Inside Golf - September 2010

34
September 2010

www.insidegolf.com.au PEOPLE ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Teeing off with:
Mike Sheahan

GregDowling

AFL games go up a few notches when the season reaches September.

It’s finals time. And every match is a cut-throat contest between teams eyeing off that elusive premiership.

All players from the leading clubs know how much is at stake on the field.

But outside the boundary fence there is also plenty of intensity – especially in the world of football media scrambling to cover every aspect of these do-or-die clashes.

One of the most influential people watching from the grandstand is Mike Sheahan, the chief football writer and associate sports editor for the Herald Sun.

Mike is also a panelist on the Fox Sports program “On the Couch” with ex-Brownlow medallists Gerard Healy and James Hird and is also a former media director for the VFL (now AFL).

The media centre at AFL House in Melbourne is named in Mike’s honour.

Mike Sheahan first swung a golf club in anger while still a student at Werribee High School in Melbourne’s western suburbs. His first game was at a now defunct nine-hole course with sand scrape greens that was located inside the old Werribee racecourse. This area of land is being redeveloped into a new $1.4 million International Horse Quarantine Centre ahead of the 2010 Spring Racing Carnival.

But back then, Mike’s golf initiation extended to having a hit with a set of right-hand clubs borrowed from a mate’s mother. He since found out he was much better at the game if he stood on the other side of the ball.

“I love it now,” he said.

“But that wasn’t the best start to my golf career. Once I made the switch (to a mollydooker) I found the game a lot easier.” As Mike made his way up the media ladder he juggled heavy workloads and family commitments, meaning golf was always something to look forward to yet hard to fit in.

But as the years rolled on he found a renewed enthusiasm that just keeps getting stronger and stronger.

“I got keener as I got older and now play quite regularly, especially in summer. But I also get out there during the footy season and try to have a hit at least once a month.

“One thing I do religiously is check the club
results in the papers. My aim is to see my name
in the paper for doing something rather than
writing about it.”
Mike is a member of Portsea Golf Club, a
wonderful course near the heads of the bay
on prime real estate and noted for dramatic
elevation challenges and terrific bunkering.

As a collective, Portsea and other Mornington Peninsula layouts along the Bass Strait coastline combine to create a world-class golf destination.

“Even though there are often plenty of people on the course I really like the seclusion of golf,” explained the current 17-handicapper, who would be an even handier player if he could chip.

“You’re out there with just you and your mates. And I like the combination of competitive elements, the great terrain and the exercise.

“There’s always something nice to look
forward to – the next shot, the next hole…”
At this point, it’s worthwhile pointing out
that many years ago I gave Mike several paid
golf lessons – specifically to try and improve
his short game.