WHEN strangers ask Mark Tickle what he does for a living, the veteran pro usually replies: “I play golf. I followed in the footsteps of Greg Norman.”
While that may sound a tad immodest, it’s literally 100 percent accurate.
One of Tickle’s first jobs was as a storeman and packer in golf equipment manufacturer PGF’s Brisbane warehouse in the 1970s. He replaced a young Greg Norman, who tossed the job in to pursue a playing career that would see him become the world’s No 1 golfer.
Tickle, too, became a professional golfer. And, while he never reached the heights of the two-time Open champion, Tickle’s passion for the game was just as strong, and his commitment to competing unmatched.
The left-hander is into his 15th season on Australia’s Legends Tour, proudly reporting that he’s No 48 on the all-time money-list, the legacy of playing nearly 1000 events against Australia’s best 50-and-over golfers.
“I just love the game,” he says. “I’ve been playing since I was eight and I reckon I’d play every day if I could.
“Golf is the ultimate challenge. It’s you against yourself,” he said. “You can play on your own, against your mates, and potentially against the best players in the world.
“It’s very difficult game. In tennis you have a racquet, in hockey a stick and in cricket a bat. But in golf you have a driver, a putter, a four iron, a seven iron, a sand iron and so on – and you have to be able to master them all.
“And no two holes are the same. A cricket pitch and a tennis court are basically the same, but in golf you’re faced with something different every time you play.
“It’s a game you’ll never master, but you keep coming back because you know there’s always a chance you can go out and do better than you did the day before.”
Mark Tickle is still keen to compete on the PGA Legends Tour.
Tickle’s golf career is extraordinary. He grew up in Noosa, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, and became a junior member of the old Tewantin-Noosa Golf Club, across the street from his home.
It was a nine-hole track then, and he recalls one day playing the course seven times.
He played pennants for Virginia Golf Club in Brisbane, practiced with fellow members Wayne Grady and Greg Norman, made the state junior and senior amateur teams, and turned professional at the age of 28.
Tickle spent a year at Caboolture Golf Club before campaigning on the Canadian Tour with fellow Aussies Terry Price and Richard Backwell – lifelong pals and now rivals on the Legends Tour.
When George Bell retired as head professional at Noosa-Tewantin in 1990, Tickle applied and was appointed to a role he would fill for the next 30 years.
He became heavily involved in retail. With former PGF workmate Gary Steer, Tickle formed Golf Gear Australia in 1999, a distribution company which continues to supply golf products and clothing to the Australian market.
He also established a buying network of a dozen golf professionals, from Cairns to Ballina. “I had contacts with manufacturers and distributors all over the world,” Tickle said. “I’d buy products in bulk and split them up with the group.”
Later, he founded the Sunshine Coast retail outfit Gripped On Golf, which had outlets at Kawana and Noosa.
These days, though, Tickle just plays golf – on the Legends Tour and at The Glades, near where he now lives on the Gold Coast.
When we spoke Tickle, 64, had just completed the two-day Seniors Pro-Am at Hamner Springs Golf Club on New Zealand’s South Island. He followed a first-round 65 with a three-over 71 to finish tied eighth.
“The putter was very good for the first round, but disappointed on the second day,” he said.
Tickle is recovering from a nasty injury that last year kept him out of golf for three months. “I was upstairs doing the washing,” he said. “One of the sheets slipped and got tangled with my feet. I tried to step back but I lost balance and fell down 14 steps.”
He broke an ankle and a leg and defied doctors’ advice by returning to the course after only 11 weeks.
Tickle says he’s feeling fit and well, though he’s put on 5kg during his long period of inactivity. He’s looking forward to the Legend Tour’s Victorian swing and determined to earn enough prizemoney to guarantee his status for the rest of the year.
He has no plans to retire, declaring he’ll keep on playing until he’s no longer able to swing a golf club.
