Arthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke (20 November 1917 – 9 March 1987) was a South African professional golfer. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won The Open Championship four times and 15 PGA Tour events in total. In addition, he was a prolific tournament winner in South Africa, ultimately recording over 50 significant victories in his home country, including the South African Open nine times.
Early life
Locke was born in Germiston, South Africa the only son of Mr. C.J. and Mrs. O. Locke of 70 Nottingham Road, Kensington, Johannesburg. He obtained his Educational Junior Certificate pass at Benoni High School in 1934.
Amateur career
Locke won the South African Open for the first of nine times in 1935, at the Parkview Golf Club in Johannesburg, with a score of 296, playing as an amateur. He played in his first Open Championship in 1936, when he was 18 years old, and finished as the low amateur.
Professional career
He turned professional in March 1938 at the age of 20[2] and was engaged by the Maccauvlei Country Club as club professional in December 1939. Problems arose[3] when Locke wanted to give lessons to non-members as well as take leave of absence, without advance request, to take part in outside competitions such as the U.S. Open. Locke resigned from the club, by letter, on 26 July 1940. His golf career was interrupted by service in the South African Air Force during World War II.
PGA Tour
Following the end of World War II, Locke successfully resumed his career in South Africa in 1946. He hosted Sam Snead, one of the top American golfers of the day, for a series of exhibition matches in South Africa in January/February 1947, winning 12 out of the 16 matches, two were halved and Snead won two.[4]: 147 So impressed was Snead that he suggested that Locke come to the United States and give the PGA Tour a try, advice that Locke quickly followed.[5]
Locke arrived in the U.S. for the first time in April 1947, well after the American Tour season had begun. In two-and-a-half years on the PGA Tour, Locke played in 59 events; he won 11, and finished in the top three in 30, just over half. In 1947, despite a late start, Locke dominated the American tour, winning six tournaments (including four in a five-week period), and finishing second to Jimmy Demaret on the money list.
In 1948, he won the Chicago Victory National by 16 strokes, which remains a PGA Tour record for margin of victory (tied for margin of victory with J. Douglas Edgar's win in the 1919 Canadian Open).[6]
The following year, Locke was banned from the tour, ostensibly because of a dispute over playing commitments. Locke had indeed given several advance commitments to appear at tournaments and exhibitions, then had not turned up nor given adequate notice nor explanations for his absences.[5] However, the 1948 Masters champion Claude Harmon stated, unsolicited, to another golf personality during that era: "Locke was simply too good. They had to ban him."[7] The ban was lifted in March 1950.[8] However, Locke chose not to return to play in the United States, except for a few isolated appearances.
Locke explained his point of view and events leading up to the banning.[4]: 57, 58 He stated that he had accepted invitations, organised through the PGA to play in two local tournaments, The Inverness Fourball and Western Open. He explained how he had been helped to iron out a putting problem which led to him winning the 1949 Open Championship. He gives the "Open" win as one of his reasons to breach his contract. The text indicates that he understood the contractual nature of his dealings with the PGA.
Worldwide success
After leaving the PGA Tour, Locke continued his career in Europe and Africa, where he felt more comfortable. He won 23 times in Europe, most notably a quartet of successes in The Open Championship, which came in 1949, 1950, 1952 and 1957. He was the first of many South Africans who subsequently won major championships, including Gary Player, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. His win in the 1957 Open Championship was with some controversy. Locke had failed to properly replace his ball after marking on the 72nd green, and proceeded to putt out. This had been confirmed through newsreel footage provided to the Royal and Ancient after the trophy presentation. The rules at the time made no provision for a two shot penalty, thus Locke's win could have been overturned through disqualification. However, the Championship committee did not enforce the disqualification rule, citing "equity and spirit of the game" as overriding factors in sustaining the posted result.
During this time Locke also played many other parts of the world. In 1955 he won the Australian Open held at Gailes Golf Club in Queensland; he later rated this as one of the best courses he had ever played. In 1959, Locke was involved in a serious car accident. Medical issues related to this incident contributed to the end of his career.
