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WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME MEDIA CONFERENCEJuly 9, 2008Bob CharlesJACK PETER: Good morning, everyone who's on the call. It's a beautiful day in St. Augustine, Florida, and we're here today to make the final announcement for the World Golf Hall of Fame's Class of 2008. As a reminder, the World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, November 10th, at the Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida, and it will air on The Golf Channel later that night. Now to our news: Since he turned pro in 1960, our inductee has amassed more than 75 victories across five continents, including the 1963 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, eight European Tour titles, five PGA TOUR victories, four New Zealand Opens, and three New Zealand PGA Championships. And apparently he was just getting started. Since joining the 50-plus circuit, he's won the 1989 and 1993 Senior British Open Championships, racked up 23 Champions Tour titles and another ten international victories. And I'm not sure he's finished yet. Ladies and gentlemen, it's my sincere pleasure to announce that Sir Bob Charles has been selected in the Veterans Category to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Bob will also be the first New Zealander inducted into the Hall of Fame. Bob joins us today from St. Petersburg, Russia. Bob, congratulations and welcome to the World Golf Hall of Fame family. On behalf our 120 current Hall of Fame members, our board of directors, staff and over 200 volunteers at the Hall of Fame, we couldn't be happier for you. Now, before we take any questions, I'd like for you to share your thoughts on this news and maybe tell us where you were when you got the call and a bit about your first reaction. Thank you for joining us today. SIR BOB CHARLES: Well, yeah, this is quite an honor, and as you mentioned, I'm in St. Petersburg, Russia. Last week I was in Moscow playing in a senior golf tournament there, and that was when I got the news from the Commissioner. Well, it was a week ago. So I'm delighted to join some of my contemporaries in the Hall of Fame, and it's obviously one of the highlights of my career. JACK PETER: That's great. We are looking forward to welcoming you with open arms into the Hall of Fame. At this time we would like to open up the call to questions. Q. Just talk about, is this something you had thought was going to happen, that you didn't think was going to happen? Just how did you approach this honor that you got? SIR BOB CHARLES: Oh, gee, well, I haven't given it a whole lot of thought, but obviously it's a proud moment to be inducted, and I'm looking forward to the ceremony in November, November 10th. No, well, I suppose it's a combination of a 50-odd-year career. I've enjoyed a lot of success. The game has been great to me, and it's certainly an honor and a privilege to be selected for the Golf Hall of Fame. Q. If you did look back on one thing that you accomplished in golf, is there one thing in your mind, whether it's the British Open or the longevity, just something that you're the most proud of? SIR BOB CHARLES: Oh, yeah, it would have to be winning a major, being the Open Championship in 1963. I was fortunate to win one. I came close in a few others. But there's been a lot of great players come along and they've never won a major. So I'm obviously very proud of that. Q. You're obviously known as one of the best putters in the game's history. Can you talk a little bit about that particular skill that you have and how you think the art and science of putting has changed over the decades? SIR BOB CHARLES: Well, yes. Putting -- well, when I first came out, started competing in, what, 1961 was my first trip to Europe, most of the putters were wristy hands actions. I suppose the greatest exponent that I saw was Bobby Locke, who did have quite a wristy hands action. But of course I suppose I was one of the first to come along with a stiff-wristed action, and I think that most of the younger good putters of today also continue to use just an arm and shoulder movement rather than a hands and wrist movement. So I suppose that's an observation over the years. No, putting -- of course, I'm a slow, what shall we say, convert to modern technology. I think I was the last person to break away from persimmon woods and get into the perimeter weighting of irons and all that sort of thing. What is interesting to me is that I continue to use a putter, Bulls Eye putter, Johnny Reuter Bulls Eye putter, which is close to 50 years of age. So I continue to use it. I'm still having good moments with it, and I really believe that it's not the putter, it's the man behind the putter and how you're thinking and obviously a keen eye and good hand coordination and a good attitude towards putting is the ingredient for success. Q. Do you think that New Zealand will get excited about this? SIR BOB CHARLES: Oh, I'm sure they will be, yes. Of course it's the