The term ‘sporting rollercoaster’ is a well worn but often apt cliché. The career of a sports star can be a series of euphoric heights and drowsy depths, twisting and turning between success and failure. Although each athlete’s journey is different, they have all been strapped in for a gripping ride.

Ronan Rafferty is a prime example. Throughout a career in which he has experienced huge golfing success as a teenager, reached the top of the European Order of Merit, and participated in a successful Ryder Cup team, Rafferty has also battled with a potentially career ending injury and is now kick-starting his career in preparation for joining the Seniors Tour.

Currently a golf commentator on Setanta Sports and living in Scotland, Rafferty knows this country’s golfers like the back of his hand, and as we found out, he has no difficulty speaking about them.

“I have no problem talking!” laughs the 44-year-old Irishman as he sits down to share some winning words with In The Winning Zone at the Dormy Clubhouse at Gleneagles. According to Rafferty, young Scottish golfers do have the potential and talent to reach the top, and the prospects ahead for golf in Scotland are promising.

Rafferty believes the passionate support of the nation plays a part in the success of our sporting stars. Indeed, images of the national football team’s recent success in Paris almost always feature the outstanding supporters that like to call themselves the Tartan Army

“I have always had an affinity for Scotland, I have a lot of golfing memories here. The Scots are famous for their nationalism. No matter where they are in the world they will always support Scotland. They are very proud of their heritage and they bring it with them around the world.”

If Scotland can get behind its sporting heroes in 2014 then we are sure to see success on home soil in a number of sports. Along with hosting the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Gleneagles will welcome some of the best golfers on the planet for the Ryder Cup. The Dormy Clubhouse is already stocking memorabilia and Rafferty is filled with enthusiasm about the event.

“2014 will be a massive year for the nation. I think it’s a great honour for Scotland to host the Ryder Cup. This is a nation of knowledgeable golfers, and there are a great number of Scottish golfers who have played in the Ryder Cup in the past.”

The fact that the Ryder Cup is to be held in Scotland should act as a benchmark for our young golfers to strive towards. The youngsters of today are potential contenders to be battling it out against the best golfers from the USA up the final stretch at Gleneagles. We have an abundance of Scottish talent coming to the fore, but are they going to just perpetually simmer, or reach their boiling point?

“Scotland has a whole load of young golfing talent. Yes, they are all possible champions of the future, but they need to have the desire to go forward and the drive to improve and come back stronger after any setbacks. Sometimes if you have enough determination you will come back so much stronger – mentally and physically. To me, there are two options – you either let it get to you and go off into the wilderness, or you knuckle down and work harder.”

Rafferty, who reached the top of his game very early in his career, knows the winning feeling all to well. After gaining professional status at 17 years of age, his career grew at a steady pace. 

His most memorable year on the golf course so far came in 1989. As much as coaching is a guidance of what to do on the course, Rafferty believes his best coaching session was more about boosting confidence, as his coach helped him discover a winning mentality. It was the turning point in his career.

“I was playing badly at the start of ’89 so I decided to call up my old coach who I hadn’t seen for 7 years. We spent an afternoon on the practice ground, he clipped me round the ear like he used to when I was twelve years old and told me to get on with it. The next week I flew out to Italy and won my first European Tour event.”

This success only increased his hunger for more. Victory in Italy was the start of a run which saw him battling for silverware in a number of events on the European Tour, topping the European Order of Merit, and participating in the Ryder Cup – but what was the pinnacle?

“I don’t think it’s necessarily one pinnacle in your career,” says Rafferty. “It is a lot of little build ups and achievements towards what people assume to be your pinnacle”

“Was it winning my first European Tour event because I overcame the winning barrier? Was it battling, neck on neck with Jose Maria Olazabal to win the Volvo Master’s in Valderrama in 1989? We both played like hackers on the first 9 then I shot 32 on the back 9 to win the Order of Merit. Was it participating in the Ryder Cup? It is a mix of all of these achievements.”

However, his career journey plummeted back to Earth when he picked up a sobering injury on his thumb, which meant that he was unable to hold a golf club never mind participate in competition. It is the downside of any athlete’s career, sometimes even more of a mental than physical strain.  Some do not return from injury, some do not reach their previous form again. However, from personal experience, Rafferty believes that if the work is done, the rewards will be reaped.

“When I got injured at the end of 1997, I didn’t know what was happening and it took ages to get a decent diagnosis. You do go through the periods of the lows, you sit thinking ‘I could be out practicing but I can’t because I can’t hold a club’, worrying that I was never going to play again. In the end if you can get through your 6 weeks to 6 months of whinging and complaining that the world is against you then you’ve got to get up off your backside and go and do it. As far as I’m aware, nobody in this world owes you anything.”

It is all part of the rollercoaster ride, and Rafferty has overcome the injury to get back to the practice ground relishing the chance to compete again. He has had his highs and lows just like many other athletes. The winner is the athlete who manages hold on through the turbulence to climb to the top again.

“There is a lot of talent in this country. There are a number of young golfers who are going to get to the top but there will only be one winner. The winner is the one who does the extra hour on the practice ground, who does the extra lap in the gym, who does the extra to be better. To be a winner you have to do more than the next person.”

IC

To find out more about Scottish golfers, go to www.scottishgolfunion.org and www.slga.co.uk

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