Australian players

Rodger Davis

(Born in Sydney 1951)

Rodger Davis turned professional in 1974 and spent his regular career playing mainly on the PGA Tour of Australia and the European Tour.

He won the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in 1990 and 1991 and made the top ten of the European Tour Order of Merit four times in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Davis began his career as an accountant before starting life as a tour pro. His early teacher was the legendary Killara golf club (South Sydney) professional David Mercer.

As classical as his plus two`s Rodger Davis had a great golf swing.

Showing wonderful rhythm he swung back at a leisurely pace, then made a gentle pause at the top.

..and created a wide arc that found a perfect balance at the end.

The most interesting and individual part of the Davis motion was a very strong inward kick of the right knee toward the ball to start the swing process (Filmed in 1990).

Graham Marsh MBE

Graham Vivian Marsh (born 14 January 1944 in Western Australia).

Nicknamed "Swampy" Marsh, he turned professional in 1969. Despite being a first-class cricketer he chose golf as his future. Impressively in his younger days, Marsh also worked as a maths teacher.

Marsh won a total of 69 times on various tours throughout the world, including four senior wins. He was particularly successful on the Far East tour where he triumphed 20 times. Marsh was known for his steady methodical play which fitted with his Maths teacher background.

The swing Marsh makes in this film (taken by Bernard Cooke) is technically perfect. His arms swing naturally to the top of the backswing followed by an unhindered start forward (no freezing of any body parts). Past the ball, Marsh has a wonderful release as confirmation of a great rhythm/tempo.

The most noticeable characteristic of the Marsh swing was his very "direct," or down-the-line path. His arms lifted very high after the start back (about 9oclock) and repeated the pattern in the forward swing. This is why I have included another angle of his swing.

Although Marsh finished inside the top 10 in majors on six occasions it wasn’t until he joined the over-50s that he tasted major success, winning the 1997 US Senior Open and 1999 The Tradition, two of his six wins on the Champions Tour.

Marsh is also active in golf course design through Graham Marsh Golf Design which he established in 1986. The company's early projects were in Australia and Japan, but it later branched out to other parts of Asia, Europe, and the United States. His work has included courses such as The Vines Resort (Perth), Palm Meadows Resort(Gold Coast) Old Silo (Kentucky), Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club (New South Wales), and Terrey Hills Golf & Country Club just to name a few. In 1984, Marsh was made an MBE for golf services. He is also a past chairman of the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Jack Newton-Born 1950

Jack Newton is one of golf's success stories for other reasons than tournament wins under his belt. His legacy will be the emotional and physical strength he showed after losing his right arm and eye in a terrible accident ( Jack caught his arm in an airplane propeller). Before the tragedy that ended his career, he was one of the best players on the Australian tour and had come close second in the Masters and British Open.

After recovering he taught himself to play golf one-handed, swinging the club with his left arm only.

Jack Newton was awarded the Medal of the Order for services to Golf, particularly through a range of executive, youth development, and fundraising roles. He is also an inductee into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame for the same reason. He will be remembered for his strength and courage after the near-fatal mishap, followed by tireless work for youngsters.

Greg Norman

This high-speed film was taken by Bernard Cooke in 1980 at Muirfield.

Is Greg Norman the most successful Australian player of all time?

Being number one in the world for 331 weeks is certainly something that no other Australian pro can touch.

David Graham

A high-speed film from 1980 practicing at the Open

One of the former great strikers of the ball can be studied in detail in this excellent high-speed film taken by Bernard Cooke.

If you had the pleasure of watching David in his prime you will know he had one of the straightest ball flights of all time. Moe Norman was perhaps the straightest but struggled with length sometimes. Even Ben Hogan said a straight shot came only by luck.