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Thank you for spending a few minutes to read my story.
My name is Richard Gilkey and I am a professional golfer from Bakersfield, California. I am 54 years old and have been a touring professional on and off for nearly 35 years. My goal from a very early age was to make it to the PGA TOUR. I came close but was never quite able to reach that goal. My goal now is to qualify for the Champions Tour. I believe I have at least five good years left of successful competitive golf at the highest level.
I am seeking to raise $20,000 for Champions Tour Q-School and or Staysure European Tour Q-School, Select events (Us Senior Open-In the Field, The Senior British Open Qualifier, Champions Tour Monday Qualifiers) entries and expenses associated with these events.
Where my game stands NOW
I am currently a member of the Ladbrokes Australian Senior Tour.
Ladbrokes Australian Senior Tour Schedule and Results
https://www.pga.org.au/tourns/legends-tour/schedule
I went to Australia in January 2019 to attempt to qualify for the Ladbrokes Tour. I had not competed since 2009 but had spent 2018 getting myself back in shape and working on finding my form. I expected to qualify but after so many years out of competition, you never know where the untested competitive juices will lead you. I didn’t have my “A” game, but I qualified fairly easily.
The Ladbrokes Tour is a series of 70+ tournaments that are played in a Pro-Am setting, with the purses totaling over $1.5 million. I decided on this tour as it would give me a lot of “competitive reps” this year and competition is really the only way to get your game ready for elite competition. I honestly had no idea how long it would take to find solid competitive form but fortunately it didn’t take long and I soon won an event. A few weeks later I won again. I feel my game is still only a solid “B” when playing well now…..so there is much room for improvement.
Good stuff keeps happening…
My solid play on the Ladbrokes Tour early this year earned me a start in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill in late May. I had an awesome experience and was lucky to have my oldest son on the bag for the week. Unfortunately the tough course setup was too much for the current state of my game and I performed below my expectations. Disappointing result but many things learned.
https://www.pgatour.com/champions/competition/2019/kitchenaid-senior-pga-championship/leaderboard.html
I had scheduled a US Senior Open Qualifier for the Wednesday following the PGA at Inverness Golf Club in Chicago. Things went well and I earned one of the two qualifying spots available. I now have a start in the 2019 US Senior Open at Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Indiana June 27-30.
http://events.cdga.org/app/indexLS.html?target=liveScoring&cID=-1&eID=1867&q=671251#/liveScoring
I feel blessed, the rapidly improving state of my game has opened up opportunities and the chance to pursue and participate in bigger events sooner than I expected. I have mostly financed myself in this process the last year but now the expenses incurred and required for Major events and the end of year Q-Schools, are beyond my financial means.
Bottom Line, I need help!
I will return to Australia in early July and play approximately 40 events thru the end of the year and continue to prepare my game for the big test in November at the Champions Tour Q-School. If I am unsuccessful at the Q-School, I will enter the Staysure European Senior Tour Q-School in January 2020.
THANKS AGAIN for your time and consideration, I look forward to updating this page regularly with my tournament results and experiences! Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywuym29mLYc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t7g0puKp70&feature=youtu.be
https://www.pga.org.au/news/legends-tour/gilkey-takes-second-win-in-rookie-season
Career Highlights-
1986-91
Australian Tour, multiple top ten finishes, best finishes 2nd 1989 New Zealand Open, 13th 1988 Australian Masters
1996
PGA Q-School, made it to Final Stage, didn’t attain PGA Card did receive Nike Tour Card.
1997
Nike Tour, 16 Tournaments, 8 cuts made, best finish 13th
2006-09
Canadian Tour, best finishes 3rd 2006 Culiacan Open, 8th 2006 Cancun Open
My name is Richard Gilkey and I am a professional golfer from Bakersfield, California. I am 54 years old and have been a touring professional on and off for nearly 35 years. My goal from a very early age was to make it to the PGA TOUR. I came close but was never quite able to reach that goal. My goal now is to qualify for the Champions Tour. I believe I have at least five good years left of successful competitive golf at the highest level.
I am seeking to raise $20,000 for Champions Tour Q-School and or Staysure European Tour Q-School, Select events (Us Senior Open-In the Field, The Senior British Open Qualifier, Champions Tour Monday Qualifiers) entries and expenses associated with these events.
Where my game stands NOW
I am currently a member of the Ladbrokes Australian Senior Tour.
Ladbrokes Australian Senior Tour Schedule and Results
https://www.pga.org.au/tourns/legends-tour/schedule
I went to Australia in January 2019 to attempt to qualify for the Ladbrokes Tour. I had not competed since 2009 but had spent 2018 getting myself back in shape and working on finding my form. I expected to qualify but after so many years out of competition, you never know where the untested competitive juices will lead you. I didn’t have my “A” game, but I qualified fairly easily.
The Ladbrokes Tour is a series of 70+ tournaments that are played in a Pro-Am setting, with the purses totaling over $1.5 million. I decided on this tour as it would give me a lot of “competitive reps” this year and competition is really the only way to get your game ready for elite competition. I honestly had no idea how long it would take to find solid competitive form but fortunately it didn’t take long and I soon won an event. A few weeks later I won again. I feel my game is still only a solid “B” when playing well now…..so there is much room for improvement.
Good stuff keeps happening…
My solid play on the Ladbrokes Tour early this year earned me a start in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill in late May. I had an awesome experience and was lucky to have my oldest son on the bag for the week. Unfortunately the tough course setup was too much for the current state of my game and I performed below my expectations. Disappointing result but many things learned.
https://www.pgatour.com/champions/competition/2019/kitchenaid-senior-pga-championship/leaderboard.html
I had scheduled a US Senior Open Qualifier for the Wednesday following the PGA at Inverness Golf Club in Chicago. Things went well and I earned one of the two qualifying spots available. I now have a start in the 2019 US Senior Open at Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Indiana June 27-30.
http://events.cdga.org/app/indexLS.html?target=liveScoring&cID=-1&eID=1867&q=671251#/liveScoring
I feel blessed, the rapidly improving state of my game has opened up opportunities and the chance to pursue and participate in bigger events sooner than I expected. I have mostly financed myself in this process the last year but now the expenses incurred and required for Major events and the end of year Q-Schools, are beyond my financial means.
Bottom Line, I need help!
I will return to Australia in early July and play approximately 40 events thru the end of the year and continue to prepare my game for the big test in November at the Champions Tour Q-School. If I am unsuccessful at the Q-School, I will enter the Staysure European Senior Tour Q-School in January 2020.
THANKS AGAIN for your time and consideration, I look forward to updating this page regularly with my tournament results and experiences! Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywuym29mLYc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t7g0puKp70&feature=youtu.be
https://www.pga.org.au/news/legends-tour/gilkey-takes-second-win-in-rookie-season
Career Highlights-
1986-91
Australian Tour, multiple top ten finishes, best finishes 2nd 1989 New Zealand Open, 13th 1988 Australian Masters
1996
PGA Q-School, made it to Final Stage, didn’t attain PGA Card did receive Nike Tour Card.
1997
Nike Tour, 16 Tournaments, 8 cuts made, best finish 13th
2006-09
Canadian Tour, best finishes 3rd 2006 Culiacan Open, 8th 2006 Cancun Open
Organizer
Richard Gilkey
Organizer
Bakersfield, CA