Andre Stolz has been a regular winner on the PGA Legends Tour since turning 50.
By Peter Owen
FOR someone who’s been the biggest money-earner on Australia’s Legends Tour for the past three years, and who is comfortably leading this season’s Order of Merit, Andre Stolz is curiously unfazed about his chances of being a four-time Legends Tour champion.
“Honestly, I never think about it,” said Stolz, after winning his sixth event of the season. “Sure, I want to win every time, but winning the Order of Merit is just a by-product of doing well in each event I play.”
Stolz’s rise to the top of the Legends Tour, contested by the very best golfers in the country aged over 50, is a remarkable testament to the man’s determination, skill and ability to overcome injuries.
Two decades ago he was riding high. He’d won a string of tournaments on the Australasian Tour, including the Tour Championship in 2000, the Victorian Open and Queensland PGA in 2002, as well as the rich Token Homemate Cup on the Japan Tour in 2003.
He’d made his way onto the Nationwide (now Korn Ferry) Tour and did well enough to earn promotion to the USPGA Tour.
When we spoke, this year’s Open Championship was being played at Royal Troon, and Stolz reflected he had qualified to play in Todd Hamilton’s 2004 Open, which was also staged at that Scottish seaside links course.
“I’d started the year well, but my form had slipped, even though I was working my butt off,” he said. “I was burnt out by mid-year and I had some big events coming up, so I decided to stay home at Orlando, take three weeks off and then make a full assault on those other tournaments.
“The decision raised a few eyebrows, but it was really important for me to gain some status on tour.”
In hindsight it was a masterstroke. After his break Stolz contested a PGA event in Pennsylvania, then hopped across to Ireland for the rich American Express Championship before tackling the Michelin Championship in Las Vegas, now known as the Shriner Hospital for Children Championship.
He shot rounds of 67, 67, 65 and 67 to win the $US4 million event that brought with it a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and immediate financial security. It would be his one and only PGA Tour victory, but it was a potential life-changer.
Then trouble struck.
The Sunshine Coast Senior Masters, where he shared the spoils with Peter Senior, another over-50’s victory for Andre Stolz.
Stolz was playing a late-season event on the Japan Tour and felt a sharp pain in his wrist as he hacked a ball out of the heavy rough. The pain persisted, but Stolz opted to try to play through it.
He went to Hawaii for the 2005 Tournament of Champions, an invitation-only event for the winners of PGA Tour tournaments the previous year. The pain in his wrist flared and Stolz sought medical advice.
“When did you break your wrist?” the surgeon asked after examining the injury. Doctors operated twice, but the pain persisted and Stolz’s game deteriorated. He decided to take a break from golf.
“I was 34 and I had three young kids,” he said. “I wasn’t playing any good and I was in a position where I could retire. So I thought ‘I’m done. I’m going to retire and spend some time with my kids.’
“For 15 years I’d pushed myself really hard,” he said. “Now we owned our home and I had enough money to last the rest of my life.”
He had no real plans but busied himself renovating his home, then bought the Bateau Bay driving range on the NSW Central Coast, where he did some teaching. He joined the Terrigal-Matcham Cricket Club, and coached his son’s junior cricket side.
His re-entry to the game of golf began quietly. He was coaching a couple of young associate pros who invited him to play with them in the midweek comp at Gosford. Stolz had played no golf for three years but, with an old set of clubs, went out and shot one under par.
A week later he played again, and this time shot nine-under. “I thought ‘what the hell’,” Stolz said. “One thing led to another and I played in a couple of pro-ams. I didn’t win but I was top 10 in every event. And I was pain free.
“Then I went to Queensland and played in a Skins event with Anthony Painter, Peter Senior and a local pro. I won every hole – I won everything. Peter Senior looked at me and said, ‘What are you doing?’
“But I had no status and I couldn’t just rock up and play tournaments.”
Senior, however, pulled a few strings that allowed Stolz to play in that year’s big Australian tournaments – the Masters at Huntingdale, the Australian PGA and the Australian Open at Royal Sydney.
He had tinkered with his golf swing, adopting a new grip and a shorter takeaway and follow-through, which seemed to put less pressure on his wrist. It worked well enough for Stolz to finish just outside the top 10 in the Masters, and in a tie for sixth in the Australian Open.
“The next five years were great,” Stolz said. “I played the Korn Ferry Tour, the Asian Tour and the Australian tournaments. I played whenever and wherever I wanted.”
His wins included the 2009 Victorian PGA Championship, the 2011 Indonesian PGA and Thailand Open and he led Asian Tour’s Order of Merit. In 2013 he claimed the South Pacific Open in Noumea and later that year Stolz and his son Zac became the first father-son duo to compete in the Australian Open since Gary and Wayne Player in 1979.
Then his wrist collapsed again.
“I couldn’t hold a club,” Stolz said. “I’d had my second chance and now I was done. I thought ‘there’s no coming back from this.’ Yet, somehow, I was keener to try to get back then I was the first time.”
He had further surgery on his wrist but when he tried to play he found it too painful to swing a golf club. The practice needed for a career as a tournament player was out of the question.
For the second time Stolz retired from the game, though he did continue to support emerging Australian talent, most notably Dimi Papadatos, the 2017 Player of the Year on the Australian Tour.
Then, after nearly five years away from golf, Stolz felt the urge to play again. “I went and hit a few balls and played a couple of pro-ams and thought I was going all right,” he said.
He knew he’d have to drastically change the way he swung a club if he was to survive the rigours of tournament play.
“When my swing was long and loose I found that I hit it best when I was stiff and tight, like after a long flight. I used to think that when I was older and lost my flexibility, I’d be really good,” he said with a smile.
“So I changed my swing completely. It became a matter of opposites. I changed everything – strong grip, short swing, no hand action. I started by making a swing to waist height. Then I tried to lengthen it. It felt strange but I knew I had to learn to swing that way. I totally rebuilt everything.”
The result, Stolz says, represents his greatest achievement in golf. And, though he’s had his share of injuries since – a torn tendon in his left hip and planta fasciitis issues in his feet – his new swing has taken him to a level of success he hardly dared dream about.
Stolz and his new wife Katrina moved to Queensland and settled at Pelican Waters, where he now works with super coach Grant Field and takes advantage of the club’s outstanding practice facilities.
“We’ve rebuilt our lives here on the Sunshine Coast,” he said. “I love the guys at Pelican Waters. They’ve been incredible.
“I look to Grant a lot and had one or two lessons with him. He’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a coach. We talk about what I’m doing. He’s taught me the benefit of having a blueprint for myself. I never had that before – I just did things.”
Stolz videos his swing every week and relies on Trackman to keep his swing on track. “Trackman tells me if there’s anything wrong, and I know my swing well enough to know what to do to correct any faults,” he said.
“I’m no longer able to practice by relentless hitting balls. I now adopt a much better practice regime. I’m a lot more efficient in my practice,” he said.
Stolz has achieved a great deal during his on-again, off-again career, but he still has goals to chase. “If I can continue to play consistently I might go to Champions Tour Q School,” he said. “I’m 54 now and I’ve only got a few more years.
“I’ve always backed myself. I know it’s not going to be easy, but a lot of those guys haven’t done what I’ve done,” he said. “I enjoy conquering the game. That’s what’s always motivated me.”
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