This episode is a hole-in-one for golf enthusiasts and those who love a good comeback story! Our special guest, Joe Lyons, reveals his unique journey from a golf-loving kid to overcoming personal obstacles. Joe opens up about his childhood spent in a competitive golf community and how golf became his priority over other sports. But as we know, every fairway has a rough, and Joe's was his struggle with alcoholism.
Our conversation takes an inspiring swing, highlighting a powerful tale of hitting rock bottom to finding golf glory. You'll hear about the journey of our guest who battled addiction, found solace on the course, and made a remarkable return to golf. Their story will touch your heart and inspire you, promising that it's never too late to tee up and chase your dreams in life, just as in golf. By sharing their triumphs, we delve deeper into the realm of amateur golf, where Joe shares personal experiences, victories, and the many challenges faced in this competitive sphere.
As we round out our episode, we discuss senior golf with a guest who recently turned 50. He shares his renewed enthusiasm for the sport, past disappointments, and future aspirations. It's a conversation between golfers reminiscing old victories, laughing over past mistakes, and looking forward to future matches, So, whether you're a seasoned golfer, a novice, or someone who appreciates a great comeback story, this episode is sure to entertain and inspire.
Contact Joe or his team here: Luxury Golf Packages to Ireland and Scotland - Lyons Links
Follow amateur info
https://instagram.com/irish_amateur_golf_info?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
This episode is a hole-in-one for golf enthusiasts and those who love a good comeback story! Our special guest, Joe Lyons, reveals his unique journey from a golf-loving kid to overcoming personal obstacles. Joe opens up about his childhood spent in a competitive golf community and how golf became his priority over other sports. But as we know, every fairway has a rough, and Joe's was his struggle with alcoholism.
Our conversation takes an inspiring swing, highlighting a powerful tale of hitting rock bottom to finding golf glory. You'll hear about the journey of our guest who battled addiction, found solace on the course, and made a remarkable return to golf. Their story will touch your heart and inspire you, promising that it's never too late to tee up and chase your dreams in life, just as in golf. By sharing their triumphs, we delve deeper into the realm of amateur golf, where Joe shares personal experiences, victories, and the many challenges faced in this competitive sphere.
As we round out our episode, we discuss senior golf with a guest who recently turned 50. He shares his renewed enthusiasm for the sport, past disappointments, and future aspirations. It's a conversation between golfers reminiscing old victories, laughing over past mistakes, and looking forward to future matches, So, whether you're a seasoned golfer, a novice, or someone who appreciates a great comeback story, this episode is sure to entertain and inspire.
Contact Joe or his team here: Luxury Golf Packages to Ireland and Scotland - Lyons Links
Follow amateur info
https://instagram.com/irish_amateur_golf_info?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
Okay, welcome back to the Irish and podcast. This week I'm joined by Joe Lines. Joe, my man, how are you Good, gary and yourself, and thanks for the invitation. Thanks for having me on? Not at all. I was looking forward to the chat, joe, before we kind of get to what's going on in the present day and how your golf has been of recent times. How did you get into the game initially.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I suppose I grew up in Ballerina and Offaly, which would be a big G8 town, and as young Phillip growing up it was Hurlin mad. Offaly were going well at the Hurlin Galway were going well too, actually, and my mum and dad were both from Galway. And even when I went on in Offaly I went to First All Ireland. I was good at international school in 1980 wearing a Galway jersey and Offaly playing in the First All Ireland with a banner man and local man as captain of the Offaly team. So it's kind of a bit like a by name. So for a while there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that went down well exactly.
Speaker 2:I grew up with a lot of the lads that went on to win All Ireland with Offaly and I consider myself an Offaly man. Really at this stage I'd have divided lilties between Galway and Offaly. But my dad was a big G8 fan as well. He would have played in the county final. He never tires of reminding us that.
Speaker 2:He played a county final in 1966 in Galway with Mollio Lietrum and I had an uncle by the same name as myself, joe Lides his name and he played in a Blidden Minor and Senior All Ireland Hurlin Finals on the same day for Galway in 1958 where the last boat matches. Actually he played Redwood Cup at 16. So G8 would have been the big thing in the house. But my fathers gave up golf and actually, before they come around to it, after my father gave up golf or gave up Hurlin, when he was about 24 or 25, we worked in the bank and he was stationed up in Ross Common and he was in Dunygol before that and he was getting tired hitching back in the 60s like hitching back up and down to East Galway for Hurlin training and for matches. And when he was stationed, when he was in Ross Common the B&B that he was staying in. At the time there was a people called McNamara's there and they gave him this.
Speaker 2:They persuaded him to go golfing golf and he was like sort of he said oh, that's only no man's game, I've no interest in that.
Speaker 2:But anyway, he fell in love with it straight away, really, and they gave him his first set of clubs and it was McNamara's in Ross Common and a small world. When I won, which would be still my pride and joy, probably my biggest victory in my amateur career within the west of Ireland, the captain of County Slago Golf Club was Michael McNamara, who was the son of the man that gave my father his first set of clubs Full circle there, like in the full circle, yeah, so what?
Speaker 2:my dad was into golf, for was our local golf club. We used to have games you'd have. I grew up in Bannerhur, so Bannerhur, bor, rival towns in a lot of ways, particularly in J&K, and we would have had bor versus Bannerhur junior matches and you know it was a great place to grow up playing golf because the juniors had full access to the course. Yeah, so some good senior golfers. You know good men's golfers me captain was unbelievable golfers. My dad was a senior cop player, people like Mick Ash, denny Duffy, johnny Gilmaritan and I used to, you know, when I used to, you know, even though I was into the Hurlin and I wasn't much good at the Hurlin but I could hurt, but I had no pace or anything, I would never get to.
