Wayne Perske in action at Hyatt Regency Coolum circa 2009 – file image Bruce Young
I wrote for Australian golfer Wayne Perkse’s website between 2006 and 2009 and was in regular contact with the Queenslander. No-one was more shocked than myself when Perske was busted for the possession of cocaine in Japan in October of 2010.
In this article, written a few months after the event and subsequent judicial proceedings in Japan, I talked with Wayne and his wife Vanessa about what led him to this point and how they both feel his and their experience can be used as a cautionary tale to others.
While few would condone the use of illicit drugs as a means of overcoming the rollercoaster of life there are times when we perhaps need to sit back and question the reasons why some resort to such a crutch.
The insidious narcotic industry destroys not only the lives of those directly involved but in many cases a much wider circle, the end result often being the destruction and waste of many promising lives and at times those of the innocent.
Australian professional golfer Wayne Perske incurred the wrath of colleagues, fine weather and at times other friends and many one-time admirers following his conviction in December for the possession and use of cocaine while plying his trade on the Japan Golf Tour.
Back home in Australia after receiving an 18-month sentence suspended for three years, Perske is contemplating a life that is now unlikely to involve playing the game for a living.
Already committed to a new role outside of golf, Perske is now keen to ensure that what he has been through to date, and will continue to go through for perhaps much of his life, can be avoided. He is keen to involve himself in assisting others who could potentially fall victim to the same set of circumstances he has suffered.
In October of 2010, Perske was caught in possession of a small package of cocaine while drowning his sorrows after another missed cut on the Japan Golf Tour. As the chances of him retaining his future playing rights in Japan were beginning to erode, Perske hit one of the many bars in the Chiba area east of Tokyo on that fateful Friday evening. As he reached for his phone, out from his pocket dropped a package that was small in size but gigantic in consequences.
An observant barman saw the package, rang the police and before long plain-clothed policemen were questioning and searching Perske. “I never denied that I had it or that it was for my use,” said Perske recently from his home in Brisbane. “They questioned me until around 4.00am in the morning and then I was placed in a holding cell with two others for what would become the next 25 days.”
Initially, Perske thought he would be in for a slap on the wrist but as time wore on it became clear that his misdemeanour carried grave consequences. “When I first went in there I was told by one person that I would be processed in a few hours and be able to leave. Then another said I would be put inside and be unable to leave that night. I perhaps naively asked if I could play the next week and interestingly was told I probably could. Then I was told it would be three days, then ten days, then finally 25 days.”
The outcome has been well documented but essentially what it would mean for Perkse was that he would spend until mid-November in a jail cell followed by a month on bail at a friend’s house near Tokyo and finally to a trial which would result in him being convicted. The presence of his wife Vanessa, who had raced to Japan soon after learning of his arrest, was essential in securing that bail.
When Perske first rang his home in Brisbane to speak to Vanessa on that fateful evening of Friday October 22nd, she at first thought he was joking. “I was waiting for Wayne to say he only kidding,” said Vanessa. Unfortunately, it was no joke.
The conversation was only for a permitted 30 seconds but by the time it terminated she knew her husband was genuinely in trouble. “My problem was that I was unable to speak to Wayne again until I arrived in Japan five days later and even then the conversation was stilted because it was carried out during prison visits and in the presence of an interpreter, a policeman and a lawyer.”
For Perske the phone call home was one he dreaded making. “It was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do. She (Vanessa) had absolutely no idea that I had any involvement in anything like that. Almost as hard was that I was unable to speak to her until she came to Japan five days later.”
With nowhere to turn, Vanessa contacted the Australian Consulate who gave her a list of Japanese lawyers and one, who spoke English well and was based in Chiba, helped them right up to and including the trial.
Of his own volition, Perske, his wife, Vanessa, and their two children left Tokyo just a few hours after the trial, perhaps for the last time ever. Vanessa had stuck firmly by Perske’s side during the nightmare of the previous two months, at times bewildered what she and her family were facing and the consequences that might result beyond the conviction which had been imposed.
So how on earth could a golfer who ten years earlier had won his very first event as a professional, his first event after regaining his card for the 2006 Japan Golf Tour and the best part of A$1.2 million over the next four and a half years in Japan, allow himself to fall so far?
