Final Shot with Brigadier Christopher Hammerbeck

When did you start playing golf?

I started to play golf with a very old set of wooden shafted clubs inherited from my father’s cousin on the Tidworth Golf Course when I was serving with airborne force and based in the Garrison in 1969. I was a fair cricket batsman and applied my stroke play to the clubs and then as now over hit hence my current handicap of 29! However, the combination of exercise, fresh air and good company was and is compulsive! The only time that I have taken lessons was with my late wife on the Gold Coast of Australia.

How often do you play? 

I try to play every week as I am a member of the ‘Dad’s Army’ group at the Shek O Country Club. In reality, we simply get to lunch but enjoy it nonetheless. In addition, every two years we make a golf tour, and this year we shall be heading to Dornoch for a five-day trip.

What’s been your best ever round?

Difficult one to answer this as it is difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff as there have been so many mediocre rounds. However, I think the best that I can recall was in Sanya, Hainan, when I was playing with a group of Chinese businessmen and Senior Cadres back in1999 when it was not difficult to shine. The most memorable event on the round was on a par 5 hole. When having driven off to a reasonable distance, I saw a person in the middle of the fairway who stubbornly refused to give way, when we shouted at him in Putonghua and English.  Some of our four ran over and found that it was one of the gardeners who had a King Cobra trapped under his rake. One of my partners using his wedge removed the head with a fine stroke. Then an argument ensued as to who would have the carcass for soup. Meanwhile, I went down with a bogie!