Speaker 2:I liked the golf and but they were the lads I would have looked up to as golfers. You know, local senior cop team and what it got through to Linsford Finals a couple of times and made a good account of themselves but they would always come on stuff against the bigger. You know, county loud, port Mariner, the bigger clubs, yeah, bigger clubs, the bigger clubs in the region, yeah. But golf, you know, watching those, my father's senior cop team as a young fella I suppose for me was what brought me to the game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, kind of like I suppose by seeing it you kind of do it and kind of I suppose again like people from Barron, I remember it was fascinating as a young fella at eight or nine or ten years of age or whatever it was, and struggling to see the ball taken off when these fellas were teeing off. Yeah, and Gisele Tappan was born like three miles, like the drive, but you know, I wanted to be able to do the same things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah and no, gisele, I loved. What I really loved about golf is nobody could hit your belt when you're trying to hit a shot. So I suppose Like.
Speaker 1:You're different to the Hurlin that way, aren't you? At what point in do you kind of look at, like I suppose, your progression so like.
Speaker 2:But to be honest, I suppose I came to it kind of late because I went awake really from all sports hurlin, football, golf, soccer, rugby like I was and I would have played all field sports when I was a youngster and with him I had left concert and I went to college and you know I knew how to enjoy myself and sports and golf and everything else fell away by the wayside. But unfortunately I didn't know how to stop enjoying myself. So I was partying a lot and I suppose I started drinking when I was a young fella you know, known to my parents and that but when I was maybe 15 or 16 and by the time I was, I said nearly instantly I, you know, drink caused trouble for me straight away as soon as I started drinking and I wound up in rehab by the time I was about 24 when I went to rehab but I hadn't. I probably played three rounds of golf the previous four or five years since the turn 18 or so and I'd lost all. At the boys level I got down to four or five handicapped and I would have played boys golf.
Speaker 2:You know, richie Cocklin and Borat at the time was a year or two younger than me and I remember looking at Richie, thinking like my dream would have been to play for Offlane's Royal Park or else become a professional golfer. I didn't know which I wanted, but I remember looking at Richie was a year or two younger than me and he was so much better than me I thought I'll waste my time at this. And then I wasn't able to make the Offlane Minor Hurdham team at the time and if struggled to make our club team even. To be honest, no, to be fair, there was five or six lads from our club team and the county team and the county team won three all out of minors in the space of four years.
Speaker 2:I have no future in sport, anyways, and I was enjoying the crack in the pub and that sort of stuff. So started lost interest in sports, began to lose interest in in academics and all I wanted to do was party all the time. But anyways. But then was 24, was in rehab and you know, I was in London for a while. I couldn't hold down jobs, couldn't stay in college, won't come back home, went to rehab. I suppose I needed to film my time then, after I came over rehab. So instead of go back golf, and so I filled out three cards and they gave me, you know, a member of Hickey, they gave me a handicap of six. I was thinking I'd get 12 or 13 or something.
Speaker 1:I was going to start with and like a cat's prize and stuff like this.
Speaker 2:Anyway, within 80, within about 12 to 18 months, it filled out the three cards. So I went. I went from six to plus one and and it wasn't as easy get to plus one on your own at that stage either but and with no lessons around just going out playing. Then spend plenty of time chipping important, yeah, and playing no time. I've never had time really for not somebody to go to a practice ground, hit balls it just again, focus on it. But, yeah, went for lessons there and actually, after going for lessons I kind of went backwards, but so that's kind of really.
Speaker 2:I once got down to plus one and I started playing in one or two events. Next thing I started with a couple of senior cups and, yeah, I kind of said all the time for myself, I felt, you know, if I put my mind to it, I could probably pay for Ireland at amateur level. Yeah, never, really never saw myself as a, you know, wanting to play a professional golfer, never really thought it would have been good enough and, you know, achieve decibels, a lot of what you know. Like you know, I look back.
Speaker 2:Like you know, before I went to rehab I had spent a time and living in night shelters in London and yeah our houses and places like this, and you know I wasn't in a bad way- Gary, but you know so golf was golf in many ways and they saved her. Yeah, I don't have to be honest, vera. My wife had a big role in getting me back into golf, like she would have pushed me back into the game and yeah, great and it has no doubt it has been my saviour.
Speaker 2:So when I went back, anyways, I started kind of set out a goal for myself that I was going to try and win a senior scratch cup, and then I wanted to make a senior cup team, and then, at the time, those intercounty golf, I want to make the off the team and yeah they don't want to, you know, and they don't think they made me play for Ledger at the time, because I was still in the bar at the time yeah, they don't think.
Speaker 2:The next step then after that is Ireland. So I think it was a move to Galway somewhere in the middle of that. So then it went from go, you know, once we joined Galway then. So which were the clear from Connacht out? You know, with all due respect to Connacht, and it was, you know, the wasn't his biggest selection of players.
Speaker 2:It might have been easier to get on and that was probably the best decision I ever made the graduation from playing senior cup to Interprovincial Golf. It took maybe four or five years to make the provincial team. From when I went back it took three or four years to make the moment to national team and play for Ireland. I suppose that's the history. But really, golf loved the game. It was my save and grace. I was replaced on escape with another.
Speaker 1:That's what I was just going to ask you there Would you almost equate pushing sport away to allowing yourself to drink subconsciously as much as anything else 100%, gary.