The answer lies perhaps in the rigours of life as a professional golfer and the capacity of some to weather the pitfalls and ups and downs better than others. Not that Perske is looking for sympathy or excuses. “I’ve been punished for an offence that carries a stigma with it and I am not happy about that,” he said.
He knows only too well the stupidity of his actions but he is aware also that over the last two or three years he was on a treadmill that was spiralling out of control.
“It (the drug taking) was only something I did a handful of times and only In Japan. I have never even thought about it in Australia – in fact would not even know where to start looking for it. It was also only part of the whole story about my life but clearly one that has had a huge impact and has now been the catalyst for change.”
The obvious question, and one that I was keen to ask, was whether Perske felt professional golfers were any different to any other individual facing life’s difficulties? We all face battles in our own lives so why should professional golfers be a protected species and their industry given special support?
“It is a very unique way to make a living in that you are playing for survival every year,” was his response. “People who go to University or are for example plumbers do not have to go back to University or redo their apprenticeship every year if things do not work out.
“You are very isolated and are constantly on the road and away from family. A very prominent golfer said, on hearing of my situation, that he himself had travelled with an entourage of six others since he turned pro and he still finds it difficult and he is a single guy without the pressures of a family life.
“Your performances are constantly under scrutiny. It is easy for someone to sit back and say you are a choker or that was a crap performance or why did you make this or that decision. Some of the stuff we have read on the internet about what has happened to me since the arrest – well then all I can say is that it is easy for people to sledge others from the position of anonymity and without having walked in my shoes.”
So how did things reach this all time low? “It is true that it appears on the surface to be a dream job and for many it would be compared to a job in an office perhaps,” added Perske. “It is a great office certainly but the other side of it is very taxing.
“I lost my love of the game when it became such a grind to get to the level I needed to to compete. It is mostly pressure that you put on yourself admittedly but those pressures do mount. In some ways, success bred pressure as it created expectations by others for me to achieve even more.
“A lot of guys are different and do not have such a problem being away from family but I remember when my daughter was little, missing certain milestones in her life and it truly upset me.
“Even when things were going well it was not so much a case of euphoria but more a case of relief. When I had a good result it was a case of knowing that I could then hang in there a little longer and the financial and job pressure was off even if it was only temporarily.
“I think that I began to lose my zest for the game a couple of years ago. I felt everything was a chore. I started drinking too much and there is no doubt that if you are unhappy off the course then it impacts your results on the golf course.”
While Perske was still able to generate competitive juices it was for all the wrong reasons. “I became more fearful of not performing well rather than performing badly. The pressure was coming from not wanting to stuff it up.”
A few weeks before he was caught in possession it was clear that things were not right with Wayne Perske. After making the cut at the Tokai Classic in Nagoya he recorded weekend rounds of 84 and 86 in what could only be described as a meltdown. “That was the capitulation really. I just lost my nerve on the course and began to realise that I had some serious issues. Not with drugs but more to do with me and what I was doing for a living.”
Three weeks later and after falling apart over the final nine holes at the Bridgestone event in Chiba he hit the nightspot that would lead to his downfall.
Clearly, there was a personality issue and on his return to Australia he visited a counseler who suggested he was in the moderate to medium range of depression which is not the worst but one that left Perske unable to make decisions which were in his best interest.
“On reflection, there were plenty of signals but ones I could not see at the time. Now that I can, I have taken certain steps and medication and I can honestly say that I have never felt better in years.”
Vanessa Perske felt strongly enough about the situation she and her family found themselves in that she was driven to write to the PGA of Australia and Golf Australia searching for ways to better prepare young golfers for what lies ahead and to create a greater awareness of the personal issues facing professional golfers.
In part, the letter said “I am writing this letter to explain a large concern of mine that exists in the Professional Golf body. Not only myself but other golfing professionals and golfing wives with whom I have recently been in contact, believe that depression is a major epidemic in Professional Golf, thus, leading to increased alcohol and drug abuse.”
In an impassioned plea, perhaps driven by the defence of her husband’s integrity and her desire to ensure others do not suffer the same fate, she finished by adding, “I am not ashamed of Wayne. People who know him will support me in saying that he is a good person, treats people well and has gained many friends, fans and sponsors throughout his career. I truly hope that this letter is deeply considered by the PGA.”
