Hugh Baiocchi is now 79, and lives in Florida in the United States. He plays golf occasionally, and because he doesn’t practise like he used to, his game isn’t as sharp as his memory of it is.

But there is a generation of South African golf fans who will remember a six-foot swashbuckler who shared the fairways with legends.

The truth is he’s something of a legend himself – a man who was there at the start of what is now the Sunshine Tour, as well as what is now the DP World Tour. He made the top 100 on the European Tour’s Order of Merit for the Tour’s first 19 seasons, including three top-10 placings. And he won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in 1978-79.

Baiocchi was born in 1946 and grew up in Modderfontein, then a small town east of Johannesburg. ‘My dad was an avid golfer, and that resulted in me becoming interested in playing at the age of 12,’ he recalls. ‘My dad was a Bobby Locke disciple, having also competed at a Transvaal Open at Glendower which Bobby won by a street.’

Ben Hogan was also pivotal in the golf education of the young Baiocchi: ‘My dad was my first teacher and he drilled into me the fundamentals of the golf swing that he based on Ben Hogan’s books,’ he says. ‘He stressed staying in one’s posture throughout the swing and working always on good swing tempo.’

A successful amateur career, which climaxed with the South African Amateur Championship title in 1970, was cut short when South African sportsmen were banned from representing the country abroad.

‘I determined then that if I wished to continue playing at a higher level, I would have to turn pro,’ he says. ‘I was thus almost forced into becoming a pro, but I had no illusions of success.’

But he did turn professional just as local golf was getting a shot in the arm: ‘In 1972 or ’73, Gary Player and Harold Henning raised and contributed to the first R100 000 tournament, the SA PGA Championship. That elevated the local Tour to a different level and, I feel, encouraged many talented young players to consider a career in professional golf.

‘We also had the ultimate role model in Gary. This, together with a number of fine instructors, resulted in a crop of terrific players from Ernie Els to today’s Aldrich Potgieter and many more super players.’

Baiocchi’s wins on the Tour included the ‘Triple Crown’: The SA Open in 1978 over Gavan Levenson; the Lexington PGA Championship in 1980 over Gary Player and Mark McNulty; and the Twee Jonge Gezellen Masters in 1989 by over Ernie Els, Tertius Claassens and Rick Hartmann.

‘Any time one manages to win an event by beating Gary is a huge deal,’ he says, ‘plus, of course, the PGA was a major event in South Africa with probably the best field of the year on a very good course, the Wanderers!’

Three of his four earliest wins on the local Tour came at the expense of Dale Hayes, and he savours those too: ‘In my opinion, Dale is one of the most talented players to have come out of South Africa,’ he says. ‘What amazed and almost irked me was how easy the game was for Dale. He was so good that he appeared to not have to try too hard to win tournaments, and he also looked as though he was having fun while I was sweating bullets to get over the line.’

Baiocchi also took his second European Tour title, the 1975 Dutch Open, from under the nose of Hayes.

He also managed to have a lucrative career on what is now the PGA Tour Champions: ‘Playing the Champions Tour was like having Christmas every week,’ he laughs. ‘The players were spoilt in that their every wish was granted, from a new courtesy vehicle every week, to all meals and unlimited golf equipment provided. I was fortunate to win three times and I also lost in two playoffs.’

He also has a legacy in the form of some golf courses he designed, most notably the Legend Course at Belle Mare Plage. ‘I am very proud of the job we did at Belle Mare Plage as it required dredging the ponds to provide soil for the fairways built on the existing lava rock,’ he says.

‘Also, my father and I converted the nine-hole course at Champagne Sports Resort into a full-length 18-hole course which has received good reviews. Working with my dad was particularly gratifying.’ For all that, he has his favourites in South Africa: ‘The Wild Coast Sun always treated me well in tournament play. Of the older, more traditional courses, Durban CC is a wonderful old lady, although I have not played the renovated version. I also loved the old Houghton.’

He’s not in South Africa as often as he used to be, however. ‘My parents have passed on but I have a brother who lives in Plett and my wife’s twin sister lives in Cape Town, and we return to see them every other year.’

And while in Florida, he has other buddies with whom he plays: ‘I still enjoy golf and occasionally play with Nick Price, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen. Their golfing ability is amazing, and they play a game with which I’m not familiar.’

EVENING STANDARD/PGA TOUR ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES/GALLOIMAGES/CONSTANCE HOTELS, RESORTS & GOLF/SUNSHINE TOUR/SUPPLIED