De Courcey aims to let golf do the talking

Ventriloquist Roger de Courcey will be aiming to show he's no dummy on the golf course when he teams up with ex-Tour player Lawrence Farmer for a tilt at the PGA Super 60s next week.

De Courcey, who found fame with his Nookie Bear act in the 70s TV show New Faces, will take part in the £10,000 tournament which is played over 36-holes at Thorpeness Hotel & Golf Club in Suffolk from August 29-30.

And Farmer (pictured), who is also a respected coach at Moor Park Golf Club where he is based, believes the showman's golf can take star billing.

“We’ve entered this event to win it, that’s what it’s all about,” said Farmer.

“Roger’s a very competitive player; he’s got his handicap down so we’ll be looking to be up there on the leaderboard.

“I’ve known him a while and it’ll be good to play alongside him in an event like this.”

De Courcey, 69, will be up against former Ryder Cup players such as Maurice Bembridge and Lionel Platts, and hopes his game will be as seamless as his polished stage performances of the past.

“I’ve been taking lessons with Lawrence at Moor Park Golf Club and my handicap is 12 - I’m okay with that at the moment but it has been seven in the past,” he said.

“I don’t really do the stage act any more now, I’ve been representing acts like Rick Wakeman and David Jensen for a while, so I keep busy, if I didn’t I’d play golf every day!

“I started playing golf in 1971 when I was at Goodwood Golf Club.

“At the moment, I play at weekends but the Super 60s event sounds tremendous and I’m really looking forward to it.”

It is the first time that Welshman Farmer has entered this tournament and the Rickmansworth-based player admits he is looking forward to it after a gap of two years since his last competitive outing.

Farmer previously played the European Senior Tour for five years at the turn of the century where he competed against the likes of Bernhard Langer.

“I enjoyed my spell on the Tour; it was great to play seniors golf with some of the game’s big names.

“But when you turn 60, you’re looking for more and more chances to play so I’m very excited about the Super 60s.

“Thorpeness is not a course I’m familiar with so that’s another big attraction about playing this event and this is the first championship I’ve played in a couple of years since the British Senior Open at Walton Heath.”