The CEO of Golf Australia Stephen Pitt responded almost immediately and has subsequently offered Perske the opportunity to talk to National Squad members, both male and female. Soon after, Vanessa was contacted by the newly recruited CEO of the PGA of Australia, Brian Thorburn.
According to Vanessa, Thorburn, who has yet to take up his appointment, discussed the emphasis of player welfare initiatives in his previous role at the ARU and that from his early observations, the PGA too was keen to do the same. He indicated however that they were keen to focus on just how they might give it even greater support.
Perske is now keen to look ahead and not back. “I’ve said what I need to say about what happened but I am now keen to let people know that I am available to talk about the reality of life on Tour and about the choices and the pitfalls those taking on a career in professional golf will both make and experience. It is not so much when they are young and free but when they get older and have families and the pressures mount that the job becomes even more demanding.”
Vanessa perhaps put it in perspective when she said, “Kids don’t always listen to their parents but they will surely listen to someone who, eleven years earlier, sat in their position and fell victim to the dangers they themselves could potentially face in the years ahead.”
On February the 7th the Japan Golf Tour will meet to decide the fate of Wayne Perske. It is likely they will ban him from involvement on their Tour in the future but it is likley that his conviction made that impossible anyway.
Wayne Perkse’s biggest contribution to the game, however, might now rest in what he can offer others. By standing in front of groups of would-be professionals as an example of what can go wrong he can perhaps assist the next generation in avoiding the nightmare he has just been through.
After all, prevention must surely be better than cure.
Is Japan’s first male major title close at hand?
Hideki Matsuyama during World Cup of Golf
The likelihood of Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama becoming the first male golfer from that country to win a major championship looms large, the 24 year old already with three PGA Tour titles to his name in addition to his eight Japan Tour victories and five top tens in the major championships he has played as a professional.
Matsuyama, so early in his career, has shown a preparedness to take his game to the world, a trait not a lot of his fellow countrymen have been all that keen to do. I suppose the opportunity to play 30 or so events at home on the relatively lucrative Japan Tour is appealing to a player from any country if they had that chance and who could blame them but Matsuyama appears to have an international focus and a determination to succeed.
The Masters may well be the major that Matsuyama will win before any other having made the cut on two occasions at Augusta National as an amateur and recorded two top tens in three starts as a professional there he clearly enjoys the venue. Given his current form he shapes as a real chance, even as early as this year.
Having observed, first hand, Matsuyama playing in events in Australia and Thailand, it appears to me the most important attribute he possesses is self-belief. Sure, his stats are good especially in the area of ball striking but to have had as much success as he has already in the US, despite speaking very little English, tells the story of a young man with a great ability to adapt to any environment.
Other Japanese players have won on the PGA Tour namely, Isao Aoki and Shigeki Maruyama, the latter of whom won three times in the US but there is a feeling that Matsuyama is well on track to take Japanese golf to another level completely with victory in a major.
Japanese have occasionally gone close to winning a major, more especially Isao Aoki who finished runner-up to Jack Nicklaus at the 1980 US Open and in 1988 Tommy Nakajima finished 3rd at the US PGA Championship but that first major breakthrough is proving elusive.
Interest in golf in Japan gained a huge boost began when the World Cup of Golf, or Canada Cup as it was known then, was hosted by Japan in 1957, the home-side defeating Americans, Sam Snead and Jimmy Demaret, to win the event in their homeland and cause a frenzy and golfing awareness amongst Japanese fans.
Japan would win the World Cup of Golf again in 2002 but by then the Japan Golf Tour was well and truly up and running and players such as Aoki, Maruyama and Tommy Nakajima had been performing with distinction worldwide.
Later Ryo Ishikawa would play well on the PGA Tour, without winning, and more recently Matsuyama appears ready to claim that all important first major.
In the early 1970’s a Japanese player who achieved almost folklore status in that country emerged from a baseball career to take the Japan Tour by storm. Masashi (or Jumbo) Ozaki won more than 100 events in his own country and dominated the Japan Golf Tour for the best part of twenty five years but although he played 90 or so PGA Tour events he was never a member of that tour.
Jumbo Ozaki and the writer at the 1972 NZ PGA
Ozaki recorded top tens in majors on three occasions and actually played the Masters on 19 occasions but his only overseas victory would come at the 1972 New Zealand PGA Championship at Mt Maunganui in the North Island where he defeated Bob Charles by six shots.
