PGA National Ireland - A national treasure

PGA Professional Gordon Smyth didn't expect to have a career in golf but is now part of a national brand with a global ambition at PGA National Ireland Slieve Russell.

Like so many, I was first introduced to golf through my family. My Dad played, Mum played and my brother played. Dad was good – off about a two or three handicap and he was captain at Headfort in 1984 when we lived in Navan. I actually joined Headfort a few years later when we moved to Kells, so all of my amateur golf was played there.

One of my best memories as a young lad was at Headfort after school. Brendan McGovern had just become the head PGA professional at the club, and I’d come up after school and Brendan would be practising while I collected the balls for him. Little did I know I’d end up working for and with him at Headfort a few years later!

I turned pro at 21, working as Brendan’s assistant and, while I retained tour aspirations – I actually got Team Ireland funding for a while and played on the EuroPro circuit – I realised pretty quickly that I wasn’t good enough to make my living playing tournament golf.

Having Brendan as a boss was great as he gave me plenty of advice and let me play as much tournament golf as I wanted. I played on the Irish PGA regional circuit and won a few pro-ams, while I spent a lot of time coaching the junior section at Headfort which was very rewarding. Junior coaching is something that I’ve been passionate about and managed to maintain throughout my career ever since.

I qualified after three years and stayed at Headfort for another seven before I came to Slieve Russell as head teaching professional, progressing to first head professional and then golf manager.

My current role is one that I enjoy immensely, as no two days are the same and I’m involved at all levels in the club. One of our main focus points is to become not only a national but also an international destination for golfers. To that end, we rebranded the resort as PGA National Ireland Slieve Russell last year.

For me, it was great to not only be involved but to be at the forefront of the rebrand and, while it has meant a lot of work for everyone here, the results so far have been fantastic. It has opened us up to a wider international audience and we are now seeing more golf-specific European business coming through which will continue to grow as the word spreads about the quality, not only of the golf course, but also of the hotel and resort.

On the coaching side, I’m still heavily involved as I’m the only PGA professional here and I also coach the Ulster GUI panels and a few standout players. These include Rory McNamara, who has won national championships and is currently plying his trade on the feeder tours, Evan Shipp, who was recently selected to represent Leinster, and Ryan McNelis, who is a senior in the Ulster panel.

Outside my day job, I am a co-founder in the Irish Kids Golf Tour alongside my colleague Ciaran Cahill. We launched the tour in 2017 to give juniors from the ages of six to 13 a chance to compete against each other at some of the top venues in the country.

The event series has gone from strength to strength and we were delighted to bring in KPMG as a long-term title sponsor from 2018. We have been able to utilise some of their Tour players such as Paul Dunne, Leona Maguire, and, most recently, Phil Mickelson to give encouraging messages to the kids that take part.

We launched our 2020 event schedule at the end of January with four regional events and also an All-Ireland Trophy, and this year we are playing PGA National Slieve Russell as well as County Sligo, Killeen Castle, Fota Island and Carton House.

So all in all, things are pretty busy but I know I’m one of the lucky ones. I have a job that I love and also the support of my family at home where the patience of my wife Lorraine has been tested by golf (and me) many times – but she’s stuck with me, thankfully!

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