Mike Austin
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| Mike Austin | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 17, 1910 Guernsey |
| Died | November 23, 2005 Los Angeles, California |
Michael Hoke Austin (February 17, 1910 - November 23, 2005) was a British-American golf professional and kinesiology expert, specializing in long drives. He is credited with hitting the longest drive in tournament play (471m/515 yards) in 1974 at Winterwood Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada. His golf swing, known as The Mike Austin Swing, is practiced and taught by current golf professional Thomas Dang. Details of his life and golf swing are included in the 2004 biography In Search of the Greatest Golf Swing by Philip Reed.
Austin was born on the British island of Guernsey off the coast of northern France, and served in the RAF during World War II which he suffered temporary paralysis after surviving a tropical fever after being shot down. Through personal perseverance and the practice of yoga he recovered from his paralysis.
Along with his extraordinary golf career, he also wrote poetry and performed opera for many years.
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[edit] The early years
At the age of six, Austin was sent to a local golf pro for his first lesson. Later, he claimed this lesson opened his eyes to the secret of the golf swing, known as "the release." It had just rained and the golf course was closed. Perhaps hoping to get rid of the young Austin, the pro handed the boy a "mashie niblick" (a 7 iron) and said, "Take this over to that mud bank and bury the head of the club in the dirt. But if you come back here with any mud on your sleeve I'll kick you right in your rump!" This exercise taught Austin to let the clubhead freely pass ahead of his hands at the moment of impact.
The Austin family moved from Guernsey to Scotland, then to Boston, Massachusetts. After his father suffered a severe auto accident, they moved again to Florida. There, Austin was beset by local boys for being a foreigner and a "Yankee." They lay in wait and beat him mercilessly. Austin's father, Joseph, got wind of what was happening, and sent young Mike to a boxing gym to learn to defend himself. Soon, he was wreaking havoc on his enemies. A short time later the family moved once more, to Atlanta, Georgia, where they located close to the East Lake Country Club, where a young Bobby Jones was often seen practicing.
At first, Austin snuck into East Lake to hit balls. The pro there, Stewart Maiden, caught him on the grounds. But instead of banishing him, Maiden said, "You have a good swing. You can practice here as long as you don't come on the weekends." One day, Jones saw Mike driving the ball across a lake that required a 300 yard carry. He said to Austin, "How do you do that?" Austin answer, "I'm not a pro; ask Mr. Maiden -- he'll tell you."
[edit] "The Golfing Bandit"
During the Depression, Austin ran a local golf shop in Atlanta during the summer. But in the winter he frequented the courses farther south in Florida where he played big money games against gangsters from Chicago vacationing there. After the first year, they wouldn't bet against him so he found a set of lefthanded clubs and played with that handicap. The next year he played one handed. He often thought up impossible sounding side bets. Once, he won a $5,000 bet that he could make par hitting the ball with a Coke bottle. His exploits earned him the nickname of "The Golfing Bandit."
Austin also traveled across the country performing trick shots and challenging anyone to try to outdrive him. He said he could hit a variety of shots with an ordinary set of golf clubs. No one was ever able to hit the ball farther than Austin. He told a biographer that, during this time, he "lived like a maharasha."
[edit] Moving to Hollywood
In the late 1930s, Austin moved to Los Angeles to become a pro in the Wilshire Country Club. When he arrived that job fell through so he began to work at other golf courses where he taught and competed. His roommate was Errol Flynn and they frequented local nightclubs in search of women. Austin also began to audition for roles in the movies and eventually appeared in a number of motion pictures. However, his golfing and his acting was put on hold when he joined the service. He discovered that U.S. citizenship had never been completed so he went to Canada and joined the R.A.F. He served as an intelligence officer in Africa, often flying what appeared to be a supply plane as a cover for covert operations. At one point, Austin's plane crashed in a swamp in Africa and he broke both his legs. As water filled the cockpit he saw the waters were teeming with crocodiles. He was rescued before further injuries were inflicted.
Back in Los Angeles, Austin began working to get a PhD in kineseology, the study of muscular movement, and eventually became a pioneer in that field. He also established a name for himself as a teacher and was eventually sought out by Howard Hughes for lessons. He eventually established a gym in Hollywood where he taught boxing, tennis, baseball and golf. The walls of the gym were covered with mirrors which he said speeded up the learning process. When he gave lectures about golf he dressed in a tight-fitting black leotard with white outlines of the skeleton. He wanted students to see how the bones were position in the correct golf swing.
[edit] Setting the World Record
For years Austin was well known by professional golfers for his length off the tee. But it was one drive in 1974 that secured his name in history. While playing in the U.S. National Seniors Tournament, at the Winterwood Golf Course (now the Desert Rose) Austin was put in a foursome with PGA Champion Chandler Harper. After hitting several 400-yard drives, Chandler said, "Mike, let's see you really let one go." Austin drove the ball on 450-yard par 4. It carried to the edge of the green, bounced over and rolled past the pin and off the back edge. In a 2003 interview, Chandler said he found a ball on the next tee box and called to Austin, "This is impossible, but there is a ball over here." They identified the ball as Austin's and stepped off the distance back to the center of the green. The drive was 515 yards. As of 2006, the record still stands for the longest drive in a golf tournament.
Several mitigating factors make the record especially amazing. Despite a tailwind estimated at 27-35 mph, the drive was done on level ground. The club used to hit the ball was a persimmon wood driver with 10 degrees of loft and a 43.5" extra-stiff steel shaft, hitting a soft balata ball. Today's technology would far surpass distances with such equipment with the same hit. Lastly, Austin was a ripe 64 years old.
