Gordon Sherry was born in Kilmarnock on April 8th 1974. Gordon attended Stirling University between 1992 and 1996 and graduated with a degree in Biochemistry. During these years Gordon’s golf developed greatly. Unlike his adversaries Gordon declined the opportunity to pursue a College Career in the US.
The main reason for this was his coach Bob Torrance. Gordon lost the final of the Amateur Championship in 1994 and the same year represented GB&I in the St Andrews Trophy and the Eisenhower Trophy. In 1995 Gordon went one better in the Amateur Championship by winning the Golf medal at Royal Liverpool. He then went on to finish 4th in the Scottish Open at Carnoustie followed by a whirlwind week at St Andrews during the Open where he played with Watson, Norman, Nicklaus, Singh, Mickelson and Calcavecchia. Most people remember that week for the hole in one he had whilst playing with Watson and Nicklaus. Gordon played in the victorious Walker Cup team in 1995 at Royal Porthcawl opposite a certain Mr Tiger Woods. Unlike what is commonly thought, Gordon played against Notah Begay III and Chris Riley in the singles matches and not Tiger.
Gordon turned professional in 1996 after playing in the US Masters in Augusta, Georgia. Gordon competed on Tour until 2004 enjoying a rollercoaster of results.
He is now a fully qualified PGA Professional and CEO of The Links Group, incorporating The Links Club – one of the world’s most exclusive golfing clubs, and Links Management International which concentrates on high performance management of players. Gordon will be returning to Augusta for only the second time since he played, as Former Open and Masters Champion Sandy Lyles agent. At 6ft 8 Gordon has the distinguished record of being the tallest man ever to play in the US Masters, and is now established as a highly accomplished keynote speaker. Gordon’s keynote is entirely golf related and is a story of the key moments in his golfing career with a number of the world’s golfing greats. The keynote, while informative, is packed with hilarious anecdotes and there are helpful tips for golfers of all abilities. He lives in Helensburgh, Scotland with wife Alison and their five children Thomas, Anna, Lara, Lucy and Holly.
Having started playing golf at the age of eight, the sport has been a major part of John’s life for well over twenty-five years.
John worked he way up through the amateur ranks, starting at county level, where he represented Lancashire, and then went on to represent Great Britain and Ireland in the 1985 Walker Cup in America. His team mates included eight times Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie, and on the opposing side, the likes of major winner Davis Love III.
John then progressed to the professional ranks where he played on the PGA European Tour from 1986–2000.
He started working within the TV industry in the mid 90’s but became regularly involved with television commentary from 2000 onwards.
His media career started with Talk Sport Radio before being summoned to the BBC for a voice test after which he was offered a position as an on-course commentator for BBC Golf.
With over 25 years of golfing knowledge and experience plus a proven track record as a commentator and interviewer, he is regularly in demand to appear as an after dinner speaker at a wide range of different venues.
He will entertain your guests with his golf stories and experiences through the decades. From playing in the Walker Cup with Colin Montgomerie to the trials and tribulations of the European Tour and right up to the present day as a golf commentator and pundit.
He will take you through his travels across the continents with stories such as him coming face to face with a gun toting American on a course in Florida, nearly missing the British Open because of overzealous Marshalls and being deported from Czechoslovakia at gunpoint!
John is also available as a corporate commentator – Corporate Commentary is an entirely new concept for corporate hosting at golf events.
Introducing one of the South’s leading and most sought after mainstream comedians. A veteran of the after-dinner circuit and a consummate professional. He has performed with many sports stars and celebrities at events up and down the country. Now in his 30th year in show-business, Adger works mainly on the Corporate and Sporting dinner circuit along with Corporate and Charity Golf Days. He is an active member of The Variety Club Golfing Society, A Barker with The Variety Club of Great Britain and a proud member of the Grand Order of Water Rats.
Adger Brown is one of the most versatile comedians on the mainstream circuit of cabaret and variety. If you have a sense of humour then you must simply listen to Adger. Adger is a naturally funny man who can supply a stream of laughs on just about every topic while successfully raising funds in an auction. For a versatile performer who can adapt his act to suit your requirements, you need look no further than Adger Brown for your event.
Billy Foster began as a full time caddy in 1983 and has since proved himself as a world class performer, working with some of the game most illustrious professionals none more so than the legendary Seve Ballesteros. Foster has amassed a stunning total of 30 tournament victories, including 8 wins with Seve Ballesteros, 12 with Darren Clarke, 4 with Gordon Brand Junior and 1 each with Sergio Garcia, Sam Torrance and HJ Baiocchi.
