INTERVIEW: NOEL FOX:THE INVITING bacon sandwich which just landed in front of him doesn't get a proper look in for after patiently waiting, the questions begin. Like with his golfing odyssey Noel Fox takes it in his stride; a fresh brew is poured and he's soon elaborating on life in the paid ranks.
Fox was a serial winner at the top of the amateur game. With six major GUI championships under his belt, Ireland caps aplenty, his prowess on the fairways led to a Walker Cup call in 2003.
In hindsight that was the time to turn professional but he stalled for another two years and since then has featured well on “developmental tours” but struggled to reach the upper echelons.
The 37-year-old competed against the Garcias, Roses and Fishers in his time but the transition to touring professional has been a slow burner. “I competed against these guys down the years and now they are out there making fortunes, they have a wonderful life. You watch them on TV every week and you think, am I that different? The only way to find out is to go and compete and try to get where they are,” says a philosophical Fox, an individual comfortable in his own skin.
He lives less than a mile from Portmarnock Golf Club, his second home when not on the road and competing on the Challenge Tour or EuroPro Tour.
This is where the hard graft is put in on the practice range or around the chipping and putting area before testing himself on the once perennial home of the Irish Open.
Golf is in his blood. As a junior he joined nearby Sutton Golf Club because you “couldn’t become a member at Portmarnock until the age of 12”. Those heady days of the Carrolls Irish Open left an impression on a young Fox and in particular Seve Ballesteros when at his swashbuckling best.
“Seve obviously had a huge role to play when the Carrolls Irish Open was here. I remember in ’85 I was 12 and being able to walk through the locker room and these guys were gods to me,” he recalls. “I remember Seve was in the bathroom after he’d just taken a pee. He quite funnily said ‘Best if I wash my hands first’. He duly did then came out and shook my hand, little things like that stick in your mind.”
Looking back Fox says his good friend Pádraig Harrington was one of the most vocal and supportive of his decision to turn professional in 2005. “I’m slightly unusual in that I turned pro late, at the age of 31. In hindsight, I perhaps should have kept the momentum going after the Walker Cup, but I didn’t quite know what way to go then. I got to the second stage of Qualifying School as an amateur then missed out on the finals by one shot. Also the mini tours weren’t as well established back then,” says Fox.
“Of all my friends, Pádraig would have been the most bullish on me turning pro. In his analytical manner he reckoned I was the sort of player who could be successful using the 80/20 rule; I could make 80 per cent of my prize money from 20 per cent of my starts. He knew I was a player capable of shooting low scores and could hit top form on any given week. He said I would be mad not to turn pro.”
In the past he has made his mark on the EuroPro Tour having won the order of merit and landed the Faithlegg event, both in 2008.
He finished tied 14th (£489/€563) in the opening event of the season in Norfolk but missed the cut in Austria earlier this month after getting a start on the Challenge Tour.
Two weeks ago he also missed the cut back on the EuroPro Tour at the Bovey Castle event. From this week the EuroPro Tour takes in a two-week Irish swing with events at Galgorm Castle in Ballymena followed by Fota Island in Cork.
It’s not cheap to compete on this tour but Fox views it as a means to an end. “By the time you factor in the entry fee (£275/€300), flights, car share and accommodation, it costs you pretty much €1,000 a week,” explains Fox, noting the £10,000/€11,500 winner’s cheque on offer every week.
“The prize money drops off quickly and if you can get through a season and break even you are doing well. In truth we’re not out there to make money, it’s about learning your trade. Even the year I won the order of merit I didn’t make any money.”
In the beginning Fox got support from the Team Ireland Trust and still receives financial backing from MMI money brokers. “They also sponsored the likes of Pádraig, John Henry and Peter Lawrie when they started out. I knew I could play for free in my first couple of years and anything I won was a bonus, it took the pressure off.”
Fox still holds ambitions of making onto the main European Tour and if results go his way more doors will open on the Challenge Tour. (The top five of the EuroPro money list win Challenge Tour cards at the end of the season).
For all his endeavour, and like the 28 other aspiring Irish professionals on the EuroPro Tour this season, Fox suggests greater support mechanisms could be put in place to assist with the transition from elite amateur to tour pro.
