The groundskeeper has worked at the Christchurch Golf Club for 37 years – since he was 16 – and will compete in the New Zealand Hickory Open there starting on Tuesday.
Hickory golf is a sport akin to regular golf, but using clubs in the style of those made 100 years ago, with wooden shafts and heads.
This is the third edition of the open, and Lawson has competed in both previous events. He was runner-up last year, just one shot behind winner Sir Bob Charles.
Lawson believes he could do well at this year’s open, but admits he will need to be on form.
“If you go well, you’ve probably got a chance, and if you don’t go well, you’ve got no chance,” he said.
“So, you’ve just got to turn up and play well, and if you do, you’ve got a chance, haven’t you?”
Defending champion Charles will be competing again this year.
“If I’m upright, I’ll be there,” he said.
“I haven’t had a huge amount of preparation so I’ve got low expectations, but I always do – better that than to have high expectations and be disappointed.”
Lawson’s form will hold him in good stead – he currently leads the Harry Vardon Challenge, a weekly competition played by hickory fans in Christchurch.
He has played golf since he was 14, but hickory has given him a new love for the game after being introduced to it just days before the first New Zealand Hickory Open.
“I play more golf now, I would only ever be dragged out by my mates sort of once a month. They’d put my name down and I’d go and play and it was really to hang out with them,” he said.
“Where now I can happily play twice a week – definitely once a week – so I’m much keener to play hickory golf than I’ve ever been to play golf.”
• The New Zealand Hickory Open starts at the Christchurch Golf Club on Tuesday
