Silvermere Golf Club’s PGA Professional Chris Gane’s appearance at this week’s BMW PGA Championship looks set to be an emotional experience, following the sudden death of his mother in February.
The 37-year-old left hander, who earned his place in the European Tour’s flagship event after finishing second in last season’s PGA South region Order of Merit and seventh in the PGA PlayOffs at Saunton, is planning to use his appearance at Wentworth to raise the profile of a charity that conducts research into the illness that his mother, Jenny, suffered for almost eight years, and eventually succumbed to just three months ago.
Gane said: “I took the worst phone call of my life from my father on February 24. ‘Chris, your mum has passed away in hospital. I am so sorry’. I remember it like it was yesterday. Mum was diagnosed with Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2009, after nearly two years of various tests. It’s is a condition that causes progressive scarring of the lungs and slowly reduces the efficiency of your breathing. She was very fit and active throughout her life, which made this diagnosis so hard to fathom. It is only since mum passed away that we’ve come to realise just how incredibly she dealt with illness. She remained happy, upbeat and embraced life to the full from the moment she was diagnosed to the day she died, she was adamant this disease wasn’t going to beat her – it was a truly incredible fight she put up and we’re so, so proud of her.
He added: “Mum was a keen golfer and supported me throughout my playing days. We’d talked about her being on that first tee at Wentworth when she was fighting her condition in hospital, something extra for her to work towards, so there’ll be a noticeable absentee when I tee it up for the opening round on the Thursday, but I’ll be trying my hardest to do her proud.”
Gane will be carrying a golf bag with the Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis charity logo on, and believes it will be a great opportunity to raise awareness of the disease she was suffering from at such a huge event.
“It is only after her death that I began to delve deeper into the world of IPF. I was shocked at the huge funding disparities between this disease and others, the amount of people diagnosed, and the fact that there’s no specific cause that triggers IPF. She took part in drug trials, attended support groups and many rehab sessions, in the faint hope it could help her, but knowing that it could help others. I now want to try and help raise awareness of this condition as best I can. If anyone sees the logo and asks me about it, I’ll happily tell them my mum’s story, it fills me with huge pride talking about her strength and courage in the face of such adversity.”
Gane is also looking forward to tackling the new-look West Course, which will play very differently to how it did in 2015, when he last qualified for the tournament. “The BMW PGA Championship is such a huge event and being quite local, it’s a great opportunity for my family, friends and clients to come and watch me in action, and see if I’m practicing what I preach! I’m looking forward to seeing the new layout,” he said. “I couldn’t believe how tough it was when I was there in 2015, you didn’t seem to get any respite from the moment they called your name out until your last putt dropped. Hopefully, they’ve soften some of the slopes and bring some of the tees forward. Whatever happens, I going to make sure I savour every moment.”
If you would like to make a donation to Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis, please visit www.actionpulmonaryfibrosis.org