Five years ago, David Shacklady was finished with golf. Failure to qualify for the Staysure Seniors Tour in 2017 saw the Lancastrian put his clubs away and begin working as a delivery driver for UPS. After more than three decades as a professional golfer, the losses were clearly outweighing the gains and his life was taking him in a different direction.
It is safe to say the 55-year-old’s journey to the Legends Tour – rebranded as Europe’s over-50s circuit – has been unlike many of his fellow competitors. After turning professional in the late 1980s, Shacklady grinded and worked tirelessly as he competed in regional events but would never earn his card to play on the main tour. He did play in the Open Championship in both 1998 and 2007 as a qualifier but would fail to make the cut at either event. Golf seemed an endless struggle.
But today, Shacklady has become one of the most successful senior golfers in the UK, discovering a new lease of life among his peers and rubbing shoulders with, and regularly beating, some of the biggest names in golf like Ian Woosnam, Mark James and Michael Campbell. It is perhaps this journey – a mix of highs and lows – that ensures he will never take the opportunities the Legends Tour offers him for granted and is now the main reason why he is loving every minute of playing the game.
“Every event is never lost on me,” Shacklady says. “If anything starts going wrong on the course I always think ‘is there anywhere better?’ I am playing with legends of the game. It is just the best. The hunger is always there and I always appreciate where I am now with my golf career.”
“My path is different from so many of the other guys who have come from the regular tour, and I am different from the norm. But it is so nice to be playing here and competing. You have to dream. I am not thinking about the money; I try to just get on with the golf and try to win. The guys you see on TV, they want victories because money is not a factor. I just love winning; I feel satisfied with top 10s, but I just want to…
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