Nowhere is the cruel nature of golf exposed as dramatically as in the blood bath of the professional qualifying school. Yet, each year, hundreds of players, forking out £800 apiece, gladly chase the dream, knowing that the failure rate is inordinately high.
John Kelly has been there before. Twelve months ago, he ventured into the European Tour's Pre-Qualifying school in Manchester. John Kelly, the guy who gave up a safe, secure job in the sound library of RTE to pursue a career as a professional golfer. Some people, including his parents, thought he was mad. But, deep down, he was envied, a young man chasing his sporting dream.
Today, Kelly is one of 23 Irishmen setting out in pursuit of that dream at four qualifying venues in England: Kelly, Hugh O'Neill and Graeme Spring in Manchester; Walker Cup player Richard Coughlan, David Barton, Patrick Geraghty, Niall Handley, Francis Howley, Sean McDonagh and John McHenry in East Sussex; Gary Murphy, John Murray and Sean Quinlivan in Five Lakes, and James Bourke, Jim Carvill, Cameron Clark, Stephen Hamill, Peter Lawrie, Chris Moriarty, Peter O'Brien, Wayne O'Callaghan, Eoghan O'Connell and Leslie Walker in Wynyard. The route to a coveted European Tour card is a callous, unforgiving one. The first hurdle is the PQ I (54-holes strokeplay, commencing at the four British venues today). For those who either don't survive that first obstacle or don't participate, the next step is PQ II in Spain and France next month. The prize (although some deem it the torture) is a ticket to the Tour's Qualifying School, in San Roque and Guadalmina in southern Spain, on November 20th-25th, where the "lucky" players will play six rounds, and a precious tour card can be won. Last year, Kelly lost out on two occasions. In Manchester, for PQ I, he had a "nightmare." Not that he didn't play well. He did. The Dubliner was six under par after two rounds. However, he was level with four holes to play - and just inside the qualifiers - when he hit his drive down the right hand side of the fairway. It took one bounce, into what he thought was the semi-rough. He never found the ball. That lost ball cost him his ticket.
Then, in Spain for PQ II, Kelly again gave it his best shot, losing out on a place in the school by a mere two shots.
For Kelly, who celebrates his 25th birthday later this month, Gaelic football was a first love. He played with St Brigid's in Blanchardstown until he suffered a knee injury and was told by the doctors to stop. Kelly had dabbled in pitch and putt and decided to take up golf. "I've played almost every day since," he says.
When he joined Black Bush, they gave him a provisional handicap of 10. In his first competition, Kelly shot a round of 75 and was cut straight away to four. It was to be his one and only round as a double-digit handicapper.
When he went to Bobby Browne for lessons, he was informed he was good enough to give it a go, to chase his dream. He gave up the job, E, took up a position as assistant in The Ward Driving Range on the North Road and, thanks to sponsorship from City Air Express, started to play the minitours in Britain, as well as the Irish Region PGA tour. But the magnet is the big tour, with the big boys. And the only way in is through the Tour School. Kelly practises his chipping and putting for a minimum of two and a half hours every single day. His long game is his strongest asset. But a back injury, sustained in a car crash, means he does not spend too much time belting balls onto the horizon. Indeed, he is thankful to physiotherapist Yoshi Iwasaki for getting him ready for the task ahead.
"If I can chip and putt, I'll qualify," he says. "I gave it such a good go 12 months ago, and I feel I'm a better player now. If I can just keep my concentration. I remember watching Carl Lewis on television years ago and he kept going on about the need for an athlete to stay focused. It's the same with a golfer." The dream lives on.