Speaker 2:The whole thing about drinking as a young fella and that Unfortunately it was to wind up going back to rehab again at a later stage, thankfully nearly 15 years away from the notice stage. The whole thing was I live in Manus. When I went to West of Ireland I was probably at that stage I had gone back drinking, but I was what they would call a periodic drunk at that stage.
Speaker 2:I would go out and drink for three months and say, right, I've gone to Gwalt Saturday night, now I've got to buy. I'd go out Saturday night with the intention and I'd also say I might do a super song as well, or whatever.
Speaker 2:I'd go out and see me to Wednesday I'd be gone, just no control at all over my consumption. When I went back I made a conscious decision with that. I said in years to come I'd be. I was like I want to do this, maybe three or four times a year, and fold myself into believing that I'd be able to do that. But the nature of addiction, alcoholism, whatever you have no control over. Once I picked up a pint, I had zero control over where I was going to finish up. I had no idea what was going to happen. Unfortunately, I suppose, I wound up back in rehab a second time and if they had pulled me out of the squatter again and got off, really without got off, I don't think I'd have been able to recover, definitely not once, and certainly wouldn't have been able to recover a second time.
Speaker 2:There's an element of an addiction to it. The robot escapes. The drinker was an escape, it was like that-ish and then the golfers an escape. You're out in the golf course and you're playing competitive golf, while just even during competition, it's four hours or five hours. When I step on the golf course, in the same way when I would go into the pub, the rest of the world might as well not exist. This is all that matters. This is where I am. I'm on the golf course. Whatever troubles I have in business and life, whatever it might be, I stand at first tee. They're just all dissolved into the background. I love the game. It just gives me that sense of presence or whatever it is.
Speaker 1:There is that in terms of replacing drinker golf at that point then and having the freedom to allow yourself to progress. Like mentioned earlier, you wanted to win a senior cup and you wanted to get on the Linsber team and ultimately the Connick team in the end and then home to the Nationals. You're kind of saying it takes a year or two or three, as if it takes a long time. I don't know for people listening. If you come back to golf at 24, 24, you've been out playing for a number of years. The stuff you're talking has happened in a very fast pace. To be fair to you, I think you're brushing more over how long it took.
Speaker 2:I suppose I was a little different in that golf was my savior. There was a group of people there who used to help me. I used to go to recovery meetings and stuff like that. I'm not supposed to really say that, but golf was certainly huge. I was blessed that I had to go back to it there were a lot of poor and partial people that don't have that.
Speaker 2:I suppose my work life brought me into that type of work. I worked at home with services for five years. I worked with teenagers and care for 15 years. My illness or my recovery or whatever, brought me into that type of work. It was recommended that the more you could help people out and train, help others recover, the better you could maintain your own recovery. It's a precious thing really, I suppose, but the golf part of it for me was a big part of the jigsaw. Maybe it being quicker, I would have an addictive personality Once.
Speaker 1:I got into golf.
Speaker 2:I wanted to get better at it I wanted to win. As I say, I filled out three cards. I was down to close to one when I was 18 months. I had won a couple of scratch cups within another year or so, I know to be fair, it happened reasonably quick. I've had relative success now for nearly a quarter of a century. At this stage. It's been great. I've loved every minute of it.
Speaker 1:These cards will go on for another couple of years anyway, you mentioned wanting to get onto a senior cup team. I suppose we'll talk Galway for a second. I had one of your old teammates on the bar a couple of weeks back. Apparently he was the missing link in the Galway team to get you on the line.
Speaker 2:I have to correct that. He maintained he was the missing link. I would say there were probably two missing links. The success came because the two were around at the same time.
Speaker 1:In fairness, he was chatting about it In a great bunch of lads together, I suppose. Talk to me about someone that, as a young player, is watching their father play a senior cup At that time. That's the pinnacle of your golfing ambition. What's that going to do for your job?
Speaker 2:Just to make the senior cup team in the club. I remember I was so excited the first time I was picked for a senior cup. That's another step in stone. After hitting there, I could have been dead a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2:I had this map laid out for myself. I remember the lads used to be laughing at me Eddie included. Now I'd be saying to the lads before I ever played for Ireland, I said I want to play for Ireland. As simple as that. I had it drilled into my head that I'm playing for Ireland and that's going to happen. I don't care if that's happening. I had the map started there and hit me head. I'm thinking of nothing else.
Speaker 1:to be honest, I became totally obsessed with golf.
Speaker 2:I was obsessed with drinking, obsessed with golf, and it just became a total obsession. Every time I hit one of those milestones I was buzzing, I suppose, to win. Then Eddie was away for one of the years. Eddie would have played two years on and home international. Eddie would have won 8 or 9 mid-anitures. I would have won 1-1. So I would have finished second and toured quite a bit, but Eddie was outperforming me for a number of years there. But I'd have to brag with him that well, I've won four senior Cops, he's won three. I've won two men's championship, he's won one. It's hard to separate the two. We both had relatively successful careers, 100%. Yeah, we'd be the best of friends, but we'd be huge rivals as well. We'd be huge drivers between the two of us. We'd always be trying to be each other.
Speaker 1:You've been soldiering against each other for a long time now.
Speaker 2:Absolutely we would have played for Clannock together, we would have played for Galway together. We drive each other around. Now I would say as much as Antonels For him for the European Championship this year. It was an unbelievable success. It was the probably the tournament I most wanted to win this year. And I told him straight out, I found it hard to take when he won it actually. He'd be the same if I won 100%.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you might be glad, but you're going to be a small bit pissed off a little at the same time. That it's not you 100%.
