Hendley relishing his golfing return

Gary Hendley will be aiming to put five years of injury misery behind him when he plays in the Golfbreaks.com PGA Fourball Championship final.

Hendley, right, representing the Stepaside Golf Centre in Co Dublin, will team up with Bill Noble of County Cavan Golf Club for the £35,000 Skycaddie & BMW supported event to be held at Cheshire’s Carden Park course between August 12-14.

But for Hendley it is a rare outing after being forced off the course.

“I’ve been injured for the last five years, I was involved in two car accidents which restricted my game,” he explained.

“So really it’s Bill who’s been urging me on to play in this competition.

“He’s mad for it and really wants to win and I’m very excited about the event now that we’ve qualified.

“I will definitely be playing more next year and our goal is to win the qualifying event at Headfort. We did well this year but it could have been better.”

Hendley spends most of his year as a teaching professional and says he is completely motivated by that, but flying out to Carden Park has added spice to his season.

“I teach maybe 80-100 youngsters at Stepaside,” he said. “But the whole Fourball thing has rekindled the playing side for me.

“I’ve known Bill a long time, we played golf together out in Arizona at one stage, but now he’s the one urging me to play again.

“Yet despite the fact that we go way back, we’ve only played this format together a few times.

“What I find difficult is the communication side of it, when you’re playing on your own you tend not to talk too much.

“But one thing’s for sure, playing with Bill is always entertaining so we’ll enjoy it.”

Other Irish pairings set to play at Carden Park include: Patrick Devine (Royal Dublin Golf Club) and Leo Hynes (Killiney Golf Club); Brian Kerley (Green Life Golf Centre) and Robert Giles  (Greenore Golf Club); and Steven Quinlan and Brian Doheny