Damon Hill talks golf, including the day he played with Seve

Former Formula One world champion Damon Hill talks about playing golf with Seve Ballesteros, managing his overswing, and how golf, like racing, runs in the family...

When did you take up golf?

I started playing golf when I was about 10 or 11. It runs in the family. I’ve got a photograph of my granddad playing golf in the 1920s when he was the captain of Mill Hill Golf Club. My dad [double F1 World Champion, Graham] took up golf after he broke his legs in an accident and he needed to do something to keep himself active. He couldn’t run, so he took up golf.

How did you get into it? 

I started following my dad around and we watched golf on telly together so I got into it that way. I just started thrashing away and everyone used to say, ‘Oh, he’s got a lovely swing’, which was the worst thing they could have said because basically I haven’t got a lovely swing!

What's wrong with your swing? 

I’ve spent most of my life trying to unlearn my overswing which I just can’t get rid of so I just have to live with that. The thing is I’m pretty flexible so that’s the only way I feel any tension. If I reduce it then it feels really awkward, but of course this is just a poor excuse and the fact is that I haven’t got enough talent!

Is your game improving?  

I have lessons and I’m interested to hear what people say, but what I’ve found is that everyone’s got their own take on it and I think I have to know for myself. It’s not good just taking secondhand advice.

What's your handicap? 

My handicap is 14 and it’s stuck. I can’t seem to get it down any lower than that. It’s actually creeping back up now but I’m a kind of compulsive, obsessive so when there’s something I can’t do I want to know why I can’t do it and I won’t give up until I’ve answered that question as to  what I’m doing wrong. Competitive people have to find some impossible task and golf is the most impossible of all.

What do you love about golf?

I’m absolutely fascinated by the whole mechanics of the golf swing and what’s going on and the different arguments for this way and that way. A couple of months back I found a website that was devoted to studying Rory McIlroy’s swing and how he would never, ever win another major. These were so-called knowledgeable golf experts and they were convinced that there are too many moving parts and it’ll never happen for him again. Well they’re wrong!

Do you play in many celebrity golf events? 

I played with Raphael Jacquelin at Wentworth before the BMW PGA this year which was great fun. It was nice to get some appreciation from a few spectators when I hit a decent approach shot! I remember saying to Jacquelin: “When you’re playing and it will just absolutely not work, what do you do?” He just looked at me and said: “You’ve just got to go with it.”

What's been the highlight of your golfing career to date?

My best golfing moment was playing with Seve. I played with him at The Oxfordshire and I was in awe. He’s an absolute god in golfing terms and was a perfect gentleman, too.

How much time do you get to play?

I probably practise more than I play and time constraints mean I’m struggling to get a game in a week. When I’m away working with Sky there’s not much free time. We arrive, we go to the track and we’re flat out from there. But I actually prefer practice as it satisfies my obsessive nature.

Do many other F1 drivers play golf?

There were a few drivers who were into golf. Nigel Mansell’s a big golfer and Prost used to play. We have a British Racing Drivers’ golf day every year with people like Derek Warwick and Jason Plato and we all laugh at each other’s expense.

What attracts speed freaks to golf?

Golf is totally the opposite of driving a car and it does not sit well with a racing driver’s temperament. You have to have patience and racing drivers just want to get on with it. But I’m fascinated by it because it’s so difficult and I’m drawn to things that are difficult. It’s amazing that from one day to the next it changes so much that we can’t remember what we did. You pick up a club and it feels like you’ve got a snake in your hands!