I was lucky enough to fluke the role as his caddy that week and to say the least his win was impressive, hitting the ball prodigious distances with the then small (1.62’) ball and easily accounting for a field of Australasian and other players so early in his career (he was 24).
I was 18 and it was the first occasion that I had experienced such success as a caddy and it left a lasting impression on what would be my own future in the industry of golf.
Ozaki, however, had it pretty easy at home in Japan. He was almost a cult figure there and other than a desire to be one of the greats in the game there was no real incentive for him to chase the riches of the PGA Tour.
He would, therefore, remain relatively unfulfilled in terms of what he might otherwise achieved if he had the determination and desire to capitalise on his amazing game at a higher level than the Japan Golf Tour.
Matsuyama, though, is a very much different character and it would seem realises that if he is to become one of the game’s greats then he has to compete on international tours on a regular basis and perhaps view the PGA Tour as his main tour rather than the Japan Tour.
Matsuyama took his game to another level in 2016 rising to the number 6 place in the world ranking but it would seem he is likely to take his place in the game to even greater heights in 2017.
When Chubby met Rika
Rika Batibasaga – now with his name on the bag – image Bruce Young
Chance meetings are often the way that great relationships begin. Whether of the business, friendship or romantic variety, the most enduring can often begin in the most unusual of circumstances.
25-year-old Queensland golfer Rika Batibasaga is a case in point. When responding to a question raised by Open Champion Darren Clarke and iconic player-manager Chubby Chandler at the Australian PGA Championship in November 2011, Batibasaga could not have imagined that the initial dialogue would potentially set up his professional career.
On the driving range at Hyatt Regency Coolum just before the event’s opening round, Batibasaga hadn’t even noticed Clarke and Chandler walking behind him as Clarke prepared to practice after his disappointing opening round earlier in the day.
That Batibasaga was even playing in the tournament adds another element to this story and the random nature of the meeting. On Monday, Batisbasaga shot 62 in pre-qualifying at the Wynnum Golf Club in Brisbane to secure one of just three places available from a field of 105 to gain access to the event.
Batibasaga recalls what happened a few minutes after Clarke and Chandler arrived on the practice fairway. “I was warming up and after a while, Darren yells out to me ‘Why don’t you have a (expletive) big bag with your (expletive) name on it’.”
Clearly, Clarke was so taken with what he was seeing of Batibasaga’s ball striking and classy golf swing that he could not believe he was watching an uncontracted player or one who had not bothered to put a name of the bag for identification purposes.
Initially, a little taken aback by the comment from one of the game’s superstars, Batibasaga responded. “Mate I am just a rookie starting out, I am a big fan of yours and have a great week. Darren then said that that was the reason why I needed a name on my bag. I then said thanks mate and again told him to have a good week.”
Fortunately for Batisbasaga, his Gold Coast based coach, Kevin Healey, had been observing Clarke and Chandler watching his client and was aware that they seemed to be impressed by what they were seeing.
Healey takes up the story. “Chubby was having a coffee and a pie and Darren was having a cigar and a coffee and as Rika worked his way through his bag I could see they were watching. He was hitting it well and you could sense they were taking notice.
“As Rika got to the longer clubs it was then that Darren shouted out, in a complimentary way, about his name on the bag.”
As Batibasaga left the range Chandler called Healey aside and asked if he was Batibasaga’s coach. When that was confirmed Chandler asked for more details starting with the unusual name, which in itself was a tricky one, but clearly Chandler had been impressed by what he had seen and wanted to know more about this ‘talented unknown’.
Clarke chimed in at that point. “That kid makes a nice move and that is pretty impressive ball striking.”
Chandler then asked if Healey could email him with some details as he and Clarke were keen to follow Batibasaga’s progress and gave Healey his business card.
“I didn’t want to tell Rika immediately as he had a tournament to play and I was keen to keep it from him for a couple of days,” added Healey. “When Rika first heard of it he was clearly excited but we kept things under wraps as we were all a bit unsure as to where it would lead and didn’t want to get ahead of ourselves.
“I then sent Chubby some details but didn’t hear back until early January when I got an email from him asking where the information was. I quickly sent it off again and within a few days he messaged me saying he wanted to have a chat as he was keen to run some thoughts by me.