Speaker 2:I went to Douglas to win that. I'd have to put the second or third or fourth or fifth or whatever. But you know we've won four senior Cops, I've won a Barrett Shield, I've won two Interbros. The other thing is he won't want. There's different measurements there between us that you could. If you were to find someone, you'd say oh, he's totally open for farmjobs or those.
Speaker 2:But in my mind, there's nothing between two or three years, and I would say that would be the case going forward as well. I'm sure we'll have plenty of battles next year. Of course he won the order of the seniors this year. I'll be looking to try and rectify that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, to take it back off. You've got it left, he has it this year, so you're going on in that one as well. You're really going to go back and forth.
Speaker 1:Before we get to senior stuff, john, I don't want to skip over too much. Let's talk the West of Ireland. I actually read your blog post at the time you posted it at the start of the year, we'll say and I kind of just read it again there. They had to kind of refresh my memory on it. But extremely well written and it reminds me. It's kind of you all out where you compliment everybody else. That's won the West of Ireland, of North, except for yourself and, as you see, it's one of your biggest achievements. So let's chat about that a little bit. How much of that do you remember?
Speaker 2:I'll tell you, the West for me. I mean, I would still very much regard it as my biggest achievement. Yeah, and, as you say, there are many great players have won it, and thanks so much for the compliment there. But, in all fairness, some of the guys that I would have mentioned in some of my blog posts, they would have a far greater success than me. They bought an amateur and some of them went on a professional ranks. But, like for an average Joe for one is better term a working man the height of your ambition is to play for Ireland or to win a championship. Yeah, north, south East and West Irish close Irish amateur would probably where it's at.
Speaker 1:Down the years, six major ones like that.
Speaker 2:To be honest, I think the monster straw plate, the kind of straw plate, mullinger as far as I'm concerned, at this stage they're pretty much on a par with the others because these fields are very similar. Yeah, sometimes you'll have a strong field one year and a weaker field the next year, and some of them Depending on the calendar and the schedule.
Speaker 2:But, like when Mullinger is unbelievable for the achievement 100% we call it also straw plate, any of those, but anyways, that's it. But the West of Ireland for me at the time was definitely I mean, I'd grown up but heard all the stories from the Alfa isn't the club of the West and the South in particular? I don't know why the obsession in Borough would have been with the West and the South. You'd imagine it would have been the East, given it was a Lester club.
Speaker 1:But like it's kind of a match. I think, Joe, isn't it Like? Like, if you're talking kind of a number of years ago, the match getting really had the draw, whereas the East was straw.
Speaker 2:At least probably harder to win, mind, but anyway, yeah, so, so, yeah, look to win the week on the West. Like going back to the whole thing about coaching. I was never into coaching. Yeah, I was hitting the ball straight. Lift for the for agent. For first of all, I was on a bender for about 10 weeks before the West. I went off the booze about 10 weeks. About 10 days before the West of Ireland, I wasn't even going to go at one station.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The previous Wednesday I played a couple of rounds of golf and then the Wednesday, before a good Friday, I went to Connemara and played in open singles and I shot 68 or 69. I wanted to go or something. So I went up anyways and I was playing with Barry Redden, again another man in former British or. Barry won the West Barry's won three or four amateur championships, yeah, and to be fair to Barry, I felt hard done by 05 and 06 that I didn't get capped. I think I finished six in the Willie Gale at the time, which was the Order of Merit in 2005. And I won the Cardinals Scratch Cup that year, which is a big event, but there was no points for Cardinals. Okay, but at the time Cardinals was a bit like Mullingar.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then 06, I finished four in the Order of Merit and won an Irish Senior Cup and had a pretty good interpose. And I didn't get picked Now alone. I didn't get picked for home international. I didn't get picked on the Winter of Coaching Squad either year. It was about 20 guys on it and I felt it was 35 years of age I suppose, and I was feeling a bit hard done by yeah, I mean, I'm about to prove myself in 07. And now I'd never gone for coaching or anything like that.
Speaker 2:But I remember going up to the West and I'm sitting the ball straight left all the time but playing with Barry Redden. I had a six in the first, I had a six on the second and I had a six in the third. So I was like whatever that was, that was five over after three, yeah. And I spotted somebody coming up the 18, the word in Irish jacket or something like that and I said, oh, I said to Barry, there's such and such.
Speaker 2:She was in a good home international this last year and Barry just hit me a little thump into the side of the shoulder. He said come on out. We always said, because I played with Barry a couple of times. It's the time you got one of them jackets yourself. He said get the head straight to get her here and finished out a shot 72. And I think that round one over finished one over for the round, shot 70. The next round I missed out leading qualifier by a shot, by maybe one or two shots and I have to think at the time Rory Shane, all these guys were there. The fields are strong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I dodged a couple of bullets. I played Park McGrath the first round. I was 4-500 against Park through 14. I played great all week. The second round I can't remember who I played in the second round. Might have been Orchis from Park. One of the things he beat me the previous year could not come up with, I'll come back to it in a minute I remember. Anyways, he was a jeweler from Park, nice man. Anyway, I played Mick Levelle in the third round in the last 16. Mick Levelle had beaten Shane and Rory in the second round, yeah, and so I kind of dodged a bullet there. In the last eight I played Andy Hoag. I could have turned me back to the ball and would have gone in. When I played Andy Hoag I think it was 800 prior to 12. I won 8-7. You were 8-12? Yeah, yeah, yeah, just couldn't do anything wrong.
