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For obvious reasons, Callum Tranent is affectionately known around Bundaberg Golf Club as Rickie. But his man crush on the popular US golfer is the result of a boyhood fascination with the colour orange.
That attraction to the colour plus a passing interest in golf led to an admiration for Fowler – but not so much for the quality of his game, rather his cool demeanour, humility and poise on the golf course.
Eventually the causal golfer, hooked on orange and now also hooked on the man who walks the USPGA fairways dressed predominately in that colour, decided to become more serious about the game. He joined Bundaberg Golf Club three years ago and bought himself a golf buggy in September last year – as a wedding gift to himself.
The golf buggy which is now his absolute pride and joy looks nothing like it did when he paid $3500 for it from a Mooloolaba dealer. The cart – and Callum – carry the moniker Rickie and the reason is patently obvious.
A boilermaker and sheet metal fabricator by trade, Callum utilised his weekends and the facilities of his former employer, Sea Jay Boats, to convert a stock-standard cart into his black and orange eye-catcher. And, doing all the work himself, the conversion took half a dozen weekends and cost him around $2500.
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The closest paint he could find in Bundaberg to the exact colour he wanted was Mandarin Orange, but the majority of the accessories came from the US. The list included an orange and black steering wheel, orange and black striped seat covers and 39cm (14½ inch) chrome rims.
“The wheels were an issue,” Callum revealed.
“When I fitted them they were too wide, and the tyres were rubbing on the guards. I then had to buy a lift kit, also from the US, to increase the height of the cart by six inches (14 cm).”
Callum was ecstatic with the end result, describing his cart as ‘pretty sweet looking’ and a head turner at his local club. In fact, the cart was a star attraction last month (April)at the Bundaberg Agrotrend Farming Lifestyle exhibition when local golf pro, Craig Swift, had it standing outside his golf cart stand.
As a consequence of now being the centre of attention because of his conspicuous golf cart, Callum knew he would need to improve his game. And that he has done, reducing his handicap from 24 to 13 in the past six months. In April he shot his best-ever round, a six-over par 77.
But as he did when titivating his cart, Callum also works hard on his game. He has recently switched jobs, now works 300 metres from the golf course and finishes at 4pm. Each weekday he practises and/or plays until dark.
“I’m lucky because my wife Samantha has her own hairdressing business and doesn’t finish until 9 o’clock at night,” he said.
“And she doesn’t mind me playing golf as long as I have dinner prepared when she gets home from work.”
The fascination with Rickie Fowler does not finish with the golf cart. Callum also wears the Fowler Puma clothing range – cap, polo and pants, as well as the high-top Puma shoes in which the four-time USPGA winner strutted the fairways a couple of years ago.
He also has an orange and black Cobra staff bag with matching covers, and plays with Cobra clubs, the same brand Fowler uses.
“I only wear the Rickie gear on Saturdays, which is our club’s major comp day,” he revealed.
Despite also owning a 4.5 metre fishing boat, which he built and is painted orange, Callum concedes that his fascination with the colour is by eye only.
“I must admit that I’m not a big fan of the fruit by the same name,” he confesses.
And there was another confession. When asked if he had a man crush on Fowler, Callum was adamant.
“One hundred per cent,” he admitted.
“Top on my bucket list is to meet him, so hopefully he is out here for a tournament again soon.”