SPORTING PASSIONS FARETH MAYBIN: Gavin Cummiskeytalks to the Northern Ireland golfer about his sideline as an up-and-coming marksman

I LOVE shooting with my mates. I also play for a pool team and the local darts team near my home in Ballyclare, Co Antrim.

I’m a member of a shooting club just outside Ballyclare. We release the game and pretty much just go out and kill it. We also shoot clays. It is a bit of both really. Obviously, there are different seasons.

At the moment we are coming into the game season.

My dad used to do it and I would go out with him the odd time. Him, the dogs and me would head out for the day.

I wasn’t a part of it for five or six years when I was in the States for college and playing the mini-tours out there, but by the time I came back a few of my mates had got into it so I applied for my licence. It is great to come back on the weeks off, meet up with friends and go off shooting.

With clay there are different ways of shooting. You can go down the line, across the line, or you can shoot what’s called a rabbit when a clay goes across the ground. There are different angles to come at it.

What we do is throw in a fiver each and whoever hits the most clays wins the money.

I’m getting better, I’ve definitely improved over the last year or so. It would be good to get to the point where you are hitting everything.

I suppose I have been at it for years, when not playing golf, but I only recently got my own gun. It was a pretty tricky process that took nine months.

You’ve got to get a cabinet installed in your house, bolted to a solid wall. The police come out to check it and then they interview you. It’s all well-organised.

Of course, my passions do take a back-seat to the golf.

This year I have travelled to maybe 29, 30 tournaments, although I still get to spend half the year at home.

Getting on the full European Tour, after so many years working away in America and on the Challenge Tour, has been everything I dreamed of. It has been an absolute pleasure to play out there along with some of the best in the world.

To be honest, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.

I got off to a fast start in South Africa (second in the SA Open) that got me nice and relaxed for the rest of the season and not really worrying about anything.

The chance to be named PGA Tour rookie of the season is still alive, because I’m still in the Race to Dubai tournament. But I would have to do awfully well there. I think Chris Wood and Rafael Cabrera-Bello are the favourites for it.

Besides the shooting, I play on the pool team every Thursday night and the darts team every Friday. As I’m on the tour I get a special invitation. I’m probably the most passionate about the pool. I like the social aspect of it.

They have me for the next three weeks, as I’m not due to compete again until the Dubai world championships.