PRO WHO HELPED TO INTRODUCE GEORGIA HALL TO GOLF

DEATH OF FORMER PGA CUP PLAYER

JOHN SHARKEY AT AGE OF 77

Former GB and I PGA Cup player John Sharkey, a legend in Bournemouth golfing circles, has died at the age of 77, a few weeks after a special day was held in his honour at Canford Magna Golf Club where he spent his final ten years coaching youngsters.
A former European Tour player, he  played four rounds in The Open at Muirfield in 1959 – venue of Gary Player’s first Open victory - and was a member of the PGA Cup team in 1976.
He was best known as club professional at Queens Park, one of the two council-owned courses in Bournemouth, where he spent most of his career.
He co-designed Bulbury Woods at Lytchett Minster in 1988, the first 18-hole circuit to be built in Dorset to address the shortage of courses in the east of the county during that boom period. He became co-owner until it was sold seven years later.
He spent ten years alongside the other professionals at Canford Magna where hundreds of children were introduced to golf through the Canford Kids coaching programme, the star "discovery" being Georgia Hall, the current British women's amateur champion who will make her Curtis Cup debut at St Louis, Missouri next week.
John was president of the Bournemouth Professional Golfers’ Alliance for 25 years until 2009 and also played a prominent role with the Dorset PGA.
The funeral is being held at Bournemouth Crematorium on June 5 (2pm), followed by a gathering at Canford Magna Golf Club.