The Aficionado

Alex Jenkins talks to Peter O'Neill, one of the legendary characters of Hong Kong club golf

One golfing escapade lives long in the memory, however.

On an overland journey with his fellow teammates returning from a trip to Florida in 1948, O'Neill remarked that the group were only 30 miles from Augusta National Golf Club, which at the time was in its second decade of hosting the Masters Tournament.

"We were driving back to Chicago and I was the navigator," he says, his trademark cigar now in hand. "I suggested we should try and get a game at Augusta. We didn't have any money to speak of but anyway, we pulled into a gas station to clean up. It was worth a shot."

Freshly attired and wearing their biggest smiles, O'Neill and his cohorts approached the fabled Augusta club.

"We drove up through that lovely avenue of trees and I got out and asked, in my most polite manner, to speak with the general manager," he remembers. "I was told he was playing bridge, but he was sent down to meet us. We explained our situation and he said, 'You're the luckiest guys in town. I have a member who doesn't have a game tomorrow – he'd be delighted to have you as his guest.' We had got what we were looking for."

O'Neill had a round to remember. Partnered with a certain Mr Atkinson, the member at Augusta, he made a brilliant eagle at the famous par-five 13th after hammering a four-wood to the green. His buddy, who he confesses was a "far better player", made birdie.

"He was a really great guy – Mr Atkinson," O'Neill says. "He turned to us and said, 'You boys just paid your green fees right there. I'm going to be talking about this story for weeks. Once you're done, go get yourselves another round.' So we did. He was a really nice man."

But that wasn't the end of the tale.

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