Gillis stayed course at Cork for 50 years
Aged 64, Anthony Gillis may not have been around when the great designer MacKenzie cast his eyes on the Little Island landscape back in 1924 but the club has been such a part of the Corkman’s life that he is celebrating his 50th year on the payroll.
Starting at Cork GC in 1964 as a teenager, Gillis has worked on every blade of grass in his half century there, a source of pride for the man born and raised on Little Island and still living just a half a mile from the clubhouse.
“I’ve enjoyed every day of it, I must say,” he said. “The club have been very good to me. I’ve always been completely happy with where I was.
“Every day is different and I like being outdoors, one minute you’re one end of the course and the next you’re at the other and I couldn’t imagine myself sitting behind a desk, not at all. I need to be out and moving around.”
A lot has changed in terms of the machinery and the chemicals Gillis and his crew, including son Charlie, use today in comparison to his early days at the club and he has seen plenty of change about the place.
“One of my first jobs was planting trees, mostly Scots Pine,” Gillis said, “and now I’m cutting some of them down. It’s a funny feeling seeing the trees you put in the ground as saplings now being felled as mature trees.
“But we try not to interfere with [MacKenzie’s] design if we can help it. It’s a cherished piece of land and really natural. I suppose we don’t appreciate it as much when we spend so long around the place as do the visitors we speak to around the course. But it’s a really natural spot and with the limestone quarry as part of it every hole is different.”
With Gillis outlasting some of the mature trees he planted on the course, there is nothing to suggest he will not be around Cork Golf Club for another 50 years but he said: “I don’t know if I’ll be around that long but I intend to keep going as long as I can help out.
“I love getting up early in the morning and heading off to work and there’s not too many fellas that can say that, but I do.”
Clearly something has to pay the price for Gillis’s undivided attention towards Cork Golf Club and it becomes apparent when he is asked about the health of his own back garden not half a mile from the clubhouse.
“I wouldn’t like to show you it,” he says with a chuckle. “Would you believe I’ve had no grass for a while. I put a patio in, I don’t want to get home and look at a lawnmower.”
For a year Darren Clarke(pictured) has represented Shropshire golf course The Astbury as its touring pro and now the 2011 Open champion is putting down some roots there in the English midlands.
Clarke, along with manager Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler, have each taken a holiday home on the property, two of 11 being built for sale at an expected price of £500,000 (€630,000) by The Astbury’s owner KK Downing.
Downing may be known to some as a founding member of heavy metal band Judas Priest, the guitarist joining the group in 1969 and only leaving in 2011.
To Clarke, though, he is simply Ken.
“The construction of the holiday homes will officially begin in September but I hope to start spending more time here,” Portrush resident Clarke said.
“But wherever I go I’m always wearing the official Astbury clothing and a lot of people have been asking about the venue.
“It’s already got a huge reputation for the whole course but the greens in particular are stunning because they are USGA spec.
“Astbury is a special place and Ken has put so much time and effort into this place.”
It is not just Rory McIlroy giving Nike Golf a boost these days. As the Holywood star bids to add another PGA Championship title to his major tally at Valhalla this week, fellow Ulsterman Simon Parkhill is setting his sights on the Far East having just been appointed general manager of Nike Golf Japan.
Parkhil has worked for Nike since 2001 and having served as Nike Golf Sales Director of UK and Ireland and then Sales Director for the Swoosh’s football brand in the region the former Castlerock golfer returned to Nike Golf as its Senior Commercial Director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in 2012. Two years on and Parkhill is heading east.
“I have mixed feelings, sad to leave Nike Golf EMEA at such an exciting time for the brand and the business. But I’m equally excited to be taking up the challenge with Nike Golf in Japan; our potential for growth is unlimited,” the Irishman said.
There was a spring in the step for all concerned on the PGA EuroPro Tour at Mount Wolseley in Tullow this week as the Co. Carlow course staged The Walk in My Shoes Open, benefiting the St Patrick’s Mental Health Foundation.
The 54-hole tournament, won by England’s Stuart Archibald by two shots ahead of Irishman Michael McGeady, saw the 120-plus field of up-and-coming professionals from across Europe promote positive mental health during the event.
The ‘Walk in My Shoes’ campaign, run by St Patrick’s Mental Health Foundation, raises funds to provide mental health services, support and information to vulnerable young adults throughout the country — with Ireland having the unenviable status of one of the highest suicide rates in the 14-24 age group in the EU.
It was inspired by a 16-year-old in St Patrick’s University Hospital who wished his friends could ‘walk in his shoes’ to understand what he was going through.
Royal Dublin pro and tournament ambassador Niall Kearney, who finished in a tie for 22nd place, said: “It was brilliant to be playing so close to home and supporting such a great cause.”
To get involved with the campaign or make a donation, visit www.walkinmyshoes.ie
Massereene assistant pro Noel Murray took the honours at the Delgany Pro-Am on Sunday thanks to a great four-under-par back nine 31.
Having made the turn in level par, Belfast golfer Murray, 23, carded a four-under 65 to seal a two-shot victory over David Ryan (Cahir Park GC) at the County Wicklow course.
Old Conna’s Neil O’Briain finished in third after a 68 with Adare Manor Resort’s Graeme Dunlea back in fourth on level par.
Earlier in the week, Ballyliffin’s Damien Mooney had been enjoying good times on the circuit. After a runner-up finish behind Galway GC’s Patrick Small at the Oughterard Pro-Am, Mooney carded back-to-back rounds of 67 to successfully defend the Cairndhu Pro-Am title in Co. Antrim.
That gave him a convincing four-shot victory over the trio of Robert Giles (Greenore), O’Briain and Cian McNamara (Monkstown), overcoming the overnight lead created by Giles and McNamara’s five-under opening rounds of 65.
The pair could only follow that up with a 73 apiece as Mooney’s consistency won the day.
There are always plenty of demands on one’s time but golf fans could find much worse things to do than get along to Donabate Golf Club and support the Irish girls in the Home Internationals, starting tomorrow.
A strong team includes reigning Irish Women’s Close champion Mary Doyle, Irish Girls’ Open Strokeplay champion Olivia Mehaffey and Irish Girls’ Close champion Annabel Wilson and their campaign gets under way against England.
Thursday will see Ireland face Wales and then completes its schedule on Friday against Scotland. Best of luck to the Irish girls.
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