Speaker 1:This is not an easy golf course we're talking about.
Speaker 2:I was like a man possessed, but I caught every time. Like the porter was like a magic wand. Every time I looked at him with the door. But, to be funny enough, against Andy Hoag on that day I stiffed about four or five iron shots. The bottom line was four or five up against Simon Hoag. In the semifinal I think it was four up to 10, then we got to 17, and it was back to one. Simon was about eight feet away. We both struggled up 17.
Speaker 2:I was into the wind, I was hacking a bit. I was on the back edge of the green about 40, 50, maybe 50 feet away and Simon was about eight feet away. So it looked like he was going to have an eight footer to get back all flat. He's a candepot from 50 feet down the green. There must have been 10 footer breaking it and it went. Simon missed a one, two, one dodged the bullet there and then a member playing, paul Cotter, who was rising, starting and Paul had beaten Rory in the quarterfinals and Rory was going for three in a row that year and it was obvious to everybody that Rory was going to be the next big team.
Speaker 1:Like he was like.
Speaker 2:Three months later Rory finished top 10 in Carnousty and championship and you know he was on the tour. He had a tour card by the end of September. He did well in the downhill. Anyway, paul Cotter was exceptional as well and of all the players I suppose I played down the years he's the one guy that I was amazed at didn't progress on to becoming a superstar on the tour as well. But I had seven birdies against Paul. At the final I made a complete mess of number six and number seven the same day and a member sent him pulling himself together on number eight. We had a great game and you know I hold all some great puts again coming in. Like Mr Sharpe won all right in 17. But like to be able to put my name up there beside Joe Carr, cecilio and John Burke.
Speaker 2:Yeah all the great survivors? Amateur golf, I suppose, and you know, you know, ken Kearney Park.
Speaker 2:Harrington, you know to be working, to be. I was working in God that stage was playing for Connacht, the Connacht man winning the West of Ireland. Massive connection, I said about the captain Michael McNamara there as well, and I sure to me it was a dream come true. And you know, I don't, I don't know what I ever, maybe a little bit. I have to say, playing in four college was pretty special, but I don't know what you know do different things before.
Speaker 2:Senior cups were very special as well, I must say winning, like I remember watching my dad and his you know his cohorts playing golf growing up and they loved their golf and their good senior cup teams and that could never dream that I'd be involved, that I'd win four Irish senior cups.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, and that's. It's nice to have been involved in all four of them, and it's nice that you know even even the dinner pros as well. He told me recently that I'm the only man to have to to the only convent, have one to inter provincial medals the golf, so to mention that. So I don't know how to that is, but some of the suggestion was that it's possible Rupert the Lacey Stonter might have won one in 1967 and again in 83. But yeah, I don't, I don't know. Yes, but it's what's rare, is wonderful to say you know, so it's wonderful.
Speaker 1:But it's mad listening to Joe and I suppose, how everything has come back to the start of your golf. So like again, as you said, like the senior cups, that's kind of where you watched your dad play yeah West, like so it like to have the person, the captain of the club, the son of the people that gave her dad the clubs to get into golf, like it's. It's kind of mad stuff really, is not it's mad.
Speaker 2:it's mad because really I suppose I'd have to credit my dad for giving me the passion for the game. It's him that introduced me to the game and you know, and even some of the older members and borrow at the time that I don't have always been very encouraging to us when we were young for this growing up, like those guys I mentioned Mick Ash, mick Kotlin, jamie Breen, danny Duffy, johnny Gilmour I'm afraid I'm missing people here Bobby Ryland, johnny there's so many guys that older generation gave us the opportunity to be fair to far, like just a lot of players down here, like Richie. Richie made it all the way to the PGA Tour, played Walker Cop. Justin Covey very unlucky not to play Walker Cop. He's one of the best records. He played for Ireland for six or seven years in a row, one of the best records of any Irish international down the years. And Stephen Grant very good golfer in his own right to the left and you know it was just a great play. It was a great play, a great environment to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you mentioned missing up Nijerskaps. The two years leading up to the Western ice was when does that car finally come for your?
Speaker 2:job I got. I actually, funny enough, after a Wunder West I had a complete dip in form for that this 2007 and played terrible all year, actually until I got to the South of Ireland and South of Ireland really is my last chance to make the one international team for the year and thankfully I made the final of the South and I remember beating Stephen Miloni the morning, the semi-final, I think three beat him on 16. I had a great second shot to 15, hit a driver off the deck 15, which was playing back into the wind, two drivers to it and, yeah, one on 16 and kind of felt that that was it and then I suppose I was trying to. I think. I think I think John Bork was the only one. I think John Bork was the only one that won the Western South the same year.
Speaker 2:So I was trying to win the Western South the same year in the final against Darren Crowe. Darren Crowe had been beaten into two previous finals in the South, so Darren was three up through 11 against me that day and he got a bit nervous coming in. I got him back to all flat, going down 18. And I had a good drive up straight up the middle of the fairway on 18. And Darren pulled his a little but he was just about okay about a yard to spare no yard and he was in one of the two buckers down the left and he had a good second. He had a.
Speaker 2:I think he had about a two iron up to the back edge of the green and I missed it. I took a raw. I went to hit five iron from the second shot and studied I should have four. I wasn't as pumped as I thought it was. I came up short and it hit the side of one of the little mounds about 20 yard chart of the green and kicked. It was straight down wind so they bounced in the middle of the fairway and probably would have ran up. But it kicked straight left across into one of the front left bumpers and I had one foot in and one foot out. Wasn't able to get out but last on 18, what kind of felt I had done enough. But then went to Interpol as the following week and I think I only got 1.06 at the time.
