Gareth Paddison has found his happy place

Gareth Paddison has found his happy place

By Neville Idour

One of New Zealand’s more experienced touring professionals Gareth Paddison has called time on full time playing the overseas PGA circuits.

Caption: Gareth Paddison after one of his wins on New Zeaand’s Charles Tour. This win was the 2017 Akarana Open in Auckland which required a playoff of four extra holes.

He is one of the good guys and was happy to share his thoughts on his career and current situation after enjoying leading his team to win at The Hills Invitation Pro-Am recenrtly

Paddison, from Wellington, is now based in Auckland and because of covid-19 and not being able to play tournaments for a period, an opportunity to do some coaching at Remuera Golf Club came up.

Paddison explained: “Initially my partner asked if I could coach her and a few friends, give them a few short game tips.

``I said yes, so I needed somewhere to coach. I approached Remuera. After a discussion with Tony Dangerfield I was told I would be a great addition to the team and when would I like to start. So it has led to maybe a different career path of coaching and playing some tournaments in Australia and New Zealand. It will be a really good life balance for me.”

Have you still got your Australasian card?

``I do. I have a category which is through the New Zealand tour. Myself and Josh Geary chose not to play earlier in the year (2021) when they put events on, obviously due to covid reasons and the high cost of MIQ (managed isolation and quarantine).

``But the tour took our status away from us. So we lost our status due to covid and not travelling. However now we are eligible to apply for invites into some of the big events. It felt like a pretty harsh decision but it is what is and we will see if they honour what they said and give us some of those invites.

“I emailed the TPC (tour players committee) and they were quite happy but a few of the New Zealand players like Dan Hillier, Luke Brown, Mike Hendry and James Anstiss, headed to Melbourne.

``But I gave reasons because I felt that expecting New Zealander’s to go through MIQ just to play smaller events was tough.

``I felt there should have been something done about that earlier on but there wasn’t. They didn’t really agree with my point of view and Josh had a season playing on the European Challenge tour and came back and he emailed his case forward but I think that because they had already declined me they declined him as well.”

“Josh was top 10 in the 2019 season and I was 25th so it wasn’t like we were only just keeping our cards. I still think it is very unfair for both of us but I am just glad I am able to fall back on a two-year coaching contract at Remuera Golf club which is great.

``I really enjoy giving lessons, meeting new people and its given me a different perspective because golf is such an individual game and a lot of the time you are by yourself and you never really get to be part of a working group.”

“But at Remuera you are part of a team which is so different for me and it’s a great feeling. Its very addictive when you have travelled for 20 years on the road and you are part of a team and you have a routine at home.

``I am really enjoying life which might seem odd in these uncertain times. I have an income, no overheads with travel costs and I am able to approach the bank and borrow against my mortgage if I need to because they have got a record of consistent invoices coming in. It makes a big difference to my life having an opportunity to coach and still keep my hand in the game which is good.

When you lost your rights are you going back to the beginning of 2021?

“ Yes. However I am 20 years into my career and I am quite settled so if I missed out on Australia, well golf is not going anywhere – you can coach, you can play in New Zealand and enjoy life.

``Coaching at Remuera can almost be full time. The NZPGA (New Zealand Professional Golfers’ Association) gave me, Mark Brown, Josh Geary, Mike Hendry (the more established and experienced players) an opportunity to complete a four-month course.

``Because when the first covid outbreak happened they acknowledged our playing pedigree careers and decided to allow us to coach under the PGA providing we completed a four-month course instead of the two-year bridging course.”

“They have basically fast tracked us, so while I can’t be a head pro I can still coach. For example Mark (Brown) is well set up at Mount Maunganui.

``It's been very forward thinking of the PGA to allow us to coach because it gives anyone the opportunity to be taught by someone who has been on tour for a long time and you do see things that club pros may not see because you have done it for a long time.

``Conversely I am learning from a couple of the pros at Remuera how to manage clinics and set them up. So it’s a fantastic opportunity. It's more money than I am ever qualified to earn.”

“If I wasn’t teaching I would almost have to restart my career at the age of 41 and that’s quite daunting because all of a sudden you are looking at guys in their mid-30s to late 40s who are at a career high.

``So if I had to start my career all over again at close to minimum wage its almost like 20 years have been a waste of time. At least in golf coaching I can charge a price according to my playing ability which is really neat.”

Paddison sees and feels many benefits for his career shift.

“It's given me a good boost in self esteem because, even if I didn’t play golf for the rest of this year but only coached, I have a set income, and you can borrow more easily with a steady income stream.

``I still want to play a bit but right now I have the perfect balance between coaching and playing. One of the other pros and I are doing a junior clinic for a few hours a day for four days.

“That’s the beauty of coaching, I can come down to The Hills Pro-Am (he is a regular) and not have to put pressure on myself to win. So I am not desperate to play as if money is the bee all and end all A double or triple bogey is still frustrating but had I been playing fulltime I would have died a little inside. Whatever I win here is nice bonus money so I try and finish as high up as I can but I still have income coming in next week.”

How about career highlights? He mentions winning five times in Australia, once on the European Challenge tour (2007) and playing the World Cup for New Zealand.

“I got my card at the European Tour school at the end of 2007. I had finished 23rd like Hillier did, had a win and got my card for the European Tour. I had to get up and down from 27 metres in windy conditions and make a four-footer. So it was the difference between playing for 120,000 euros a week and 1.2 million euros a week. So in 2008 I played the European Tour then lost my card, but I had a little bit of sponsorship and I was able to pay off a good sum of my mortgage with the money I won.”

Typically modest, Paddison reflected.

``It's been an interesting career, I feel like I have been a fringe player for too long, I haven’t really kicked forward as much as I would have liked. I have had some really good results like a thrd at the Mastercard Masters and a few top five placings. The year I finished seventh at the Heineken Open was awesome and a great experience.”

This writer remembers clearly watching Paddison playing in the final leading group with Ernie Els at Royal Melbourne when Els won for the third in succession.

Paddison understates his achievements somewhat. There are three standout amateur wins — the New Zealand Amateur Strokeplay, the 1999 Queensland Amateur and the 2001 Canadian Amateur plus representing New Zealand at the 2000 Eisenhower Trophy. Three professional wins worldwide speak volumes.

Nevertheless Paddison concludes: ”But I just feel like I haven’t quite fulfilled my potential. However there are so many players that haven’t had the opportunities I have had and I am very content in my personal and working life right now.’'