(Nick Dougherty)
LONGTIME BBC GOLF COMMENTATOR Peter Alliss thought scoring and complaining during last week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth were stinky, and said so. Tour pro and Englishman Nick Dougherty didn’t take kindly to the criticism.
Here are the blows they landed, as quoted by The Telegraph, in a classic old school vs. new school exchange.
Mr. New School, Nick Dougherty:
“I thought it was very sad. In fact, I thought it was disgusting,” he said about Alliss’s criticism.
“I wish we could have taken him out there and shown him how difficult it was. In October the greens are stunning but they’re seedy at this time of the year and make the putts wobble.”
Mr. Old School, Peter Alliss:
“Take him out and show him how hard it is? Christ Almighty.”
(Uh-oh. I think Dougherty might be in trouble.)
“I’m not here to do anything but to say what’s going on and they didn’t play well. I know precisely how hard it is. I won 21 tournaments and played in eight Ryder Cups.
“Everyone’s so bloody delicate now. They control spin, they control adrenalin. I’ve never heard so much twaddle. I always say golfers of 100 years ago were 10 times more skillful than this lot or me and my lot.
“They had hickory clubs, the bunkers weren’t raked, there were sheep on the course and a fellow cut the greens with a scythe. Yet still they went round St. Andrews in 73 or 74.
“I’m sorry Dougherty’s upset because he’s a nice lad, but he’ll get over it.”
I’ve got Alliss as the winner on my card. On style points, if nothing else.
−The Armchair Golfer
He’s got a point, compared to the Old Tom Morris era, we’ve got it easy! 🙂
Orlando Golf Blogger
I like Peter Alliss but think this indicates nothing more than a generational conflict. It’s the old, “I walked 5 miles to school each day” cliche raising its ugly head. Every generation thinks that the younger generation is going to hell in a hand basket. There is nothing new under the Sun.
Alliss wins by a landslide. Players today are coddled and pampered. Give the old school players today’s equipment, make them the same age as today’s players, and the new school players would be teaching pros at their local clubs or insurance salesmen.
And they’d still be crying.
Finish 100th on the PGA tour and earn $1,000,000.00. Thank Tiger. The “new” tour began when Tiger turned pro. Thank Alliss for preserving a game with a long and storied history.