Speaker 2:I thought I remember sitting in the club house in Baltray when they announced that it deemed for all the internationalists and the relief I felt when my name was called out that evening. It was just my partner, pat Morrie. Then at the Forthons and it was I looked to play for Ireland. I mean at anybody at their chosen sport. To play for Ireland, that's as big an honour as you can have really. And obviously Walker Cupps is at another level, and Liam Nolan in our club this year did that. He was the first player for golf club to do it. It was great to see, and from where I came from, I suppose, and from my starting point, I mean, if somebody you know, if somebody like, if somebody were to tell you that you were to point me out in the pub, say 22 or 23 years of age, or even 32 or 33, when I went back and said that's going to play golf for Ireland, you just said you're on Calcoculland. That's just an impossibility, like you know, so to be. So it was a very proud moment.
Speaker 1:Yes, it was to me.
Speaker 2:Disappointed. I suppose I didn't you know that I only got one. I was on the squad for two years but I didn't make the home international team the following year. Yeah, I suppose that stage, having reached a goal of playing for Ireland, you know, despite the fact that I was back drinking, the drink kind of took over again.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And say, unfortunately, I wound up having another spell in rehab. Okay, I was about 36 or 37 years of age and you know, I thought actually when I got out of rehab I was going to go out and I was going to be like Tiger Woods and I was going to win all around me, but actually my golf went backwards for four or five years after that. Okay, and really, as I started getting towards the age of 50, we got to start having an I and said, you know, I'm going to be 15, four or five years time need to start getting you know, getting my game in shape and getting competitive, and Eddie was winning all around him at mid-amateur, which wasn't going down well either to be honest.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so kind of had to refocus and get going again. So back, so really looking forward to hitting 50, I suppose for a while.
Speaker 2:Now a bit of relative success, like, I suppose, I won the Monster Stroke play in 2019, where I led Peter to post, which is not an easy thing to do, and one, a couple of scratch cups in the meantime, obviously, one, a couple of more senior cups senior cups one of the Interpros in 2011, one another, one again in 2021. But anyway. So, like you know, there had a bit of success in between. Again, thank you, inderjo.
Speaker 1:It's not like you to be modest, like it all. You could walk off after winning a match or shooting 10-under. How'd you go? Yeah, I was alright. The lad over there didn't really know, like, but I was okay. Like you know, in fairness to you, Like everything I meet you, I ask you a question. It's always about the other person you're playing with, how great you are or what you're doing. Well and yeah, but you don't know yourself out yet, but look how you know yourself now.
Speaker 1:Like you know in fairness, there's plenty of success in there.
Speaker 2:I know, I know you're right. There's lots of success, I suppose, but at the same time, you know I've been very lucky. You know life's been good to me.
Speaker 1:I've been very privileged to the fact that I, like I, choose to own my life to God, you know yeah it's been a consistent, hasn't it Like since you've come back at 24, particularly, let's say it's been the one consistent, like even when you're filing in or out of it, like it's brought you back each time in fairness.
Speaker 2:No, it certainly has. And sure it was great then to be able to migrate from. You know my job as a social care worker, you know, wound up going into the God of travel business, worked with another company that I left. Things weren't going as they showed, as I saw at the time, and luckily enough I left when I did. That company went under sometime after. But we set up, set up lines links with I have to mention to my team Colin Crowley, Keen Booth, milena Thieson and Shane is just after joining us as well. So, like I have a great team of people around me and part of the day they give me the time to go, they see the value of me, both from a business point of view and for me on a personal level, the value what it's worked to me to be able to go play in, you know, the seniors championships, because I'm kind of a lot playing in those things.
Speaker 2:So I suppose setting up lines links and being able to set up in 2018, we set up 2018 with one group in 2018. And I was saying we're saying as people, our first tour was like the Faulty Towers, like the Faulty Towers of golf tours, and we're over in Scotland. We messed up an old horse tea time on the group.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:We put them into a terrible hotel a couple of terrible hotels. They got full poison in one of our restaurants we recommended. I mean, anything that could go wrong went wrong. Yeah, and it was blatantly obvious that we had a clue what we were talking about after time. But at the end of the week with that first group, they were first paying customers. We were with them for 10 days or so. They became very, we became I've become very friendly with them actually and I've stayed in their houses in America, been invited over there. They've taken several trips with us again and they recommended all their friends to travel with us again. So I'm from Colin Crowley, guided the group for the week and they obviously saw something in there like something about us, and they were able to overlook all the big mistakes we made that week and they've kept traveling with us since. They've sent all their friends to travel with us and they were.
Speaker 2:That was our first group September 2018. We had 26 groups in 2019, we had, which was about 160 people, about 300 people with us last year and are booked in in 2020. And that didn't happen because of COVID. So we ran domestic events for a couple of years and then the last couple of years without giving away too many trade secrets. Our businesses continued to flourish and it's got strength to strength. We have, you know, we've seven people working with us. Now we're and Shane O'Hara actually is, after joining us, having a senior moment there couldn't remember us for a minute or so.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so yeah. Look, it's been great I get to mix business and pleasure went over to America this year to you know well, primarily, I must say, it was a business trip that was going on, but it just happened to be that the International Seniors event was on over there and people compete in the International Seniors Amateur event. I mean, that's my target audience really for business, people who like to play golf, who have a little bit of disposable income and who also like to travel. So when I'm, when I go over there, I'm selling and trying to bring people into Ireland to spend their hard-earned bucks over here, and did that rather successfully in that trip. And the added bonus was I managed to win the International Seniors over there, which in itself is a pretty big event because the guys at Golf Week were telling me is the second highest ranked senior event in America. So there's some pretty. You know, mike McCoy was there. There's a couple of more guys who are fairly I don't speak in English.