“While all this was going on Darren Clarke had been keeping an eye on the progress of the Victorian Open as having played here in Australia over the summer he was aware of the schedule and knew it was on. Rika played well at the event and in fact, was in contention after the first couple of rounds.
“When Chubby and I finally got talking over the phone he said that Darren had been going on about Rika in fact he hadn’t stopped and was still talking about the fact that he had not had a name on his bag, that he was so impressive and that he had made a good start at the Vic Open. He (Chubby) indicated that there was something about Rika that they wanted to explore further.
“Chubby asked me what the plans were for Rika and I explained that after the Victorian Open he was off to Asian Tour School and then we would see where things went from there. Chubby then said to think about a plan he had for Rika.
“He asked me to put the idea to Rika of coming to the UK where he (Chandler) would give him the use of a car, the use of an apartment above his office near Manchester, a card with a limited amount of cash to bankroll things and some starts on the Euro Pro Tour and hopefully an occasional start on the Challenge Tour.”
Perhaps understandably, Healey’s first response was to ask Chandler if he was serious. It was almost too good to be true. Clearly, he was and so at that point Healey decided to tell Batibasaga of Chandler’s offer.
“I thought it was great when I first saw Chubby’s (business) card at the PGA but imagined things would not evolve for a few years,” said Batibasga. “Then when Kevin outlined the actual offer I was still not totally convinced. When Chubby called me during the Victorian Open it became obvious that it was for real.”
So what was it about the 25-year-old Queenslander that appealed to Chandler?
“I was sitting next to where Rika was hitting,” said Chandler. “As always I was watching a few guys in the immediate vicinity and while there was still not a lot of culture about Rika he was a very impressive hitter and the sound off the club was very good. After watching him for a few minutes I told Darren to have a look. He started watching him and it was at that point that Darren started the conversation about the name on the bag.
“When we started to talking to Kevin I thought there might be something we could do to help. I said to Darren we should work out a plan for him and so we will set him up to play over here. To bring him over costs us an airfare and we have an apartment here and he will be surrounded by a lot of people his own age some of who are in our office.”
Chandler’s office is of course that of sports management company ISM who not only manage Clarke but golfers such as Lee Westwood, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen amongst others.
“We will give him a chance – not at a high level to start with but allow him to find his feet on the Euro Pro Tour and with a couple of Challenge Tour starts,” added Chandler. “If he gets good results we will help him move on and if he doesn’t then we will help him find his right level. All this will be with a view to going to Tour School in September.
“We will have a pretty good marker as to how good he is and how well he will settle in. The last thing we want to do is throw him in out of his depth. It will be different for him. The weather will be different and he will be a long way from home.”
“Rika is quite excited because I am a rugby league supporter and we have a little box at Warrington and we do quite a lot of sport. We go to Manchester United and Bolton games so there is a lot to keep him interested and he will have an existence, in addition to his golfing pursuits, is so important.
“Darren is very much involved in this and will take a close interest in Rika’s progress. Although Darren did not play all that well at Coolum, he had such a great time there he was keen to put something back into the local golf and it could be said that this is a way of doing it. We had a great time there.”
So just who is Rika Batibasaga? Even without the amazing story above, Batibasaga’s golfing journey is already an extraordinary one for many reasons.
Batibasaga’s father, Asaeli, was a rugby union winger for Fiji before settling in Australia to play rugby league. His mother Bev is an Australian and although their marriage did not last long, the sporting genes have been significant in Batibasaga’s development as a sportsperson and a golfer. Batibasaga played rugby as a junior but turned to golf at about the age of 12 and became serious at the age of 14.
Batibasaga first began to play golf as a youngster at Albert Park in Melbourne where his mother and her new partner Michael moved after the earlier marriage had broken up. On his return to Brisbane, Batibasaga played golf throughout his amateur career at Indooroopilly Golf Club where, in 2007, he won the Queensland Amateur Championship.
It was at Indooroopilly that Batibasaga was taken under the wing of coach, Martin Gould, who coached him until he joined Kevin Healey twelve months ago. During his time in amateur golf, Batibasaga was a player good enough to win the 2005 Fiji Open and the 2007 Queensland Amateur Championships.
