Golf: Wilson hits every green in one

New Zealand amputee golf champion Tony Wilson shows his golfing style yesterday. Photo by Craig...
New Zealand amputee golf champion Tony Wilson shows his golfing style yesterday. Photo by Craig Baxter.
He is left-handed but he plays golf right-handed and hits with his left hand back-handed.

Confused?

Tony Wilson isn't. He is the New Zealand amputee golf champion and is a pretty handy with a golf club.

Wilson, who is a member of the Twelve Oaks Golf Club and plays off a 29 handicap, has been playing for the past five years.

He won the New Zealand championship for amputees over two rounds in Christchurch, at the Windsor Golf Club.

He finished at the front in a field of 24 golfers, after he had finished runner-up in a couple of the previous tournaments.

He uses right-handed clubs but with no right arm below his shoulder, he can only hold the club with his left hand and he hits back-handed. It is the only way he can hit, as left-handed clubs would be too difficult to control.

He said ball control was not too bad but the main problem was getting enough power with his driver. His longest drive is just under 200m.

''You can't use a driver as well. Just quite can't get the control with it and be able to get all the power into it,'' he said.

He said his short game was the best part of his game, and he used a conventional putter.

He lost his right arm in an accident in May 1978 when a truck he was driving collided with another truckin the Manuka Gorge.

Wilson (58), a Dunedin beneficiary, is also a handy sportsmen in other fields.

He won a multisport competition for amputees from the southern South Island earlier this month.

Competitors had to play pool,golf and tenpin bowling.

Wilson, who played tenpin bowling to a serious level a few years ago, was a clear winner.

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