Mike Austin (golfer)

Michael Hoke Austin (February 17, 1910 – November 23, 2005) was an American golf professional and kinesiology expert, specializing in long drives.

They reflect that Michael Hoke Austin was born 17 Feb. 1910 and died (aged 95) on 23 Nov. 2005.

His father was born in Alabama and there are no records reflecting English or Scottish claims.

During the Depression, Austin ran a local golf shop in Atlanta during the summer.

In the winter he frequented the courses farther south in Florida playing big money games against vacationing gangsters from Chicago.

After the first year, they wouldn't bet against him so he found a set of left-handed clubs and played with that handicap.

The next year he played one-handed.

It is also said he won a $5,000 bet by making par by hitting the ball with a Coke bottle.

Through these hustles he acquired the moniker of "The Golfing Bandit."

Austin also traveled across the country performing trick shots and challenging anyone to try to outdrive him.

He said he could hit a variety of shots with an ordinary set of golf clubs.

He told a biographer that he "lived like a maharaja" during that time.

Austin's biographer, Philip Reed, wrote that when Sam Snead first received a set of steel shafted clubs he promptly gave them to Austin saying, "You're the only one who swings fast enough to hit these."

In the late 1930s, Austin moved to Los Angeles to become a pro at the Wilshire Country Club.

When he arrived, the job fell through so he worked at other golf courses, teaching and competing.

His roommate was Errol Flynn and they frequented local nightclubs in search of women.

Austin also auditioned for roles in movies and eventually appeared in a number of motion pictures.

However, his golfing and acting were put on hold when he joined the service.

Having never completed U.S. citizenship, he went to Canada and joined the R.A.F.

Austin established a name for himself as a golf teacher and was eventually sought out by Howard Hughes for lessons.

He eventually established a gym in Hollywood where he taught boxing, tennis, baseball and golf.

The walls of the gym were covered with mirrors which he said sped up the learning process.

When he gave lectures about golf he dressed in a tight-fitting black leotard with white outlines of the skeletal structure.

He wanted students to see how the bones were positioned in the correct golf swing.

Austin also appeared/acted in the Michael Douglas movie "Star Chamber" as Judge Lang.

Austin's wife Tanya also was in the movies.

She appeared in the movie "The Blues Brothers."

Austin also had a voice good enough to sing light opera.

He would occasionally break out in song at, some say, the most awkward of moments.

Austin also spoke several languages.

For years Austin was well known by professional golfers for his length off the tee.

He was credited by Guinness World Records with hitting the longest drive in tournament play (471 m) in 1974 at Winterwood Golf Course (the Par-4 455-yard 14th Hole now called Desert Rose Golf Course) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Austin was born in Guernsey.

By the time he was four years-old, he had moved with his family to London and then Scotland.

They later emigrated to the United States, where they settled firstly in Florida and finally Georgia.

Social Security records refute these biographical entries.

But it was one drive in 1974 that secured his name in history.

While playing in the U.S. National Seniors Tournament, at the Winterwood Golf Course (now the Desert Rose) Austin was put in a foursome with PGA Champion Chandler Harper.

After hitting several 400-yard drives, Chandler said, "Mike, let's see you really let one go."

Austin drove the green on 450-yard par 4.