PERTH INT.: Senior excels without his broomstick

BY BRENDAN JAMES at LAKE KARRINYUP CC

IT’S an iconic image in the history of Australian golf – Peter Senior, his broomstick putter set beneath his chin, finessing another putt into the hole. For most golf fans, Senior and his broomstick putter were a team, a partnership that dated back 26 years.

In 1989, Senior – by then already a winner of several European and Australasian Tour events – was struggling with his putting. Always considered a great ball-striker, Senior had an opening round 74 at the British Masters, with a woeful 38 putts. Post-round he went to the practice green looking for answers, not knowing the solution would come in the form of a radical new putter.

“I found myself on the putting green with Sam Torrance, and he let me try one of the very first models that he had been tinkering with,” Senior said an interview with

Peter Senior lines up a during the 1990 Masters Tournament, less than a year after switching to the long putter.
PHOTO: Augusta National/Getty Images.

a few years ago. “It wasn't a pretty thing, but after a few minutes it seemed to work, so I decided to give it a go. The next day I shot a 66.”

And the rest, as they say, is history. The broomstick putter became part and parcel of the Senior arsenal and he went on to win another 22 tournaments worldwide with the latest victory coming back in November at the Australian Masters.

Having donned the gold jacket, he announced he would have one last shot at the US Champions Tour in 2016. As part of his preparation for that campaign, he rolled into Lake Karrinyup Country Club for this week’s ISPS Handa Perth International with great uncertainty about how he would manage with a short putter, having been forced to seek a putting alternative after the ban on anchored putting strokes came into effect on January 1.

“This is my first competitive round and I actually putted really well,” said Senior, who had 29 putts in his opening round of 69. “I missed a couple but I think everyone’s going to miss a couple around here.

“The greens are really hard to read. There’s a lot of slope on the greens and putts can get away pretty quick sometimes. You’ve got to be pretty careful about what you’re doing out there.”

Despite months of practice with the short putter, Senior said it was still strange after such a long time with the broomstick to have a short putter in his hands and he didn’t know quite what to expect.

"It's a strange feeling," says Senior about using the short putter after such a long time with the broomstick.
PHOTO: Brendan James/Golf Australia magazine

“Nearly 30 years with the long putter … I thought about having my legs amputated so I could get the putter back on the chin again,” Senior laughed.

“It’s a strange feeling, after just so long. But I was really happy with the way I putted. The first few holes were going to be the signs of what was to come and I putted really well.”

Senior made five birdies in his three under 69, which has him tied 13 and four strokes from the lead after the opening round.

“I got off to a good start, three birdies in a row early, which sets up your day,” Senior said.

“I got lucky on 18 (his ninth hole) I hit it in the bunker and holed the trap shot to turn four under.

“I’m just really happy to have shot a decent score. It’s going to do wonders for my confidence. Standing over putts now … I had three or four putts from five feet today, little curly ones, and put them straight in the middle. That all builds confidence for what I’m going to do for the rest of the year.”

Lake Karrinyup’s undulating fairways are getting firmer under foot, which is playing into the hands of straight-hitters like Senior.

“The course is pretty short off the tee, so it suits me because I can’t drive it into trouble. Even if I hit it offline a little bit, I’m not reaching the trouble,” Senior said.

“If I can keep it on the straight and narrow, you never know.”

Brett Rumford, who played alongside Senior and finished with a four under 68, said the reigning Australian Masters Champion is a genuine threat to win the Perth International with the short putter.

“He played great,” Rumford said. “He's still got it, Pete, and this golf course, it kind of suits his game. There's a lot of holes where you just get at the top of the hill and just run it down there.

“He's still sharp with all his irons and his long irons are great. He played well. He's going to be a threat this week if he keeps playing the way he's playing.”

And, as a former broomstick putter user, how strange was it to see one of the broomstick pioneers with a short one in his hands?

“It was about as strange as seeing me without a broomstick,” Rumford laughed. “But it was great. He did really well. He rolled the ball nicely.

“It must be hard for him, having played with a broomstick for 30 years, that's a big change. One the first hole he had about a 15-foot putt for birdie and he ran it about a foot and a half past downhill left-to-right, and it's not really the one you want to be faced with for your first week out, but he knocked it in.”