ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Member for New England Barnaby Joyce has enjoyed a round of golf on his own today in Armidale in what he describes as merely something to keep himself occupied.
Mr Joyce is taking time away from work to relax and take stock after greening out on the pavement in Canberra a few weeks ago – something the centre-left media has chastised him for repeatedly.
Nevertheless, Barnaby has put the episode behind him and taken up the gentleman’s game of golf in the mean time. He spoke briefly to The Advocate this afternoon from the 19th hole, where he was enjoying a room-temperature Fanta and a filterless Port Royal on the verandah.
“I’m a golfer now, I bet people will have a problem with that as well [laughs] Well yeah, look, I’m here dressed like Malcolm [Turnbull] with sore feet and ah, yeah, pretty thirst,” he said.
“But, uh, yeah. I got these clubs from the pro shop last week. They’re Pings or something or other. I reckon they’re broken because everything ends up in the bush. Got the whole set up. A driver and a few woods. A putter. This push cart with a drink holder. God. I even got the shoes, it cost me a fortune. The last thing I got were the balls and even then, the bloke in the shop told me that using Wilson golf balls with my new Ping i230s is like mixing a twenty year old Grange with vanilla Coke. The Chinese do that, I’ve seen it with my own eyes,”
“So he got me the top shelf ones, the Titleist ones. I would’ve spent four grand in there. So he chucked a hat in. I, uh, when I got home, I, uh, made the joke that I bought the hat for $4310 and they chucked in the golf stuff for free. Yeah, would’ve been funnier on my deputy prime minister salary,”
“Still learning. Got 7 stableford points on the weekend. I played with my friend Robert in Glenn Innes. He’s pretty good.”
More to come.
