Gordon Sherry (born 8 April 1974) is a Scottish

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

most recognised for winning

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

in 1995. Sherry enjoyed his greatest moments as an amateur, winning The Amateur Championship, being a member of the victorious Great Britain and Ireland

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

team, and appearing in

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

and the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

Career

Amateur

In 1994 Sherry finished as runner up in The Amateur Championship and played in the

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

, where the Great Britain team finished as runners up. The following year, he won The Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, and finished fourth overall in the Scottish Open, behind only Wayne Riley,

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...

and

Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour PGA European Tour#Order of Merit winners, Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutive ones from 1993 to 1 ...

. His win in the Amateur Championship gave Sherry the opportunity to play in both the Open Championship and the Masters Tournament, two of golf major championships. He gained significant attention during his participation in the 1995 Open which was played at

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, starting when he made a hole in one during a practice round playing alongside

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

and Tom Watson. Although he finished behind Steve Webster in the race for the

Silver Medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

as the lowest scoring amateur, he collected £1 from fellow amateur

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

, with whom he had a friendly wager over who would achieve the highest-placed finish. Sherry faced Woods again later that year as a member of the Great Britain and Ireland

team. He again came out on top as Great Britain and Ireland recorded only their fourth win in the competition.

Professional

After appearing in the Masters in April 1996, Sherry turned professional. Despite several visits to

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

he never won his European Tour card. As a result, he had to rely mostly on sponsors' invitations to compete. He never managed to win a tour event although he did win the Mauritius Open in 1997. Sherry last attempted to qualify for the European Tour in 2002. After a four-year break from competition, he started playing on the Scottish Tartan Tour in 2009 and now splits his time between tournaments on the Tartan Tour and coaching. He has also been involved with Prodream USA, a consultancy assisting British golfers to obtain scholarships to American universities, run by fellow ex-Walker Cup golfer Lorne Kelly.

Personal life

Sherry was born in

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

. He graduated with a degree in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

from the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

. He now lives in

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

with his wife Alison and their five children.

Amateur wins

*1995

Professional wins

*1997 Mauritius Open

Results in major championships

''Note: Sherry never played in the U.S. Open or the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur * European Boys' Team Championship (representing Scotland): 1992 (winners) *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

* St Andrews Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1994 (winners) *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

(winners) * European Amateur Team Championship (representing Scotland):

(winners)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherry, Gordon Scottish male golfers European Tour golfers Golfers from Kilmarnock Golfers from Argyll and Bute People from Helensburgh 1974 births Living people