In 2008 Batibasaga decided to test his skills on the Gateway Tour in the US, a Pay to Play series of events, his particular series in 2008 played on the east coast of Florida. He finished third in an early season event that year but soon after suffered a psychotic episode and found himself in an institution.
“I had a mental breakdown and was without sleep for six days. I have since been diagnosed with bi- polar disorder. I have had treatment for it but at the time it was awful. I felt it coming on but had no clue what was happening as there had been no history of it in our family.
Batibasaga spent time in a psychiatric facility in the US and again back here at home but with a clear diagnosis and the opportunity to get assistance, he was able to work his way through it. Amongst other things and as part of his recovery he spoke to schools about his plight.
It took Batibasaga nearly two years however to get to the point where he was able to compete again. “I always wanted to get back into it but the medication I was on actually keeps you down a lot and my motivation was low. Once the medication became unnecessary I started to get the drive to want to play sport and golf again.”
Batibasaga was, and still is, a good friend of Jason Day’s and, having spent time with him in the US prior to his meltdown, saw what is possible at the elite end of the game. In 2010 he returned to competitive golf and began to regain some of the form that saw him as such an achiever in earlier times. He actually played his way into an Australian side in 2011.
After an unsuccessful tilt at qualifying for the PGA Tour in mid 2011, at a time when he was clearly not ready for it, Batibisaga set his mind to the PGA Tour of Australasia with the aim of earning his card there and building his professional career off that.
Entering the WA PGA Championship at the Vines in October of last year, Batibasaga Monday qualified for the event and led after the first round with an opening 66. He finished well back but again he displayed what a talent he is.
Importantly for his capacity to handle what lay ahead and taking into account his past, Batibasaga’s coach, Healey, had the foresight to introduce him, via Skype, to renowned England based Mind Coach Karl Morris. The connection would help later as Darren Clarke also works extensively with Morris providing yet another level of synergy in the relationship between Chandler, Batibasaga and Clarke.
Morris described what it was he and Batibasaga worked on. “Great players understand the need to control both the golf ball and the self. We have worked on key strategies with Rika to this end in particular to make sure that what he does even before he steps into the ball is firmly planted as a routine in his mind.
“Also to make sure that in practice he ‘simulates’ the game in a way that puts him under pressure as opposed to just bashing golf balls. He is, though, clearly a great talent and a pleasure to work with.”
A few weeks later Batibasaga managed to earn his playing rights for the 2012 PGA Tour of Australasia and while, at this stage, his ranking will not necessarily earn him starts in the bigger events, it will earn him the chance to play the Tier 2 events and events such as the New Zealand PGA Pro Am Championship which he plays next week.
It might just be, however, that the lifeline that has been thrown to him by Chubby Chandler and Darren Clarke provides another fork in the road to a successful career in professional golf.
Wayne Perske – not all beer and skittles
Wayne Perske in action at Hyatt Regency Coolum circa 2009 – file image Bruce Young
I wrote for Australian golfer Wayne Perkse’s website between 2006 and 2009 and was in regular contact with the Queenslander. No-one was more shocked than myself when Perske was busted for the possession of cocaine in Japan in October of 2010.
In this article, written a few months after the event and subsequent judicial proceedings in Japan, I talked with Wayne and his wife Vanessa about what led him to this point and how they both feel his and their experience can be used as a cautionary tale to others.
While few would condone the use of illicit drugs as a means of overcoming the rollercoaster of life there are times when we perhaps need to sit back and question the reasons why some resort to such a crutch.
The insidious narcotic industry destroys not only the lives of those directly involved but in many cases a much wider circle, the end result often being the destruction and waste of many promising lives and at times those of the innocent.
Australian professional golfer Wayne Perske incurred the wrath of colleagues, fine weather and at times other friends and many one-time admirers following his conviction in December for the possession and use of cocaine while plying his trade on the Japan Golf Tour.
Back home in Australia after receiving an 18-month sentence suspended for three years, Perske is contemplating a life that is now unlikely to involve playing the game for a living.
Already committed to a new role outside of golf, Perske is now keen to ensure that what he has been through to date, and will continue to go through for perhaps much of his life, can be avoided. He is keen to involve himself in assisting others who could potentially fall victim to the same set of circumstances he has suffered.