Speaker 1:I'm looking at it, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So so great. So for those listening it makes business pleasure.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So for those listening, Lanes Links is a one-stop shop for all of your golf tourism stuff. Yeah, the domestic one, joe was talking about is the Kingdom Cup. So if you're interested in the couple of rounds of golf below in Waterville, Joe, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, waterville, april 11 to the 13th. Last couple of years we would have had a had a now accommodation package with it, but this year it's simply. It's just. It's a golf only package, but there's about 2000 year worth of prizes, there's two rounds of golf model around the golf in Dukes, there's a gala dinner and it's the most social weeks, social events, golf events that deliver. You know, all you have to do is go on to Trip Advisor, look at the Lanes Links reviews, yeah, and look at what people make of our events. You'll have a ball.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, 100% Like. If you want a chance to play in an event run by one of our leaders, hey, I'll let him give it go. You'll also be in St Andrews early next year, folks, to check out the all website and you might get yourself a good weekend the way our couple of days. Thanks, gary, you're very kind of again, you're very jord. I won the international scene or so. Like you mentioned there a couple of months ago, jordan, you were kind of once you knew you were getting to 50, you kind of. There was almost a re-passion for golf or a kind of a real look at your own golf to was that like intention to aim for that bracket?
Speaker 2:Like I know very much, it was a target from a couple of years out from time, at 47 or 48. It's kind of like, right, I want to hit the ground, run when I hit, when I get to 50. And remember Matt Donohue from Potomna coming to me and asking me my age over Potomna over to Carnot Commence. I said, oh, I'll be 50 next year. This is to go back in 21,. He came to me and he said well now Joe, I said you didn't expect you're going to just walk on to that team. He says you have to go and compete in the events and you have to finish high up in the order. You have to list that in the order. It's fair enough, matt, you know no problem with that whatsoever. So I have to say I really enjoyed.
Speaker 2:Obviously it's very enjoyable to win I, even though you know I said one of the months I was in 2019, but the last couple of years come a real struggle to compete at the men's level and it's nice that, like I, took great pride in making the court at the West. This year we're only 16 to make the court but I didn't show up the morning the young fella for me that wanted to beat me in the last 16, I was very disappointed again with my performance and that. But overall I suppose in general the last few years I just feel I haven't been as relevant at men's level, although it was nice to win the Interpol in 21 and hold the winning port at that. In saying all that, you go on to events hoping to have a good performance so you're finishing the top 10 is. You know it's not who you are like, not really like you. When you go to an event and you know if you play well you have a really good chance of winning.
Speaker 2:I kind of figured out was going to be the case at the seniors and so it's nice to win a couple of events last year Win the order of marriage Big disappointment the last couple of years is not winning the European team medal with Ireland. We want to bronze and actually get an order. No, I'm on. I want to offer my condolences. I don't know if it's unlikely any of this family or friends to be listening, but Edward Richardson from England beat me in the semi-finals of the European Championships this year and, poor man, he passed away only a couple of weeks ago with hard failure. So RIP, edge, and condolences to all the friends and family.
Speaker 2:I was very disappointed in the day losing and I was three or four down after seven. Ed Bondo beat me on 18 and I felt me losing costs as the cost started in the semi-finals. But you know, and something like that happens after a kind of pussigame perspective as well. Yeah, kind of is what it is like. Yeah, yeah, so. But so, yeah, so. Tornham 50. And looking at Jody Fannigan there, jody is an inspiration. Getting to the final of the US amateur there, like that's an unbelievable achievement. And you know all that comes with that. He gets some lovely invites, invites into the US amateur, us mid amateur, his example of seniors gets to play in the US senior's amateur or US senior's open next year as well. So the whole pile of things. So looking at that and thinking, well, that's something I'd like to try and do down the road, whether I'm good enough to do it or not, who knows?
Speaker 2:whether I'm healthy enough to do it, who knows? But it's nice to have you know we're very privileged to be involved in a game that honors its senior citizens, I suppose Because golf does make a bit of a deal about the scene.
Speaker 2:It seems to be more relevant than golf than any other sport that I know and, to be fair to you and to you know, like a break on some of the guys that are in today, amateur golf you give us a bit of a plug there as well.
Speaker 2:So you know, it's nice to get a bit of recognition as well, I suppose. So, yeah, it's been great and I suppose I went to Turkey for the European seniors QSchool that started here and I threw the first stage, okay, and there's just two stages, so the second stage basically is final stage. I was a long way out, I missed out getting a card and it was a fair bit off, but Chippen put it really badly and but I've decided I won't go back to QSchool again but I most definitely will do, and so as long as I feel, you know, there's a possibility of qualifying or getting in, I will go to. I heard what he's saying, actually, and he said it to me privately as well, that he wouldn't be that bothered about going to qualifying for British seniors open or that Likely good.
Speaker 2:As I go to that every year, I'd say Well, I feel like capable of getting in. I'd just love to relive that. I was very disappointed with my performance and poor call this year. I stuck the ball more than good enough to make the cut. I put it terribly. But worse than that, my course management was atrocious and for somebody who's? Grown up playing like the conditions, I mean 7-9. Couldn't have asked for any better conditions.
