The Finer Details..

I cannot say exactly when I first started golfing, but it was a young age for sure, perhaps six! I joined a fantastic golf club at the age of ten, Mullingar Golf Club in the midlands of Ireland. Niall Horan, Conor Moore and many more regularly frequent this top 100 golf course, which also hosts Ireland’s most prominent Senior Scratch Cup; previous winners include Rory McElroy, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke.

Mullingar was a great club as a junior, crafting our skills day in day out (quite literally!); I remember often my father would drop me to the club on his way to work (arrival at 6:45am), and not leave the course until darkness forced us to! We had weekly junior competitions at the club, where many friends were made, and some fierce competition arose.

I was playing many sports, but primarily hurling and golf by the age of 15, and I realised I needed to make a choice, and focus on one as time was getting precious with exams etc coming up. I chose golf, and soon after that began coaching with our provincial teams at under 15, and under 18 age groups. And at 18, represented Leinster, in a match against Ulster and won my match. I was trained as junior by provincial coaches Donagh McArdle alongside Shane Lowry, and Shane O’Grady (current coach to LPGA player Leona Maguire) which gave me an excellent grounding to the game.

I moved towards my Leaving Certificate examination, and golf took a back seat. I don’t feel I was enjoying the game quite as much at this stage, and believe a great deal was down to me hiding my sexuality. After a couple of years at Uni, I got a hunger for the game again, after seeing many players I had been beating having great success. After rigorous training, I got my swing and game back in shape, and within a 6-month period, I won three Senior Scratch Cups, and set three championship course records – one of the courses I had never seen before and had only a half set (every second club)! I also earned myself a spot on the Paddy Harrington Golf Scholarship Programme at Maynooth University, which gave me access to regular coaching with national coach, Neil Manchip (also Shane Lowry’s coach). I was playing fantastic, and my game was growing in strength. However, next came my coming out moment. It completely changed my world around, in the best ways possible, but again, golf took a back seat, I guess I knew it wasn’t the easiest space for me to “be myself” now.

I have not brought my game back to that level since (it’s now 2024), however, I do seem to have found a new love for the game after opening up about my sexuality as a professional golfer, which was something I had consciously avoided. Making golf an environment I can be myself and play the game my way, I think could unlock further success and for sure.

I joined The PGA back in 2017, trained for one year at Tullamore Golf Club, but did not feel the golf industry was very strong at the time and its future looked bleak, I decided to move back into Digital Marketing, which I had been doing since Uni. Then, in 2021, I decided I wanted to do The PGA again and complete incorporating my Digital Marketing and Life Coaching skills. I felt it was something I could make my own, I enjoy being entrepreneurial aspects of professional golf. I began working as a PGA Trainee again, this time in Naas Golf Club Pro Shop, and had an incredible time there, learning ample amounts in the busy pro shop and club. And now, for my final semester as a PGA Trainee, I moved across the sea, to Caddi Club in London. This new indoor facility, driven by TrackMan technology, provides an exceptional experience for our members, and also gives me a great platform to showcase and build on my coaching skills.

There are plenty of gaps in the above timeline, however, I hope it gives you an insight into my history with golf, and the wonderful experiences it provided me from a very young age. I owe a lot to the game, and in return, want to open it up to others, encouraging enjoyment and growth in an exceptional environment. It would have a made a great difference to me as a young man, who knows, maybe a few more records could, and will, be set!

Thanks for reading, Gary.