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View Full Version : Mark Hensby's spray ....



Jarro
23rd November 2005, 05:53 PM
.. anybody hear it today :?:

The man certainly isn't backwards in coming forwards :shock: Wonder if Norman will respond :wink:

3oneday
23rd November 2005, 06:57 PM
.. anybody hear it today  :?:

The man certainly isn't backwards in coming forwards  :shock: Wonder if Norman will respond  :wink:I heard of it, someone else making an attack on Norman I take it !!!

As much as I rate Hensby, Norman doesn't need to respond, he's done his share :x

Pete

Grunt
23rd November 2005, 07:07 PM
What did Hensby say?

Bruce
23rd November 2005, 07:22 PM
Basically he said that Greg Norman should do more. He went as far as suggesting the Greg Norman should sponsor an entire 'tour' of similar prizemoney to the Nationwide.

Appleby and Allenby followed him at the press conference and didn't want to have a bar of it. Allenby said Greg had done heaps and Apples thought that maybe Hensby was trying to get some space on the back page. I wonder if Apples will follow his own suggestion for more press by dropping his daks on the 18th green.

It's an old argument but I did raise my eyebrows when I heard the Greg's prior engagement that prevents him playingthis week is a promotional gig for his new course about 20mins away from Moonah. He must realise what he means for fans and players of the game, and how much of a draw card he would be, yet he has chosen a fairly selfish pursuit instead. if he went out there he would have the biggest gallery on the course even if he were struggling to make the cut.

I don't think he needs to go as far as sponsoring a tour - but I wish he would play.

3oneday
23rd November 2005, 07:26 PM
Everyone wants him to play, but he hasn't been playing that often... what if he misses the cut ??? I think if he were playing more often he would probably be playing, but with injuries etc I for one would hate to see him shoot 80, 80, just in an attempt to please a few of us  :) .

Pete

Grunt
23rd November 2005, 07:49 PM
I am with you there pete. Imagine the young bloke that misses out because norman wants to play this week but pulls out after one round or just plays Thursday/Friday. I think Norman does not play for these reasons too, to give a young bloke a chance at trying to emulate their hero be it Norman, Apples, etc and win on their home tour to enable the step up to somewhere O/S.

Isn't this Hensby's 1st Open? Could be something like pot calling the kettle?

AndyP
23rd November 2005, 09:25 PM
I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

If it turns into a Greg Norman bashing..........




























.....I'll join in.

markTHEblake
23rd November 2005, 09:48 PM
should give Norman the benefit of the doubt. To play in the Open he has to commit at least 8 days. He may well have other commitments that prevents him from playing on several days, not just one isolated jig 20 mins away.

As for sponsoring a whole tour, I do seem to remember him sponsoring a tournament.

Webster
24th November 2005, 06:13 AM
Norman has done far more for the Australian Tour than Hensby ever will - Hensbys comment have casued great embarrassment to himself. Norman is now over 50, officially a senior player, and can do whatever the hell he wants as far as I'm concerned.

Oh, and Norman has made it clear (unnoficially) that he will not play on any Peter Thomson designed golf courses (he hates his work :wink: )

I hope the Victorian crowd really give it to Hensby down there this week - he deserves it after making such ridiculous statements about one of our greatest players and supporters of the Aussie Tour. Pity the course is 1.5 hours from Melbourne and I wont be able to get there to heckle Hensby myself. :roll:

3oneday
24th November 2005, 06:22 AM
After reading the alledged "spray" in todays paper, it appears the media are focusing on small portions of what Hensby said. His seemingly major issue was how unapproachable Greg Norman was to the Aussie golfers, that he did nothing in the way of advice etc for them, unless they went and asked him.

Surprising stuff, the reporter also intimated that Hensby has really only said PUBLICLY what other golfers have discussing PRIVATELY in the locker room for years :shock: :shock:

Pete

Bruce
24th November 2005, 07:40 AM
Crowds won't be what they are hoping for again this year. Like they were 2 years ago when they went to Moonah for the first time.

It's just too ****en far away. When I took Speirsy down to Rosebud for a game with FG it turned into a 10 hour day for a round of golf. Tough to the 'casual' fan to justify that kind of time commitment to get down there.

Jarro
24th November 2005, 08:35 AM
was interesting to hear Appleby's and Allenby's response on the news last night.

