The Phantom golfer

By Golf365 staff Last updated: 14th July 2010

The tale of Maurice Flitcroft is one of the most bizarre in golf. We interview Simon Farnaby, the co-author of a new a book about him - The Phantom of the Open.

First, let's set the scene...

When 46-year-old crane driver and former comedy stunt-diver Maurice Flitcroft chanced his way into the Open - having never before played a round of golf in his life - he ran up a record-worst score of 121.

The sport's ruling classes went nuclear, and banned him sine die. Maurice didn't take it lying down. In a hilarious game of cat-and-mouse with The Man, he entered tournaments again - and again, and again - using increasingly ludicrous pseudonyms such as Arnold Palmtree and Count Manfred von Hoffmanstel (more often than not disguised by a Zapata moustache soaked in food dye).

In doing so, he sent the authorities into apoplexy, and won the hearts of hackers from Muirfield to Michigan, becoming arguably the most popular - but certainly the bravest - sporting underdog the world has ever known.

Simon Farnaby is an actor, writer and comedian and you've probably seen the big-haired Yorkshireman in such diverse TV programmes as The Mighty Boosh and Jam & Jerusalem.

But did you know he was a mad golf fanatic too? So taken was Simon about Maurice's story, that he and sports journalist Scott Murray decided to write a book about him - The Phantom of the Open.

Simon gives Golf365 the inside story:

GOLF365: A lot of people say golf is boring - even those of us who love it accept this to some degree. Is that part of the attraction of Maurice's story?

Simon Farnaby: Yes, of course. Sport is taken so seriously these days, not just golf, look at the recent World Cup. England were so gloomy, the final was gloomy. Everyone should lighten up. Just look at Tiger Woods or Sergio Garcia's (these days) demeanour in a tournament, you'd think they were at a funeral. Golf is just a silly game at the end of the day. Tom Watson showed that last year. His win would have been the greatest of all time but when he lost it he just smiled and got on with his life. Characters like Maurice don't come along very often but when they do I think they should be celebrated and not thrown out of the history books.

GOLF365: Maurice's story is a great one and tends to crop up from time to time in the media - how did you first come across it?

SF: I played county golf as a junior and I remember if you had a dreadful score in a competion all the other kids would call you Flitcroft. That happened to me quite often. That was in the 80's so it was nearer the time when he was in the media. I forgot about him in the 90's but when he died in 2007 all the broadsheets gave him obituries and I found out all this new information about him. Like he used to be a comedy high diver and had tried to be a poet, songwriter and painter before he tried his hand at golf.

GOLF365: At first Maurice's attempt to get into the Open appeared to be a big prank, but that wasn't entirely the case, was it?

SF: No it wasn't. And I don't think we'd have written the book if he was just a joker. The reason it's a great story I think is because he really believed he could win it. Everybody we spoke to who knew him said the same thing, he was deadly serious. He would go out and practice on the beach with his dog, Beau, see the ball go careering into the sea and he'd think, 'I'm ready for the Open'. When you've only seen golf on TV it doesn't look that difficult. And Maurice never saw anyone hit a ball outside TV until he teed it up in the Open. He must have got quite a shock watching the others.

GOLF365: If that was the case though, why did he never actually seek to improve his game?

SF: Oh he did, he actually worked very hard. He would practice before and after work and off the arm of his crane. and when he was fired after the publicity of the '76 Open he practiced full time on school playing fields etc. The problem was he'd never had a lesson in his life, he was just learning from library books. One of which incidently was an instruction book by Al Geiberger, an American who held the record for the lowest round ever recorded! (59) so he really did try to improve his game. It's rumoured that he'd have made a good 18-22 handicapper by the time he was 56. He just never got the basics right. And there's a chance of course that he was just supremely untalented at golf. He might have just fallen in love with the wrong sport.

GOLF365: What do you think his true motives were? They remind me a bit of the activities European surrealists get up to - is there anything in that, even subconsciously?

SF: There was a frustrated artist inside him. He named his sons Gene Van and James Harlequin after Van Gogh and his favourite Picasso. And he would paint murals on the inside of his crane cabin. But I don't think he was going for a new type of performance art. He certainly liked the idea of becoming famous. He enjoyed being in the papers, maybe that was a motivation. I think more than anything he wanted to be remembered for being good at something, and when he couldn't achieve that, I think he was happy to just be remembered as someone that at least had a go.

GOLF365: How do you think the R&A coped with the situation?

SF: Not well in my opinion. According to a close friend of Maurice's, if the R&A had just laughed it off Maurice would have gone away quietly. But the R&A effectively banned him from every golf club in Britain, or at least he couldn't become a member. Now Maurice never took to authority well. We describe in the book how he was fired from scores of jobs for arguing with bosses and he would regularly get into fights with bus conductors, teachers, policemen, officials of any kind. So when the R&A came down so heavily on him Maurice thought, 'right, I'll show you!' and hence entering under pseudonymns in disguise. His dream was to win the open and then reveal himself, Scooby Doo style, to a stunned R&A. But in reality they always spotted him after three holes and quietly escorted him from the premises in a buggy.

GOLF365: Which was your favourite of Maurice's pseudonymns?

SF: It had to be Arnold Palm Tree for obvious reasons. Actually he used that one as a decoy whilst simultaeneously entering with a more sensible name like Gerald Maury. Of his names that actually succeeded I think Gene Pacecki is my favorite. Gene was his son's name and pacecki was an in joke to columnist Ian Woolridge who had joked to Maurice, "don't forget to pick up your pay check" when he finished last in '76.

GOLF365: You obviously like characters so who are your favourite players in the professional game?

SF: Seve is the greatest in my eyes and I'm a big Greg Norman and Tom Watson fan too. Seeing them both nearly win the last two Opens were two of the most surreal experiences of my life. Imagine if Seve came back! Of the current crop I like Rory McIlroy. His swing is so free and loose and he seems to play with abandon and you can see his face running through the emotions like Seve's used to; one minute on top of the world, the next suicidal. That's golf for me. I like watching Tiger when he's really trying in spite of his wonky swing. Like at the recent US Open on the saturday, Seve would have been proud of that second shot to 18. Basically I like anyone and anything that reminds me of Seve.

GOLF365: When we talked to Rich Fulcher he mentioned you both wrote a sketch about a posh golf club going to war with a downtrodden one - was that in anyway inspired by Maurice?

SF: No it wasn't actually. That was inspired by finding golf clubs ludicrous places sometimes. The way you need to dress a certain way to get into the bar and lounge, and juniors and ladies are only allowed to tee off in a four minute window every other Tuesday morning. I mean I'm all in favour of those things of course, but it is ludicrous.

GOLF365: Rich also said you like a punt - have you backed anyone this week?

SF: I'd like to see Rory McIlroy win. But some no-mark american we've never heard of always crops up and spoils it for everyone doesn't he, so I'm going for D.A Points. Can you imagine a more annoying name on the Auld Claret Jug? Now Maurice G. Flitcroft? That would have sounded a whole lot better...

Golf365 staff