A HOLE-IN-ONE is usually something pretty special for golfers, but when Frank Phillips sunk one at Mt Broughton a couple of weeks ago it was nothing new.
While Frank does not get out on the golf course as much as he used to, he is still one of the Highlands' most successful golfers.
Between 1950 and 1995 Frank travelled the world playing golf professionally.
He won the Australian Open twice (1957 and 1961), the NSW Open five times and a total of 45 four round tournaments across the globe.
Frank's life long love of golf started when he was an eight-year-old boy living in Kirkham Street, Moss Vale.
"I had friends who used to sort of play in a paddock and I thought that's not a bad idea, so I went over and I had a hit," he said.
"We had three holes dug out in the paddock and we used to play to those."
Frank left home when he was 18 and returned in 1992 to care for his father. While he loved the experience of playing on some of the world's best courses, he admits it wasn't all glitz and glamour.
"Well it's a bit difficult actually because [I was] married with children and [being] away for four or five months a year it was pretty hard on the family, but it was a good living in those times," he said.
While Frank was a natural when it came to golf, he still dedicated himself to hours of hard work in order to be at his best.
"When I first started I used to work very hard and things just fell into place. It's amazing how it happened," he said.
He spent several hours each day working on his game and making sure he had the best possible preparation heading into tournaments.
"I'd pick the club out I was playing badly and I'd go and practice that for three or four hours until I got it right," he said.
"I used to practice in the morning and play 18 holes in the afternoon and sometimes 36 holes just to sort of keep my touch on the greens and all that, but I used to practice at least three or four hours a day."
Frank also credits his success to some of the great golfers he learnt the game from.
"I had a few good teachers. Ones that come to mind are Eric Cremin, Kel Nagle, Peter Thomson - and you learn," he said.
"You learn by watching what they do and you talk to these people. It's the old saying, 'you pick their brains'. The greatest example of that was Gary Player.
"I've known Gary Player since he first started and he used to pick everybody's brain. He was not a naturally gifted player, but through sheer determination and practice he became a great player."
Lucky enough not only to play golf professionally, Frank played against some of the world's greatest golfers, including Jack Nicholas and Ben Hogan.
"I played a few times with Ben Hogan and [he] was the finest striker of the golf ball I've ever seen - and that's modern and old times. He was just unbelievable."
Of the courses he has played on throughout Australia, Frank said those in Melbourne and Adelaide were some of the best.
"I always thought they were a little bit better than most of the courses in Sydney," he said.
Frank is an expert in what a golf course should be. He helped Billy Dunk design the Mt Broughton course and has been a patron of the club for more than 10 years.
He now plays about twice a week and, when he doesn't have a club in hand, he's still sure to be seen around the course.
"I just hang around the golf course," he said. "I come out just about every second day and have a cup of coffee and I might play nine holes and with the club president. "We try TO plan little things to do to the golf course, with the greenkeeper of course."
While he has had many a hole-in-one throughout his career, Frank said his one in the Friday competition a couple of weeks ago came as a surprise.
"Well it was a big surprise. I mean it's a hole when where I was younger I'd hit about a six iron and I hit a flat out driver the other day and it went in the hole."
Asked about what advice he would give to aspiring golfers, Frank said while everyone had some form of natural ability when it came to golf, in the end it was all about hard work and practice.
"Work at it very hard, practice, get the correct grip and everything like that, and go from there," he said.
And what makes a great golf player? Well that's something even Frank would struggle to pin down.
"I don't know. I'm often asked [and] I think it gets down to mental toughness," he said.
"It's a mind game and I've seen so many young people that I thought would be really good players and once they got on the circuit and the mind games start they can't handle it.
"I just think it's a great profession and it's a wonderful life."
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