In October of 2010, Perske was caught in possession of a small package of cocaine while drowning his sorrows after another missed cut on the Japan Golf Tour. As the chances of him retaining his future playing rights in Japan were beginning to erode, Perske hit one of the many bars in the Chiba area east of Tokyo on that fateful Friday evening. As he reached for his phone, out from his pocket dropped a package that was small in size but gigantic in consequences.
An observant barman saw the package, rang the police and before long plain-clothed policemen were questioning and searching Perske. “I never denied that I had it or that it was for my use,” said Perske recently from his home in Brisbane. “They questioned me until around 4.00am in the morning and then I was placed in a holding cell with two others for what would become the next 25 days.”
Initially, Perske thought he would be in for a slap on the wrist but as time wore on it became clear that his misdemeanour carried grave consequences. “When I first went in there I was told by one person that I would be processed in a few hours and be able to leave. Then another said I would be put inside and be unable to leave that night. I perhaps naively asked if I could play the next week and interestingly was told I probably could. Then I was told it would be three days, then ten days, then finally 25 days.”
The outcome has been well documented but essentially what it would mean for Perkse was that he would spend until mid-November in a jail cell followed by a month on bail at a friend’s house near Tokyo and finally to a trial which would result in him being convicted. The presence of his wife Vanessa, who had raced to Japan soon after learning of his arrest, was essential in securing that bail.
When Perske first rang his home in Brisbane to speak to Vanessa on that fateful evening of Friday October 22nd, she at first thought he was joking. “I was waiting for Wayne to say he only kidding,” said Vanessa. Unfortunately, it was no joke.
The conversation was only for a permitted 30 seconds but by the time it terminated she knew her husband was genuinely in trouble. “My problem was that I was unable to speak to Wayne again until I arrived in Japan five days later and even then the conversation was stilted because it was carried out during prison visits and in the presence of an interpreter, a policeman and a lawyer.”
For Perske the phone call home was one he dreaded making. “It was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do. She (Vanessa) had absolutely no idea that I had any involvement in anything like that. Almost as hard was that I was unable to speak to her until she came to Japan five days later.”
With nowhere to turn, Vanessa contacted the Australian Consulate who gave her a list of Japanese lawyers and one, who spoke English well and was based in Chiba, helped them right up to and including the trial.
Of his own volition, Perske, his wife, Vanessa, and their two children left Tokyo just a few hours after the trial, perhaps for the last time ever. Vanessa had stuck firmly by Perske’s side during the nightmare of the previous two months, at times bewildered what she and her family were facing and the consequences that might result beyond the conviction which had been imposed.
So how on earth could a golfer who ten years earlier had won his very first event as a professional, his first event after regaining his card for the 2006 Japan Golf Tour and the best part of A$1.2 million over the next four and a half years in Japan, allow himself to fall so far?
The answer lies perhaps in the rigours of life as a professional golfer and the capacity of some to weather the pitfalls and ups and downs better than others. Not that Perske is looking for sympathy or excuses. “I’ve been punished for an offence that carries a stigma with it and I am not happy about that,” he said.
He knows only too well the stupidity of his actions but he is aware also that over the last two or three years he was on a treadmill that was spiralling out of control.
“It (the drug taking) was only something I did a handful of times and only In Japan. I have never even thought about it in Australia – in fact would not even know where to start looking for it. It was also only part of the whole story about my life but clearly one that has had a huge impact and has now been the catalyst for change.”
The obvious question, and one that I was keen to ask, was whether Perske felt professional golfers were any different to any other individual facing life’s difficulties? We all face battles in our own lives so why should professional golfers be a protected species and their industry given special support?
“It is a very unique way to make a living in that you are playing for survival every year,” was his response. “People who go to University or are for example plumbers do not have to go back to University or redo their apprenticeship every year if things do not work out.
“You are very isolated and are constantly on the road and away from family. A very prominent golfer said, on hearing of my situation, that he himself had travelled with an entourage of six others since he turned pro and he still finds it difficult and he is a single guy without the pressures of a family life.
“Your performances are constantly under scrutiny. It is easy for someone to sit back and say you are a choker or that was a crap performance or why did you make this or that decision. Some of the stuff we have read on the internet about what has happened to me since the arrest – well then all I can say is that it is easy for people to sledge others from the position of anonymity and without having walked in my shoes.”
