The player

Craig Parry is a golfing great and one of those few elite Aussie golfers with enough raw ability and hunger for professional golf that it’s taken him on a phenomenal journey around the world. “I have been very fortunate and grateful for the opportunities. It has been a dream with a lot of hard work in between,” the 47 year-old reflects. “My career has spanned some fascinating changes to professional golf and its global landscape – the game is in a great place right now.”

Whenever Parry returned to the Australasian Tour and on home soil, his game elevated. Parry won three PGA Tour Order of Merits, three of Australia’s top four tournaments in 1992 and combined that with three Presidents’ Cup appearances. Today, after 30 years trotting the global golf circuit, his focus now is on spending more time with his family, wife Jenny and three children, a little more on leisure and golf course design. “Without a doubt the hardest thing to cope with on tour is missing your family, any player will tell you that,” he says. “My family have been incredibly understanding and awesome support. More time with them is always terrific.”

Parry speaks from the heart about everything. And when he talks about turning his hand towards golf course design, he offers this insight “The interesting part for me is that now I am trying to satisfy a lot more people (the club members) with a design of their course,” he explains. “In the past my aim was to satisfy myself with my game and the rest would generally follow. I always liked risk/reward courses, so I take that philosophy and translate that to course design. I think I’m keeping most people happy.”

Parry is a player widely applauded by the golf community – both professional players and his fans around the world. He has won tournaments on all four of the major global tours, and some multiple times, an incredible feat and so with his achievements and experience in mind, we invited him to assess a recent visit to Hamilton Island Golf Club. “If there is one course in the world people should play, it’s Hamilton Island, I really mean that,” he says. “The views alone are something else but the course itself has heaps of that risk/ reward that I spoke of and Hamilton Island’s design offers it for all levels of players. I was there on a calm sunny day, but the wind would play tricks on you like it does on a Scottish links if it blew. And there is a links feel to some of the holes too. Great mix.” Parry singled out the Par 3, fourth hole at 175m as a stunner.

“Don’t be distracted by the views, it’s a very real challenge to walk away with a par,” he explains. In the short term Parry’s attention will turn to the summer of golf in Australia. And he’s more excited by Adam Scott bringing home The Masters Green jacket to Australia for the first time. “It’s going to give fans in Australia an incredible boost when he comes home to celebrate and share his achievement. It will rival the sort of excitement when Greg Norman teed it up all those years ago when he was winning majors and sitting as world number one. I can’t wait to tee it up in the same field and play alongside the quality young players that are getting around now.”

Parry says he will continue to make sporadic appearances on the Australasian Tour in 2014 as he continues his foray into course design. We say long may his journey continue.