FOLLOWING the sad loss of Martyn Freeman, Tim Thornley has recently accepted the position of Club Professional at Broadway Golf Club, writes Debbie Donoghue.
Tim’s career in the golf industry began in 1998 when he joined Evesham Golf Club to work with Charles Haynes as his assistant. Tim soon built up an excellent relationship with Charles and many of the local members.
He moved to Olton Golf Club with Charles for a short period and soon began to realise that he thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the golfing world and this was how he wanted his career to develop.
Prior to that, Tim had first joined Broadway in 1994 as a junior member, playing for a number of years to improve his golf and reduce his handicap sufficiently to achieve his ambition of becoming a Golf Professional.
He joined in with the Freeman business in 2001, a legacy which had lasted at Broadway for six decades until the sad loss of John in 2014 and then tragically Martyn in 2015.
Working alongside both John and Martyn, he was soon welcomed into the family fold and along his journey he picked up many pieces of advice and pearls of wisdom from them both.
This became the foundation of his career and Tim’s strengths as a professional were beginning to emerge.
Learning the ‘Freeman Way’, Tim was busy starting to build up his coaching base whilst also learning techniques such as club building and repairs, all standing him in good stead for what was to come.
Embarking upon his Professional Golfers’ Association degree in 2004, he then began to work extremely hard on his technical abilities, competing in all events and activities necessary for him to gain his qualification.
Towards the end of the three years, his family was stricken by the tragic loss of his dear father Geoff, sadly taken at the age of 52 with a brain haemorrhage.
Understandably, the shock of this left Tim reeling and completion of his course looked in jeopardy. However, knowing his father would have wished him to carry on, Tim was inspired to continue and he worked hard towards graduation, albeit a few months later than expected.
Geoff was also a member at Broadway and, along with Tim’s mother Sue, would have been exceptionally proud of his son’s accomplishments.
Anxious to find the correct balance between his professional career and home life, he met and married Laura in 2013 and Laura has fully supported Tim’s dream of having his own professional business and has been working hard behind the scenes, bringing up their two beautiful daughters – Evie (three) and Georgia (nine months).
Recently losing his best friend and mentor Martyn has given Tim the impetus to take the business on into the future and he has many exciting plans going forward with his new venture.
Working alongside his assistants Josh Freeman – Martyn’s son – and Kieran Sutton, he is now working hard to take Broadway’s professional services into the next six decades.
As Tim will tell you, “stepping into the shoes of Martyn or John is a tall order, but one which I am both honoured and privileged to take on”.