It's par for the course for Cowan
June 11, 2009
The Wallabies are on to the golfing prowess of their new prop, writes Greg Growden.
There have been some notorious golfing burglars among the Wallabies over the years. The same scene has been played out on the first tee of golf clubs all over the world.
Players often head to the local course to escape the confines of their hotel rooms. They play matchplay. And before teeing off, one will always say: "I haven't held a golf club in years. If we're playing for money, you'd better give me a handicap of 23."
The hustler then skins them all, finishing with the loot. He is then barred from any further Wallabies golf outing.
Sadly, new Wallabies prop Pek Cowan won't get his chance to make some easy money, because his teammates are already on to him, having heard the whispers he could have easily been a golf professional.
For a change, the rumours are true. Before Cowan decided to take rugby seriously, he was destined to spend his days on the fairways and greens.
When he was 15, shortly after moving with his family from New Zealand, Cowan was such a promising player that Long Reef Golf Club, on Sydney's northern peninsula, put him on a scholarship, and he represented the club in junior championships and pennants events. At the time, he was playing off a handicap of four.
"It all began to gel in a few months," Cowan said yesterday. "During one of the Wednesday competitions at Long Reef, I ended up taking two out of the three nearest-the-pin competitions and both longest drives, while shooting about one or two over the card.
"There was definitely high aspirations for me in golf, but I discovered it was difficult to remain consistent and it does become a bit lonely. And when I first came from New Zealand I didn't have too many friends."
Soon team sport drew him.
"I found rugby was a way of getting into a new circle of friends," Cowan said. "I enjoyed the camaraderie of rugby, which I began playing just as a bit of fun, and it's progressed from there. Also, after playing rugby for a while, it just wasn't possible to rock up on a Sunday and expect to play golf well when you had shoulder and back issues, as you get when you're a front-rower."
Professional rugby is now his prime pursuit, but he still heads to the golf course as often as he can.
"I still try to bring the clubs and the shoes, and attempt to haggle the guys out of a few dollars per hole. But they're on to me. Unfortunately, I can no longer get away with saying on the first tee, 'Give me a shot a hole and I'll play off 18."'
Cowan, 23, took to rugby as quickly and soon earned representative honours as a prop, starting with the Sydney under-16s team and progressing to NSW juniors, Australian Schoolboys, Australian under-19s and 21s.
His big move came when he was 19, and Western Force coach John Mitchell asked if he wanted to head to Perth to join the new franchise. He readily agreed.
There were stumbles, including breaking his leg in 2007. But after an excellent Super 14 season this year, he received a surprise call from Wallabies coach Robbie Deans, telling him he had made the squad.
"At first I just heard the phone message and the Kiwi accent," Cowan said. "I thought: 'Hmmm, that kind of sounds like him.' Then I realised it was, and there were a couple of emotions, shocked, happy and, 'What is he going to say when I ring him back?' At first, he said that I had had a fantastic year, done everything I could in my position, and so I thought the call was just about commenting about my year.
"Then he asked the question: 'Would you be willing to play for your country?' All of the emotions came flooding back. I couldn't speak. My mouth went dry. I tried to say, 'I'd love to,' but I got a bit tongue-tied and I think it came out as, 'I love you."'
Being impressed with a coach is one thing, but this was ridiculous. Cowan will probably have to shout Deans a game of golf to explain.
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