middle of the night down there, and I don't think they'll be listening in to this conversation or the hookup, but yeah. Well, I'm the first New Zealander to win a major. Of course we now have Michael Campbell who's won the U.S. Open, and there is great interest in the game in New Zealand. I'm proud to represent my country and represent them in the Hall of Fame now. Q. May I ask you this: One time I interviewed you for a radio program, and I asked you, how did you become a left-handed golfer, and you gave me an interesting answer. I wonder if you'd share that with us now. SIR BOB CHARLES: Well, yes, I'm not left-handed at all. As I say in a lot of my clinics, I wear a right-handed glove and I stand on the right side of the ball and I hit the ball on the right side of the club face and I hit the ball to my right, whereas all you other people have a left-handed glove and you hit it to your left. So why I'm called left-handed I don't know. But I'm right-eyed, right-handed, right-footed, and anything I do with two hands I automatically put the left below the right. With one hand I'm right-handed. I play tennis right-handed. I'm a double-handed backhand in tennis, which would be a virtually left-handed stroke in golf. It's just natural for me to be that way, to put the left hand below the right and stand on the right side of the ball and hit it to my right. Q. May I ask one more thing: How many times have you beat your age in terms of score? SIR BOB CHARLES: Well, I've actually lost count. I started beating my age at 65 playing in -- geez, in St. Louis actually in the senior tournament there. I shot 64 when I was 65. I've been able to equal a bit of my age every year since then, and I'm quite -- well, I've just recently finished seven tournaments, two in the U.S., Tampa, Birmingham; five here in Europe; and I've been able to better my age in each tournament that I've played in. Of course, the older you get, the easier it is to better your age. Q. Obviously you're the first left-hander, but during the last few years they've had two other left-handers win majors and you look at a lot of fields now and there's six to eight lefties teeing it up just about every week on the PGA TOUR. Just talk about what you think about that and do you think whether or not you might have played a role in helping some of these guys stick left-handed and kind of follow in your path? SIR BOB CHARLES: Oh, I don't know about playing a role, but I certainly in a way demonstrated that a left-hander is not at any disadvantage on the golf course. You've got 18 holes in golf, and you have virtually as many doglegs going left as going right, and of course when they set up a golf course there's always as many holes cut on the left side of the green as cut on the right, so it doesn't favor any one type of player. I think I've demonstrated that left-handers are at no disadvantage. Of course, when I was younger getting good equipment was never quite as readily available as right-handed, but I think now the selection of left-handed equipment is equal to right-handers, so there's certainly no disadvantage. I think it's great there are more PGA TOUR players, left-handers out there playing, and of course you've got Mike Weir and Phil Mickelson who have won majors, and it's great to see more and more people playing naturally I would assume. I think in the past a lot of people were converted from being a natural left-hander to playing right-handed, but I don't think that occurs now as much anymore. Q. In your time of working with equipment companies, I wonder, have you influenced the design and features of left-handed clubs, especially there at Callaway who I know you're with now? SIR BOB CHARLES: Well, I was with Callaway for a number of years but not recently. No, I don't think I've influenced anybody with the design of golf clubs. I think it's to the credit -- I think Callaway were the first to come along, and when I was with them, they virtually guaranteed the left-handed model within we'll say three to six months of the right-handed model coming out. In fact, the equipment I use now is Titleist, and of course the CEO of Titleist is a left-hander, and I think they bring out their left-handed models within a month of the right-handed model coming out. Q. If I have a chance, I always ask a new inductee, why did you take up golf when you were a youngster? SIR BOB CHARLES: Oh, for many reasons. I love ball games, all ball games. I have my own billiard table back at home in New Zealand; I play ping-pong; I play tennis and cricket and any ballgame. I'm fascinated with ball games. To me they're a challenge, and I guess I have, well, a pretty good eye and hand coordination and was reasonably good at most of those ball games. I virtually started in the cradle. My mother used to push me around the golf course when I was just a few months old. Well, I like to say that I cut my teeth on golf balls; whether or not I did, I don't know. Both my parents played; they were golfers. In fact, my mother was originally a