southern region function, which was held at St Margaret's College yesterday.