They were far from impressed with Mr Hensby to say the least :roll:

I'm of the opinion that Norman has done more than enough for Aussie golf in the past. I think Allenby even said "hell, the guy IS Australian golf"

pretty much sums it up for mine.

jaster
24th November 2005, 11:20 AM
As much as I appreciate what the Shark has done for Aus golf I feel he never supported our events through there darkest hours and look what is happening!! There is a strong chance that we will lost a few more events in the next year or so..what a joke!!!
I also think that Hensby is the medias latest "quote boy" and they take what he has to say out of context....although I would not be surprised if Hensby did give Norman a spray. IMO there is nothing wrong with honesty...if Hensby thinks that then he is entitled to his opinion ;)

Eag's
24th November 2005, 08:27 PM
When Norman runs into Hensby next, look out :shock:
Here is what he had to say about it all today.

The Shark was angry at the accusation and said the matter was not yet closed.

Hensby rang him today before teeing off in the first round of the Australian Open at Moonah Links, where Norman is not playing.

"No, all is not fine. We are not finished the conversation," Norman said from nearby Phillip Island, where he is designing a new golf course as part of the redevelopment of the motorcycle racing complex.

Norman said he did not want a public slanging match.

"I have spoken with Mark Hensby and it is a conversation I am having with Mark Hensby only. There is no point going on with it."

Hensby yesterday questioned Norman's commitment to golf in his home country, saying: "Why can't he come out here and do something?"

"Absolutely I was disappointed," Norman said today.

"I think what I do for Australian golf is indicative of why I am here now.

"I don't have to go out there and play golf and be in tournaments every week in this country.

"I do my share behind the scenes, believe me.

"When I heard that yesterday of course it ran through my mind, 'why do I even come back here?'"

Norman, 50, is not playing any tournaments in Australia this season, but said he planned to keep coming to Australia, where he remains a citizen and has extensive involvement in golf course design.

"You know why I come back here? Because I am Australian and I love my country and the general public don't feel that (Hensby's) way.

"Not everybody is going to love you. Not everybody is going to love the way you conduct yourself, conduct your business.

"I know who I am and I am not the person some people think I am.

"We do a lot of things behind the scenes people don't see. That is something Mark Hensby will never know because he doesn't know me. He doesn't know what I do behind the scenes.

"He only hears about what I do in this country to some degree but he has not spent a lot time around to actually understand what happens behind the scenes."

Hensby meanwhile shot a one-under-par 71 while his playing partner Robert Allenby, who sprang to Norman's defence yesterday, shot a blistering course record 63 to lead the tournament.

The pair was civil to one another, though Hensby remarked he was shocked that Allenby had said he (Hensby) "didn't have the balls" to say things to Norman's face.

"He obviously doesn't know me very well," Hensby said.

"I'll talk to Greg . . . we'll figure out where to go and maybe something positive will come out of it," Hensby said.

He said he'd once went to a barbecue at Norman's Florida home, but doubted he'd be getting asked back.

terryand
24th November 2005, 08:58 PM
I can't understand why it is one mans resposibility to rescue the ailing Aussie tour :?

Terry.

cazandpaul
25th November 2005, 08:58 AM
And what's with the beard - is it just something to keep Fanny happy 8)

3oneday
25th November 2005, 09:17 AM
And what's with the beard - is it just something to keep Fanny happy 8)wanna rephrase that ????? :shock: :shock:

:lol:

Golfgirl
26th November 2005, 10:12 AM
I can't get over this constant criticism of Greg Norman.... the guy may not choose to come out here and play as much as what the general populace may like, but he's been hoisting the flag for Australian Golf for the past 30 years.... surely he has earned the right to suit himself. :shock:

I think Mark Hensby came across as an absolute idiot, and while that is no doubt due to media distortion, he must have had an inkling that the media would run with a comment like that. :?

I think a lot of people forget that professional golf in this country has not always been in great shape (the PGA were nearly insolvent back in 1950) and that the subsequent "boom" that it experienced in the 80's was almost solely on Norman's back. If it has again reached that point of "teetering on the brink" now in 2005, then once again, we should be looking to an up-and-comer, not someone who has already given their dues.... (Perhaps Mr Hensby will step up to the plate?? :roll: )