Speaker 2:They were diabolical like, but for us we would have been so much more used to playing those conditions than anybody else in the field. I felt really after that it was an opportunity that I really felt it was an opportunity missed because the way I struck the ball there was no reason I shouldn't have played the first 36 holes in a couple of over, like which would have put you right I think it's actually going to be good, but just wasted shot after shot after shot.
Speaker 1:And that's it. Like I suppose it's like it's like everything else Galf has kind of, as you said, like he kind of gives you the opportunity and a lot of options to do that kind of senior level, and like it's something that I've kind of found really fascinating actually in the last couple of years, just seeing, like, I suppose, the progressions and the step-ups in men's golf and then ultimately, people that do continue running the kind of they're only 50s and a bit more, but like so making it a goal of yours, like this year in particular, like you had a second in the Irish Senior Men's Open and you had you won the Clause. Like again, like for somebody like you tend to set a goal and you get there as well, like I suppose that's kind of where I'm kind of getting to it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I suppose I'm lucky as again, as I said, with the team at Leys-Ninx, they're for me all the time. I often need to practice and go and play golf. Vera is very good as well. You know people at the golf club you know for the most part very good, as you know, I like you know there's lots of people there that have helped me out.
Speaker 2:My family are very important as well. Like, so, like I look life is good, gary in it. Good you know golf. I'm just, I'm 52, like and I've you know I'm late. I started going to the gym and stuff like that and I've always struggled with my weight all my life and doing my best at the moment to try and look after myself.
Speaker 2:I play with a man in because I've been worried for my mental health and my well-being if I couldn't play competitive golf, I don't know what to do with myself, to be honest. So, and I don't stand on practice grounds and hit balls or haven't really been one to taking lessons, but I would spend quite a bit of time chipping important, and you know my practice might be getting the last hour of light. Go with golf club, yeah, from the summer and go down to four holes or six holes or something. That's your week, and then, sure, you're going from event to event to event. So you're in all the time, but like a player.
Speaker 2:Go back to a player in America, there in Georgia, I mean 65 years of age. You know he had a lot of success in me down through the years and he was I mean, he was within 10 years of me off the tee, like he was certainly a player enough to compete and I was bowled over by that. I was asking. I said, how did he do that? Like, yeah, first of all he was, he was probably six foot two, which had disappointing, but the main secret for him was gym work as strength and flexibility work from, you know, particularly the last 10 or 15 years.
Speaker 1:And yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:But my plan, like, if I'm still playing competitive seniors golf at 65, I'm still above ground, you know like. So I mean, who knows that's going to be hit by a card tomorrow, but like who?
Speaker 1:knows like what's.
Speaker 2:I suppose I want to give myself every, every chance to stay competitive and stay relevant and to say I don't know what I do If I didn't have got I don't know what I do to us.
Speaker 1:We worry about that one, Joe, we get there. And before we wrap up 2024, Joe, what's? What's the goals or aspirations for 2024?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I suppose, I suppose obviously what I want to win a couple of times.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at least twice. I want to win the Orvermurs, okay. I'd really love to win the European Championships and I'd love to be playing and Tina, look, in Carnot State, the British seniors next year. And if I achieve any of those goals, it's, you know, to be a pretty successful year. You know obviously want to play for Ireland? I'd like to. Actually, I suppose the number one thing will be to make the Irish team. The number one goal, make the Irish team for the European Championships and win a gold medal at the European Championships. That's that will be the number one goal for next year.
Speaker 1:You certainly have a good group there, don't you, in fairness, like there's a good group? We are in that team.
Speaker 2:We had an unbelievable team this year. It was hard, you know. We won the foursons and then he won the top singles match and myself, jody and Alan were playing exceptionally good golf at the time and all three of us lost down 18, like and something similar happened the previous year. We lost the back three matches, down 18. And I found it hard to get over, to be honest. But you know poor old Ed there he looked at it was after happening.
Speaker 2:You know he's passed away since like it was just Saturday, but he was playing golf in Portugal with us only two weeks ago, like so three weeks ago, and he's passed away since. So it's you know. Nobody knows what's around the corner. But yeah, the win a gold medal at the European Championship will be number one, but, as I say, I'd like to win a couple of times if possible in the individual front and if I had to pick a tournament, I want most will be the European Championships.
Speaker 2:And also I'd love to make do I make qualify for the seniors and play all four rounds.
Speaker 1:And how about a final of yourself and Eddie above and the West in the East?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't say no to that either. Let me go crack toe, and if we don't get it, I think I might have to come up to Galway or something. Get the two of you on camera for 18 months and let's do go and see what happens. Well, we yeah, I'm hopeful.
Speaker 2:If it really is, I'm hopeful for a general problem. Yeah, no problem.
Speaker 1:If you talk any into it as well, we won't take too much of it, right? So you're going all right. Joe, massively enjoyed that chat. My man, great catching up with you, and hopefully I'll catch you on a fairway in 2024.
Speaker 2:An absolute pleasure, gary, and thanks for all you've done for Irish amateur golf since you started covering the events. You've been a breath of fresh air and I'm sure I can speak for all the players, at both men's and senior level, to say when I say a huge thanks for all the hard work you put in the last couple of years.
Speaker 1:No, bother, I'll let it be a great pleasure. Joe, Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:Thanks, gary, take care, and thanks for the chance to come on.
Speaker 1:No, I'll say that on that.
Speaker 2:Thank you, bye, bye.