Among many career highlights, Foster has caddied in 10 Ryder Cups and is immensely proud to have been part of some of golf’s special moments including Seve’s victories in the 1991 PGA Championship and of course Darren Clarke’s victory over Tiger Woods in the final of the 2000 WGC Accenture World Match Play. Following 6 years with Darren Clarke and 2 with Sergio Garcia, Billy recently caddied for 2009 Race to Dubai winner and World No.1 Lee Westwood – a partnership which proved very formidable.
A quiet Yorkshireman, Billy Foster is recognised throughout golf as a world class caddie and Tiger Woods “borrowed” him from Clarke for the Presidents Cup in 2005 when his caddie, Steve Williams was unavailable due to the arrival of his firstborn.
Tiger said, “I like his personality it’s very competitive. Very feisty!”
An extremely popular figure on Tour, Foster famously walked ‘with the tour bag on his back’ the 90 miles from Loch Lomond to Turnberry last year in aid of charity. Unsurprisingly Foster was rewarded the HSBC Caddie of the Year Award in 2009.
In 2018 Billy took on the bag for the young golfer Matt Fitzpatrick.
Alan looks back at the highs and lows of a somewhat interesting career.
He expresses fondness and great humour when reminiscing about his tales from when he played on The European Tour in 1997.
Alan was lucky enough to play world over with some of the greats, but unlucky with laughable “run-ins” with players such as Nick Faldo and the late, great Seve Ballesteros.
His finale is left for when he played with Ben Crenshaw (at that time was US Masters Champion) and Tiger Woods in the 1995 Scottish Open at Carnoustie. In finding out that Alan had become the first player ever to shoot 64 at Carnoustie 12 months earlier, Crenshaw and Woods requested to play with him.
The sequence of events that occurred from the 1st tee to the bar afterwards is not to be missed and Alan’s ability to laugh at himself is refreshing to say the least.
Former World Snooker Champion in 1985 who made television history playing the epic match against Steve Davis.
A regular television personality, having appeared on Question of Sport several times, Strictly Come Dancing and BBC Sport.
Dennis is a natural after dinner speaker, bringing his Irish background into the act and with stories relayed with the emphasis firmly on humour.
Snooker was a passion of Willie’s from a young age. Honing his skills as a junior player, Thorne became national under-16 champion at both snooker and English billiards in 1970. Since then, Willie’s snooker playing career became a certainty. In a career spanning three decades, Willie can now boast holding a total of 14 tournament victories worldwide.
“The Great WT”, as he is affectionately known, was a regular in the Top 16 World Ranking players for well over a decade and is one of the top record breakers for the highest number of 147 breaks in the history of snooker (190), earning him his recognisable nickname “Mr Maximum”. Willie has definitely established himself as one of the greatest characters of snooker for over 25 years.
His experience and big personality make him a guaranteed success at any event and his appearance on Strictly Come dancing made him a household name, for snooker fans and all.
Dougie Donnelly is one of the BBC’s top television sports presenters and, since joining the BBC in 1978, he has been involved with a wide variety of major network sporting productions including presenting the BBC’s premier sport programme Grandstand.
In Scotland he is perhaps most associated with the sport he has presented and reported on for more than twenty years, Football, while the rest of the UK will know Dougie better through his fifteen year presentation of Golf and Snooker. Dougie has also presented on numerous Olympic and Commonwealth Games, as well as the World Cup and the European Championship.
Nowadays Dougie is in equally high demand on the after dinner circuit, entertaining audiences all over the country. His vast knowledge of the sporting world and experience in presenting makes Dougie both interesting and likeable to any audience.
Steve Rider is television’s foremost sports presenter. He hosted BBC Television’s Grandstand and Sportsnight for over 20 years and in 2006, Steve joined ITV Sport as the presenter of Formula One.
He has a journalistic background both in local newspapers and press/public relations. For two years he was a reporter and feature writer with Hayters, the Fleet Street based sports agency, before joining the newly established independent local radio stations LBC/IRM as a sports presenter and reporter
He began at Anglia TV and after two years moved on to Thames He joined the BBC in 1985, taking over from Harry Carpenter
Since 1980, Steve has anchored coverage of the Commonwealth Games, the Olympics and the Winter Olympics. In 1996 he hosted the bulk of BBC’s coverage of the Barcelona 1996 Olympics, which won the International Olympic Committee Golden Rings Award, the Royal Television Society Sports Award and was nominated for a BAFTA award. Steve continued to be the main anchor for the BBC’s Olympics and Commonwealth Games coverage, up to and including Athens 2004.
He anchored ITV’s Formula One coverage from 2006 to 2008, and football coverage from 2006 to April 2010. He was the lead presenter for ITV’s coverage of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
