What is there to say? I’m a 59-year-old living in Bristol, UK. I took up the game of golf in the summer of 2006, aged 43. That was three years after I stopped playing squash. I was carrying a few injuries and just decided to stop rather than slide down the Avon County rankings.
My first goal in golf? Not to make a fool of myself the first time I took a client to play (almost all my clients are lawyers).
So, that was the beginning. A lot has happened since then. My handicap has come down to 8.5 and my business (see more below) has grown in revenue terms by over 600% in the same period.
And that my friend is the idea behind the book.
My Team
My golfing journey since 2006 not have been possible without the following people.
- Manda Gilroy – MrsG. My wife. A good golfer in her own right (c.18 hcp). She took up the game at the same time as me and applied herself to the game in exactly the same way proving I’m not a fluke!
- Paul Mitchell – Mitch. My golfer coach. He’s been with me every step of the way in the last five years. The kind of coach who can be working with Chris Wood (European Tour Pro) one day and me the next and get the best out of each of us. Paul is 50% of the reason I’m a 9-handicap golfer. More on Paul.
- Mark Taylor – Marmite. One of my two best friends. The man who got me into golf. He made a bet with me when I started back in 2006. He challenged me to catch up with his handicap within five years and then we’d “play off” for £50! Well, three years later I was past him and am now waiting for him to catch me up. We now play for the annual Gilroy/Taylor tour. He’s the reigning champion and since retirement has dropped to a 4 hcp and I have no chance of beating him of scratch any more!
Golf Clubs
I’m a member of Henbury GC as well as a country member at Saunton GC and Perranporth GC.
My Top Ten
Tough one this as thanks to some luck, some well-connected friends & some frugality I’ve managed to play some fabulous golf courses around the world. So here are my personal top ten favourite courses that I’ve played.
- The Old Course – St Andrews, Scotland
- West Course – Wentworth, England
- Royal Troon, Troon, Scotland
- Pinnacle Point, Mossel Bay, South Africa
- Ailsa Course, Turnberry, Scotland (before the makeover)
- Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland
- Oitavos, Cascais, Portugal
- East Course – Saunton, England
- Kings Course – Gleneagles, Scotland
- Pebble Beach, California, USA
My Day Job
My day job is as the Managing Director of Conscious Solutions (http://www.conscious.co.uk). We are the largest provider of digital marketing services to law firms in the UK with over 250 clients across the country.
Conscious was founded by myself, Andrew Gray & Andy Osborne back in 2003 having previously all worked together at Sift which Andrew & myself founded with Ben Heald in 1996. My full bio can be found on my LinkedIn profile if you are interested in the detail.