Tributes pour in for much loved Hunter

Talented enough to have played for Scotland at both Boys and Youths level as a young amateur, then later win the 1995 Portuguese Open on the European Tour – beating Open champion Darren Clarke in a play-off no less – Adam Hunter’s greatest moment in golf nevertheless came on a day when he didn’t hit even one shot. As coach to fellow-Scot and soon-to-be 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie, the then 35-year-old proved to be the cool head the somewhat bewildered Aberdonian needed about him during the extraordinary French farce acted out by Jean Van de Velde in the lead up to the four-hole play-off at Carnoustie for golf’s most important title.

“Adam was very much in charge at that point,” recalls Lawrie, who tied for tenth place behind Hunter in that now far-off Portuguese Open. “He was actually the first person to twig – long before Van de Velde made his triple-bogey on the 72nd hole – that there could be a play-off. He turned to me and said: ‘we don’t know what might happen here. This course is tough and treacherous. And if something does happen, you have to be prepared to go.’ So it was him who told me to go to the range and hit balls.

“Whatever Adam wanted me to do, I was going to do it. He was the guy I trusted with my swing and my whole career really. I rarely disputed anything he said. I knew he always had my best interests at heart. I believed in him. And he was invaluable to me that day.”

Lawrie was far from alone in that, of course. Before the onset of the leukaemia that would eventually claim his life on Friday at the tragically early age of 48, Hunter proved himself an exceptional tutor to golfers of all ages and abilities. As well as watching over the swings of a host of pros since he retired from the tour in 1998, he was employed by the Scottish Golf Union first as a Scottish Golf Academy coach and, more recently, as head coach to the Scottish under-16 squad. The bravery and persistence Hunter showed in battling such an insidious disease came as no surprise either. During his playing career, the former Northern Open champion made as many as seven trips to the arduous six-round marathon known as the European Tour qualifying school, before finally establishing himself on pro golf’s second-biggest circuit. He was not a man for whom giving up was ever an option.

Not surprisingly for one so universally popular, the tributes from his fellow professionals were not long in coming. As soon as the sad news broke late on Friday, the social media site Twitter was alive with appreciation for Hunter’s human and golfing qualities. Scottish Amateur champion David Law, newly turned professional, called Hunter, “an awesome coach and a great man who helped me a great deal”.

And there was this from Clarke: “sad news of Adam Hunter passing away today. He was a genuine good guy and had time for everybody. RIP Adam.”

There was even room for a little humour, which Hunter, an outgoing soul right to the end of his too-short life, would surely have enjoyed. A close friend, who had visited him in Glasgow’s Beatson Cancer Centre the night before he died, tweeted a tongue-in-cheek version of Hunter’s philosophy on golf, his so-called ‘six Ps’: “perfect preparation prevents piss-poor performance.”

Bob Torrance, Scotland’s most respected instructor, worked with Hunter as both a player and a coach. “Adam used to come to me for lessons when he was on tour,” recalls the Largs-based guru. “I can still him see him arriving in his father’s old van. He was a really good player too, maybe the only thing he lacked was a bit of distance off the tee.

“The best part of Adam though was his cheery personality. I had a lot of time for him as a person and as a coach. He had the sort of no-nonsense approach I like. He kept things simple, which is what you have to do for even the great players. I’ll miss him very much.”

Speaking yesterday morning from Vilamoura, where he is competing in the Portugal Masters, those sentiments were echoed by an emotional Lawrie: “Nothing was ever too much trouble for Adam. I can’t tell you how many times he would drive to Aberdeen to watch me hit balls for a couple of hours, then drive straight back to Glasgow. He had unbelievable dedication.”

There has been a common theme here, of course. Adam Hunter, who leaves two teenage daughters, Emma and Beth, as well as his wife, Caroline, was the sort of man it was impossible not to like. Which is why everyone felt the same way about him. RIP mate.