The Hills come come alive as Whitehead turn on the power

Whitehead's Thomas and David Hill with the Carson Cup

Daily Mail
03 May 2009

FATHER and son team Thomas and David Hill turned the throttle up to beat Larne’s Stephen McNeilly and Lee Mearns 2&1 and put Whitehead into the second round of the Irish Mail All-Ireland Fourball Trophy.

The victory confirmed what everyone at Whitehead knows, that the Hills are a very competitive family.

Thomas was a keen motor-cyclist as a younger man, and the family’s love of competitive sport meant that his son David, now 34, quickly developed an interest and took to a moto-cross bike at the age of just seven.

‘With my mum Agnes and dad being sponsors, mechanic, transportation and motivational gurus, I raced until I was 17, then started back again at 27 and finished at Grade B standard in 2004 at the age of 30,’ said David.

The Hills joined County Antrim club Whitehead in 2005 and now golf has given them an outlet for their competitive juices.

'We qualified to play in the Irish Mail Trophy after winning the Carson Cup, a foursomes competition played in a matchplay/knockout format over the season. This was a first win at the club for both my dad and myself and in doing it I achieved a personal goal set when I joined the club to get my name on a trophy. It was made even better by having done so with my dad.’

In another family pairing, father and son Gerard and Evan Talty came together for an exciting 19th hole sudden death victory for Co Clare club Spanish Point over Kilkee. Evan said: ‘It’s a real family affair as my mother has been the caddie throughout the last few years. My father and I have been playing together for quite some time. In 2007 along with five other pairings competing for Ibrickane Golf Society we won the All-Ireland Societies Tournament.’