“Rather than simply being black and white between the amateur and professional game, why not a grey area where the support, financial or coaching, overlaps better?” notes Fox, who is deliberate in thought and measured in his response.
“In a perfect world there would be some sort of limbo period for a couple of years. Even if you turn pro you still get financial assistance and greater use of coaching and facilities, say like Carton House (where the GUI Academy is housed).
“Just from talking to some of the guys they sometimes feel the umbilical cord gets cut the moment they turn professional. Some guys hit the ground running and breeze on to tour the way Graeme (McDowell), Rory (McIlroy) or Shane (Lowry) managed to do.”
Others need more time and with each season scar tissue builds up. Left in the doldrums, it becomes much tougher mentally.
“The Swedes have a good system. Basically they have a blanket body where players are in the system until, say 25, pro or amateur. And if you haven’t made it by then at least you’ve had a fair crack at it.
“I also think it would be beneficial for some of the leading pros, including those who have been through the mill, to play with our top amateurs. They could impart knowledge and give younger players an idea of what to expect. “I know all our top Irish professionals are very giving of their time and in many ways that accessibility is the envy of other European nations. We should tap into that knowledge more.”
In any case, if Fox isn’t beating balls on the range there’s a fair chance he’s giving it some in the gym. He’s fit as a butcher’s dog and that’s thanks in no small part to the work he does with Liam Hennessy, the fitness expert who also works with Harrington.
“It’s a bit like hanging out with Yoda,” he quips. “Working with Liam is an education in itself. There is nothing about strength and conditioning in sport he doesn’t know. I really enjoy that side of things. Not only do I gain strength and stability, it’s about maintenance and longevity, especially as I try to compete with the younger guys out there.”
From the leather upholstered surrounds, Fox surveys the bright but windy conditions outside and notes the course changes made at Portmarnock over the last 18 months, most notably at the first hole.
“The routing of the first was moved 40 yards to the right and is now very much played up along the estuary, which aesthetically also makes it more impressive. It’s a much stronger opening hole,” he says, noting Martin Hawtree’s handy design work and the expertise of Portmarnock’s head greenkeeper, Gary Johnstone, and his team.
Other changes include new run-off areas at the second, third, fourth, eighth, ninth and 14th. A new landing area is in place at the sixth plus new championship tees introduced at the 12th, 15th and 18th. With 100 yards added to the championship layout it now measures 7,466 yards.
Putting aside the controversy over the club’s all-male membership in recent years, the powers that be were adamant Portmarnock should remain as one, if not the, leading championship venue in the country.
“Our ambition is to remain as one of the great links courses in the world . . . It’s an ongoing journey, which in truth is never finished but we believe the significant work completed goes a long way towards meeting the ambitions we have set ourselves,” explained club captain David Fleury.
In August 2012 the new-look Portmarnock will host the Jacques Leglise Trophy and St Andrews Trophy when the best from Britain and Ireland take on continental Europe.
As for Fox, he has shot a couple of 65s “messing around”, had hole-in-ones at the seventh and 12th but his big ambition is to “one day drive every green, with the exception of the par fives of course! Might be a pipe dream but if you get the right wind, you never know, though I might have to wait for a hurricane at the 17th.”
In any case he has given up enough of his time and gears up for more practice with his younger brother James, also an accomplished golfer who plays off plus one and features at the top end of the Irish amateur game.
“There’s an ongoing chipping contest at the moment, he has the slight edge,” says Fox, before taking his leave and relinquishing one half-eaten bacon sandwich.
Whatever about Fox’s continuing golfing journey, The Irish Times owes him an uninterrupted bacon sandwich.
NOEL FOX FACTFILE
PROFESSIONAL WINS
PGA EuroPro Order of Merit (2008)
Faithlegg EuroPro Tour Championship (2008)
AMATEUR WINS
East of Ireland (1996, 2000, 2002)
West of Ireland (1998)
Irish Amateur Open (2000, 2003)
Representative Team Golf
Ireland 1995-2004 (including St Andrews Trophy 2000)
Walker Cup 2003 Bonallack Trophy 2004
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