right-handed golfer and she changed to left-handed golf. And my dad, like me, was a natural right-hander who with two hands. He puts the left below the right and plays like all left-handers. Love of ball games and parents playing the game got me into it. Q. And how did you discover great champions, like you say that Hogan is your favorite athlete? How did you discover them being in New Zealand and start to compete? SIR BOB CHARLES: Well, what I think is of interest here is that in 1954 I started subscribing to Golf World magazine, which was the weekly publication. Of course I won my first New Zealand Open that same year, 1954, and in fact I still -- well, I continue to subscribe. I've had them all bound. I have a library in my home in Christchurch for over the 54 years of Golf Worlds. I think in my early days, from 1954 onwards, I really followed what was happening with golf in the United States, and it opened my eyes. The other thing that is of interest is I -- well, I played in a tournament, a mixed foursome tournament with my mother, and we finished runner-up, and the prize was a book by Henry Cotton. And the book was not necessarily instructional, but it was full of photographs of his life, his career and playing around the world. I was quite fascinated with the lifestyle of Henry Cotton and how he traveled all over Europe and the United States. Yeah, I built up a great interest in the game and a love of, what shall we say, love of traveling, which I've been doing now -- my first trip outside of New Zealand was in 1956, so I've been traveling for virtually 52 years. I first came to the United States in 1958, so this is the 50th anniversary of my first golf in the United States. Q. While Gary Player has been renowned for his fitness, you have not hardly changed in your body weight or shape in all these years. What do you attribute that to, and do you have your own fitness program? SIR BOB CHARLES: Oh, in a way I probably attribute it to Gary Player (laughing). He got me jogging back in, oh, about 1972 or thereabouts. We used to jog a bit together at various tournaments. I gave up the jogging very quickly. But I've got good genes. I inherited good genes from my parents, and I'm not the sort of person who puts on weight quickly. But I do have a regimen of eating good foods. I don't eat junk food, or intakes of sugars and salts and fats is somewhat limited, so I maintain a pretty good body weight. And I think the mere fact of just playing 18 holes of golf four or five days a week keeps me reasonably fit, although I do work out on a treadmill which I have in my home back in New Zealand when I'm a little bit inactive. I'm an active person, I like to be active, and I think that helps keep me in shape for competition and whatever. Q. And did you watch the match from Wimbledon between Federer and Nadal? SIR BOB CHARLES: I did. I finished my -- on Sunday I finished my third round of the tournament there, and I watched the first two sets. Unfortunately they had a rain delay and I didn't see the rest of it. But I picked that it was going to be a close result. I said all along it would be four sets, and it turned out to be five sets. It was an incredibly even match, and I think one of those situations where you hate to see a guy lose. Q. Just a provincial question. How long did you have a place at PGA National? How long did you have a place there? SIR BOB CHARLES: 20 years. I had two homes at PGA, one at Coventry and one on the island, which were the two different areas there. So yeah, exactly 20 years. Q. And when did you move out? SIR BOB CHARLES: I moved out just three months before Katrina came through there. I guess I got lucky. I've been lucky in a lot of things in my life, and we sold our house there a few months before Katrina. Well, we planned it well in advance, to move back to New Zealand, as my semi-retirement was approaching and I wanted to spend more time in New Zealand and less time on the road competing. Q. Do you still have like a time share or something? Do you come for a month or so a year? SIR BOB CHARLES: Well, yeah, I'm at the Ritz-Carlton in Jupiter. They allow you to spend five weeks of the year there, but I sometimes stay a little bit longer than that. JACK PETER: Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you again from the Hall of Fame for participating in today's announcement. It's very exciting for us. A couple of housekeeping notes: There will be a press release issued concurrent with this announcement this morning. Again, the ceremony is scheduled for November 10th in St. Augustine, Florida. Bob will be joining Pete Dye, Carol Semple Thompson, Denny Shute, Craig Wood and Herbert Warren Wind. We have blessed with a terrific class of inductees this year, and we are eagerly looking forward to the ceremony in the fall. Transcripts will also be available on ASAP Sports, and again, I'd like to thank you all for participating today, and have a wonderful day. End of FastScripts |
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