Coaching role part of Sherry's balancing act

When, in the Nineties, he won the Amateur championship, finished fourth as an amateur in the Scottish Open and was part of the Great Britain and Ireland side which defeated a US team in the Walker Cup that included Tiger Woods, Sherry was a student at the University of Stirling who thrived on the combination of study and competition.

In the years after he joined the professional ranks and myopically devoted himself to becoming a better golfer, Sherry was never half the player he was when his mind was also occupied by the challenge of completing an honours degree. In order to restore that balance, the 30-year-old has decided to coach others and gone into business with Lorne Kelly, another Walker Cup Scot, who set up ProDream USA in Glasgow last November.

Before leaving for Tunisia to help coach the young men and women who aim to follow in his footsteps as golfers at Stirling, Sherry was engagingly enthusiastic when discussing the project designed to prepare teenagers for the challenge of winning golf scholarships to American colleges and universities.

"Frankly, I wish I’d done something like this five years ago," he admitted. "When you talk to professionals who are among the most successful in the game, you find out they’re doing a lot more than just playing in tournaments. They’re not sitting about at home when they’re not playing - they’re designing courses and running businesses. When I started out and combined studies at university with competing I had a lot going on and played really well because of it. I think I need to get back to a situation where competition is a part of my life rather than the be-all and end-all."

After playing in the Masters at Augusta, Sherry was struck down by glandular fever and knows he made a huge mistake by trying to play when he should have convalesced. "When I look back on those two weeks in the summer of 1995, I did enough to win my Tour card. But yet I didn’t get it and I still don’t have it. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. There’s no doubt if I could have my time over again the one thing I would do differently is take more rest when I was ill. I didn’t get the break I needed and I suppose it would have taken someone really strong to persuade me that I needed to get a grip and stay away from playing.

"But even that was a good learning experience and an example of the knowledge I have that I can now pass on to others. I mean no disrespect to any other teaching professional, but not many have experience of that aspect of the game. I’m still only 30 and feel I have my best years as a golfer ahead of me. Just look at Tom Lehman and Vijay Singh who produced their best golf as they grew older. There’s no one pattern of development in golf which is the same for everyone, just as there’s no single correct method to strike the ball."

A gentle giant of a ginger-haired man who tips 6ft 8in, Sherry’s larger-than-life personality helped him cope with setbacks which would have discouraged many. Grateful for the support of Ian Doyle at 110sport, who persuaded him to gain his PGA coaching badge at the Belfry, Sherry is once more working with Bob Torrance and optimistic about what the future holds.

"I still believe I will get my Tour card one day and have a career at that level," he went on. "But when I missed out in qualifying at the end of last year, I decided it was time to look at other things. Since I’m a PGA qualified coach, what I needed to do was teach others and play a little as well. Lorne Kelly, who had an incredible amateur record, is a good friend of mine and I got involved with his business which places clients from all over the UK on golf scholarships with American universities.

"Lorne discovered that parents of a lot of these boys and girls were really keen they reached the right level of attainment, because the scholarships on offer are based on academic and golfing ability. Previously he was telling people to shop around for a decent coach. Not any more. I’ve come on board as director of coaching. And I’m also doing some freelance work.

"Lorne started this company in November purely to look at finding scholarships for boys and girls in the States, but now we’re taking on coaching, the psychology of golf and management. People think management is only for the professional side of the game but we’ll be offering the service to amateurs as well. Possibly ‘management’ is too strong a word in this context - what I’m saying is we’ll be able to offer advice.

"My guess is I’ll be helping a lot of youngsters from the age of 14 or 15 who play off 5 or 6. But that’s not to say a 12-year-old playing off 12 or 13 wouldn’t benefit even more. In many respects, the earlier you start the better. What we’re offering in the private sector is an initiative which gives another opportunity to people who may have been missed by the Scottish Golf Union’s programmes. The last thing we want is for anyone to think we’re going against the SGU and trying to be controversial. What we’re trying to do is supplement their work.

"Lorne and I both felt as amateurs we were fortunate because we were noticed. And maybe there was a bit of luck involved in that. Our feeling now is it shouldn’t come down to luck, it should be about opportunity. That’s why we’ve got together to put something back into the game and help young people to follow their dreams. People have seen the success enjoyed by Ryder Cup players Luke Donald and Paul Casey after they went to American universities and feel it’s a great avenue to go down."

Although he hasn’t given up on his own dreams, Sherry is looking forward to helping others attain their goals. "Why is it in Scotland we’re not producing the top young players we once did?" he ponders. "Is it because only a dozen or so in an elite squad are getting the coaching needed to progress? I want to put something back and offer a service for everyone."