Bernard Gallacher celebrates his 50th birthday today with his sights set on the European Seniors Tour and 1960s images of Christy O'Connor and Neil Coles still fresh in his mind. And it promises to be a lucrative season, with a total of £4.7 million in prize money, including £317,000 for the Irish Seniors Open at Mount Juliet on May 14th to 16th.
There are five new events, a number of new venues and the promise of some key, new faces, including John O'Leary, Manuel Ballesteros, Stewart Ginn, Ian Stanley and Phillippe Toussaint. But there will be no West of Ireland Seniors, which has been discontinued after one staging at East Clare GC last August
Highlight of the season remains the British Senior Open at Royal Portrush, where Welshman Brian Huggett will be defending the title. A quality field will include former winners Gary Player, Bob Charles and Brian Barnes.
The arrival of Gallacher and the presence of Christy O'Connor Jnr, who joined the tour for only the closing months of last season, is certain to seriously threaten the dominance of Tommy Horton at this level. "Christy Jnr and I agree on one thing - we both want to help build up this tour in every way we can," said Gallacher yesterday.
As it happens, the former Ryder Cup skipper will be making his senior debut in the US, rather than Europe. He has received a surprise invitation to the 60th USPGA Seniors' Championship on on April 15th to 18th at Palm Beach Gardens which, as it happens, was the scene of his last Ryder Cup appearance.
That was in October 1983 when he played Tom Watson in the last singles and lost on the 17th, which he played poorly. The point was sufficient to give the Americans victory by 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 while paving the way for a dramatic upsurge in Europe's Ryder Cup fortunes.
"I didn't apply for an invitation and I expect I'll be a bit nervous when I tee-up there in April," said Gallacher, who has not played tournament golf for four years. "Obviously I'm delighted to be getting the chance of a comeback in such a big event, which will also be special because of the 1983 Ryder Cup."
He went on: "Looking back on my tournament career, I owe a great debt of gratitude to Christy O'Connor Snr and Neil Coles. I can vividly recall my first professional tournament. It was the Schweppes PGA at Dunbar in 1968 and I missed out in the Monday pre-qualifying, which you had to go through in those days.
"Instead of going home, I went out on the course and watched Christy and Neil and a few other notable tour players of the time, to see if I could learn anything. I instantly realised that these guys were missing greens the same as me, but that they were mustard hot at getting up and down.
"So I concentrated unbelievably hard on my short game and never got put off by missing greens. Watching Christy and Neil and seeing how they did it made a huge impression on me."
After more than 20 years combining a tournament career with club responsibilities at Wentworth, Gallacher decided to retire in 1996. But by way of acknowledging those years of service, Wentworth are honouring him as their millennium captain, just as Ballybunion are doing with his old adversary, Watson. Explaining his decision to retire at club level, he said: "I knew the Seniors Tour was looming and I realised that after trying to do two jobs in a previous existence, I didn't want the same situation a second time around. I could see senior guys playing well, but apart from Tommy Horton, not many of them held down club jobs as well."
Gallacher will be a leading attraction at Mount Juliet in May, but he is also hoping for a few more American invitations this season. "The US Seniors Tour likes to give a chance to the new 50-year-olds," he said.
Meanwhile, particularly interesting among the new events is a pro-celebrity event in Monte Carlo on September 9th to 11th. Tournament hosts will be Prince Albert of Monaco and actor Kevin Costner, who took the role of the eponymous hero in the film Tin Cup.
