Scotch College

Tom - king of clubs

The title of 'legend' is not one which is lightly bestowed, but there would be few that would dispute that it aptly described the status of Tom Crow ('50) at Scotch.

In 1951 the School 100 year history devotes two pages to his exploits in his four years in the 1st X1 - three of them as captain. In 1949 he broke the APS record by taking fifty-one wickets in five games, and one can only guess at the number of wickets he would have taken if the team had played ten matches, as it does today. His total haul in four years was an astonishing 133 wickets at an average of 10.12.

In the 1st XV111 for three years, vice captain in 1950, House Captain of Lawson-MacFarland, a Prefect on his way through the school, it was natural that the mantle of Captain of the School sat easily on his shoulders.

After leaving school Tom played cricket for District Club Collingwood and won selection in a Victorian Eleven until a serious shoulder injury put an end to a promising career.

His concentration on golf bore fruit, as he quickly became a leading amateur player, representing Australia in such international events as The Eisenhower Cup and The St Andrews Matches. To top it all off, he was also the Australian Amateur Champion.

Prior to going to America in 1973, Tom was a director of Precision Golf Forging, a major golf manufacturer. When he arrived there he realized that the golf equipment needs of serious players had been neglected.

Already a highly regarded golf club designer, in 1978 he helped form the Cobra Golf Inc. which enabled him to use his creative talent, including the re-introduction of graphite shafts to golf clubs in the mid eighties.

In August of 1990 Greg Norman purchased an equity interest in Cobra, and he and Tom developed Cobra's first forged line of irons, which was the fastest growing forgings on the PGA tour. Cobra's international empire has expanded, with distributors in Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Korea.

On their recent trip to the USA Dr Donaldson, Peter Crook and Leigh McGregor were delighted to visit the company's headquarters, near San Diego, where Tom was able to demonstrate the large amount of research and innovative design being undertaken by the company.

Tom tells us that he is still working '1,000 hours a year' and is undoubtedly still 'king' at Cobra. Long may he reign!