Great White Shark headcover freed to hunt for Porter Hart
When the Drive, Chip and Putt contest begins Sunday morning at Augusta National, Porter Hart of Tulsa will unleash a Great White Shark talismanic attack that’s been building power for 35 years.
It was in 1986 at the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne that a pair of identical 5-year-old blond-haired, blue-eyed twins, egged on by their father, called out to national hero Greg Norman, then in the prime of his Hall of Fame career. When Norman came over to say hi, they begged him for a Shark head cover. His caddy jotted down their names and address and sure enough, Amanda and Suzie Fisher each received a treasured gift along with the note pictured here.
Amanda’s head cover has remained in its box for 35 years but arrived from her parent’s home in Australia this week in the nick of time for her son Porter to use when he competes Sunday in the Drive, Chip and Putt finals at Augusta National. This is the event that Porter originally qualified for in 2019 that was to be held in 2020. Porter, Chase Hughes and Kylie Fisher are three Oklahomans competing in the event.
Amanda, who attended Kooralbyn International School where she got to know classmate Adam Scott, hopes that Porter gets to meet both Norman, who may be in attendance, and Scott, who definitely will be, either during the event or Monday’s practice round, for which all competitors have access.
Amanda, who teaches at Battle Creek and runs the Tulsa area U.S. Kids Golf events, played at Oral Roberts and took her former teammates to the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, where she introduced them to Scott, getting all kinds of points for that.
“They were all like, ‘no way, you know Adam Scott!’ ” Fisher said. “I’m hoping we get to see him.”
As for the head cover, Amanda said there was no event in her career special enough to warrant taking it out of the box it came in, but seeing her son compete in a nationally-televised event (Golf Channel) is the right occasion.
“This is truly special,” she said.
– Ken MacLeod
