10th Maccabiah for Vandersluis

Roy Vandersluis entered his first Maccabiah Games in 1977 – and has been back every four years to compete since.

2013 will see the masters golf competitor attend his 10th consecutive Games as an athlete – certainly an Australian record, and MWU are trawling through the record books for us to see where Roy stands on the overall pedestal.

“Once I went to nine, I said I have to go to 10 – it has to be an even number,” Roy quipped.

“I went to my first in 1977, then again in 1981 where I made some great friends, some of whom I am still close with, and it was just a real buzz.

“I said: I’m going to keep going back until I’m dead or bankrupt.

“I’ve made it again!”

Vandersluis, 66, who carried the Australian flag at the opening ceremony in 2009, broke through for his maiden gold medal four years ago as part of the masters side.

He heads into 2013 with form on the board as well, having just won a senior tournament at the Melbourne National Golf Club, coming out on top against 188 of the best senior golfers in the country. Roy is ranked No.1 in Australia in the over-65 category, No.4 in the over-55 category and is in the Australian squad that will play in New Zealand and then contest the Asian Pacific Golf Championships in Vietnam after the Maccabiah Games.

“I’m playing with the lowest handicap I’ve been in about 15 years and my form is pretty good, but you never know over there,” he said.

“It’s an over-50s competition and I’m 66 … I could shoot some good scores, but you might have someone really sharp, who is 50 years old and can still hit it 300 yards.

“I’m confident, but we’ll see what happens.”

Roy will again be a part of the teams event, as well as the individual event, in which he won silver in 2009.

As a point of comparison, the next on the list of the most appearances are Maccabi legends Bernie Gold, Judy Kohn, Raie Moss, Louis Platus, Joe Rozen and Michael Wrublewski on seven, while Harry Procel, Australia’s Head of Delegation, and Tom Goldman, the Head of Delegation in 2009, will attend their eighth Games in 2013. But those marks include Games as athletes and administrators.

Roy has competed in all 10. Extraordinary.