Playing attributes
Locke built his success around his outstanding putting ability, coining the phrase "You drive for show, but putt for dough."[9] Wearing his trademark knickerbockers, white shoes, and stockings, Locke played the game at a slow and deliberate pace, perhaps another reason that American pros were annoyed with him. On the greens, Locke was a bona fide genius, using a very unusual putting style (he would bring the putter back far to the inside on the backstroke, then virtually "trap" the ball with a hooded, closed clubface on the forward stroke, imparting a tremendous amount of overspin), and a great eye for reading breaks, to put on veritable putting clinics every time he played. Locke believed he could put spin on putts[10] (similar to full-swing shots) and make them "hook" and "slice", and used his unorthodox technique to great success.
Locke was not particularly long from the tee, but placed great emphasis on accuracy in hitting fairways and greens; he employed an extreme right-to-left ball flight (one that bordered on a hook) on nearly every full shot.[10]
Australian contemporary pro Jim Ferrier, who played the U.S. Tour during the late 1940s with Locke, described Locke's putting method as being designed to overcome the very heavy grain present on many Bermuda-grass greens of that era, particularly in warm-climate regions such as South Africa and the southern United States. In these regions, greens had to be constructed during that era using Bermuda-grass turf in order to survive the extreme summer heat; turfgrass research eventually developed a wider variety of strains which could be used. Locke's putting method allowed the ball to glide on top of the grass without being affected very much by the grain. Ferrier explained that Locke had apparently learned the technique from an Englishman in Egypt, while he was stationed there during World War II. Locke had in fact learned the technique from Walter Hagen during the "Haigs" tour of South Africa with Joe Kirkwood Sr. in 1938.[4][11]
Military service
Locke served in the South African Air Force during World War II. His Official War Record is held at the South African Department of Defencearchives under his Service No: 103940. Those records show that he first trained as a pilot and later a pilot instructor. He was deployed to the Middle East from December 1944 to May 1945, and then to Italy, post VE Day, on transport duties until August 1945. He was honourably discharged in October 1945 having attained the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. He received the Italy Star and 1939-45 War Medal/Africa Service Medal.
Alternate descriptions of Locke's war record
Other descriptions of Locke's war record suggest he was more active than the transport duties he undertook, with SAAF Number 31 Squadron in Italy, that are described by the official SANDF archives. The descriptions include: he spent twelve months in a Liberator Squadron in Italy[4]: 40 he was a bomber pilot who bombed Monte Casino,[12] he fought for Britain as a bomber pilot;[13] he flew over 100 missions over Europe with the SAAF;[14] and 'served with distinction as a Royal Air Force Bomber pilot'.[15]
Locke also claims that:
In a photograph of him and others,[4]: 39 he was playing golf at Gizeh Golf & Country Club, in Cairo, in 1943, and
"My stay in the Air Force lasted five years and three months, in which time I completed 1,800 hours on single-, twin- and four-engined aircraft"[4]: 39, 40
Personal life
Following the car crash that ended his competitive career in 1960, Locke suffered from migraines and eye problems, although he continued competing occasionally after that, without much success.
Mental health issues followed, including bouts of depression, alcoholism and even an attempted murder charge following a dispute with a decorator, Big Boy Ndlovu. Locke considered Ndlovu's work below par and refused to pay the 220 rand Ndlovu asked for. Following an argument, Locke shot Ndlovu in the shoulder. Locke was fined 120 rand and had his gun licence suspended for six months.[16]
After his death, his wife Mary and daughter Carolyn became reclusive and died together in a suicide pact at their home in 2000, aged 80 and 40 respectively.[16]
^Dobereiner, Peter (15 March 1987), "Bobby of the Green", The Observer, London, p. 49, retrieved 5 May 2018, All his life he thought of himself as British (both his parents were from Ulster), proudly recounted his achievement of being the first Briton to win the Canadian Open since 1914 and fought for Britain as a bomber pilot in the Middle East during the war.
^Cape Times (5 September 1992) "But Locke was no joke as a man or as a golfer. He fought more than 100 combat missions over Europe with the S.A.A.F. during World War II"
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire in 72-holes; # indicates the event was won by an amateur 1871 No championship; 1915–1919 cancelled due to World War I; 1940–1945 cancelled due to World War II; 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