So how did things reach this all time low? “It is true that it appears on the surface to be a dream job and for many it would be compared to a job in an office perhaps,” added Perske. “It is a great office certainly but the other side of it is very taxing.
“I lost my love of the game when it became such a grind to get to the level I needed to to compete. It is mostly pressure that you put on yourself admittedly but those pressures do mount. In some ways, success bred pressure as it created expectations by others for me to achieve even more.
“A lot of guys are different and do not have such a problem being away from family but I remember when my daughter was little, missing certain milestones in her life and it truly upset me.
“Even when things were going well it was not so much a case of euphoria but more a case of relief. When I had a good result it was a case of knowing that I could then hang in there a little longer and the financial and job pressure was off even if it was only temporarily.
“I think that I began to lose my zest for the game a couple of years ago. I felt everything was a chore. I started drinking too much and there is no doubt that if you are unhappy off the course then it impacts your results on the golf course.”
While Perske was still able to generate competitive juices it was for all the wrong reasons. “I became more fearful of not performing well rather than performing badly. The pressure was coming from not wanting to stuff it up.”
A few weeks before he was caught in possession it was clear that things were not right with Wayne Perske. After making the cut at the Tokai Classic in Nagoya he recorded weekend rounds of 84 and 86 in what could only be described as a meltdown. “That was the capitulation really. I just lost my nerve on the course and began to realise that I had some serious issues. Not with drugs but more to do with me and what I was doing for a living.”
Three weeks later and after falling apart over the final nine holes at the Bridgestone event in Chiba he hit the nightspot that would lead to his downfall.
Clearly, there was a personality issue and on his return to Australia he visited a counseler who suggested he was in the moderate to medium range of depression which is not the worst but one that left Perske unable to make decisions which were in his best interest.
“On reflection, there were plenty of signals but ones I could not see at the time. Now that I can, I have taken certain steps and medication and I can honestly say that I have never felt better in years.”
Vanessa Perske felt strongly enough about the situation she and her family found themselves in that she was driven to write to the PGA of Australia and Golf Australia searching for ways to better prepare young golfers for what lies ahead and to create a greater awareness of the personal issues facing professional golfers.
In part, the letter said “I am writing this letter to explain a large concern of mine that exists in the Professional Golf body. Not only myself but other golfing professionals and golfing wives with whom I have recently been in contact, believe that depression is a major epidemic in Professional Golf, thus, leading to increased alcohol and drug abuse.”
In an impassioned plea, perhaps driven by the defence of her husband’s integrity and her desire to ensure others do not suffer the same fate, she finished by adding, “I am not ashamed of Wayne. People who know him will support me in saying that he is a good person, treats people well and has gained many friends, fans and sponsors throughout his career. I truly hope that this letter is deeply considered by the PGA.”
The CEO of Golf Australia Stephen Pitt responded almost immediately and has subsequently offered Perske the opportunity to talk to National Squad members, both male and female. Soon after, Vanessa was contacted by the newly recruited CEO of the PGA of Australia, Brian Thorburn.
According to Vanessa, Thorburn, who has yet to take up his appointment, discussed the emphasis of player welfare initiatives in his previous role at the ARU and that from his early observations, the PGA too was keen to do the same. He indicated however that they were keen to focus on just how they might give it even greater support.
Perske is now keen to look ahead and not back. “I’ve said what I need to say about what happened but I am now keen to let people know that I am available to talk about the reality of life on Tour and about the choices and the pitfalls those taking on a career in professional golf will both make and experience. It is not so much when they are young and free but when they get older and have families and the pressures mount that the job becomes even more demanding.”
Vanessa perhaps put it in perspective when she said, “Kids don’t always listen to their parents but they will surely listen to someone who, eleven years earlier, sat in their position and fell victim to the dangers they themselves could potentially face in the years ahead.”
On February the 7th the Japan Golf Tour will meet to decide the fate of Wayne Perske. It is likely they will ban him from involvement on their Tour in the future but it is likley that his conviction made that impossible anyway.
Wayne Perkse’s biggest contribution to the game, however, might now rest in what he can offer others. By standing in front of groups of would-be professionals as an example of what can go wrong he can perhaps assist the next generation in avoiding the nightmare he has just been through.
After all, prevention must surely be better than cure.