Go Golfing Valentines Day Love Stories
PETER MCCARTHY
Seeing clients that have ‘found the one’ and continue to travel with us as a couple, well, that’s a beautiful thing.
When you travel with Go Golfing you travel with like-minded golfers in a similar life-position to you, the majority are ‘baby boomers’ and what I do know is that the formula we have for our events and tours, the way we welcome people, the way we look after people, the way we make people feel included and welcome from the get-go, the things we do to encourage personalities to shine, it just feels good.
Even if you book on your own, you’ll never feel on your own. Strangers soon become friends, I promise you’ll laugh more than you ever have, you’ll find best friends and yes, you’ll feel relaxed, happy and spoilt and yes, occasionally people fall in love.
It does happen, more often than you might think. In fact, I know we have a better love-matching strike rate than those silly tv shows, you know Bachelor & Bachelorette!
You can’t rule love out on our tours & tournaments!
TERRY KNEIPP & SHERRY SMITH
Terry was from Tenterfield in NSW, Sherry was from the Sunshine Coast in QLD.
Terry and Sherry on the France and Italy tour where they first met
PETER MCCARTHY
We’re celebrating 25 years in business and I believe what’s worth celebrating is beautiful people like you both who have been travelling with Go Golfing for some time and love has blossomed on tour.
TERRY KNEIPP
Yes indeed, that’s where we met on a Go Golfing tour.
PETER MCCARTHY
So tell me more about the chivalrous moves of the debonair, Terry Kneipp.
SHERRY SMITH
Oh, it wasn’t Terry. I walked up to him, threw my arms around him and said, “Hello I’ve got a big cuddle for you from somebody else!”
PETER MCCARTHY
And who was that cuddle from?
TERRY KNEIPP
That somebody else was Robert and Glenys Thatcher who said, “make sure you say g’day to Sherry Smith.”
SHERRY SMITH
So they all knew each other, but Terry and I didn’t know each other because Terry had been travelling a few years behind me on all the Go Golfing trips.
We finally did meet up on one of them.
TERRY KNEIPP
We found lots of things in common not just golf but each other.
But it wasn’t until the tour to France and Italy, led by the Falcon (Graeme Thomas) who was looking after the tour.
SHERRY SMITH
Yes, Graeme took us on that trip. He was sitting downstairs in the airport and said you better come upstairs to the lounge with me, and that’s where Terry was.
So that’s how it started and it went on from there.
PETER MCCARTHY
That’s fantastic. You’ve guys have done a number of trips, as you have mentioned, both of you just hadn’t crossed paths and France & Italy was where you guys finally met, and you have travelled extensively with Go Golfing since then.
Anyway, I will let you guys get back to holding hands and skipping stones. Thanks for sharing your story.
Merve & Lesley Tappenden
Merv was from Melbourne, and Lesley was from Mount Tamborine.
Merv and Lesley Tappenden are another Go Golfing love story
PETER MCCARTHY
How did it all come to happen that you guys met up?
MERV TAPPENDEN
We met on a Go Golfing trip to New Zealand.
PETER MCCARTHY
So love blossomed between you two in New Zealand.
Lesley, was it love at first sight?
LESLEY TAPPENDEN
No Peter definitely not!
PETER MCCARTHY
Alright, we’ve all learnt that Merv is an acquired taste. How long did it take?
LESLEY TAPPENDEN
A couple of months I suppose.
PETER MCCARTHY
How did it all unfold? Were there any sparks in New Zealand?
MERV TAPPENDEN
For me, there was!
LESLEY TAPPENDEN
Definitely for Merv, and probably one night when I had a couple of scotches too many!
PETER MCCARTHY
Well, it doesn’t matter how it all started! So you went back home, Lesley you went back to Mount Tamborine and Merv you went down to Victoria.
How was that going to work out?
MERV TAPPENDEN
A lot of phone calls, and a lot of plane trips…
PETER MCCARTHY
So, what about right now?
MERV TAPPENDEN
Well, I don’t have to make any phone calls or plane trips now!
LESLEY TAPPENDEN
It’s our 4-year wedding anniversary today, Peter!
PETER MCCARTHY
Congratulations guys! Look it’s unlikely I would rack up 4 years of anything really… no, it’s always fun catching up and thanks for having chat!
How about one last one.
KRISTIN GRIFFITHS & KEVIN MACDOUGAL
Kevin MacDougal, he was from Sydney, and Kristin Griffiths, from New Zealand.
They now live together in neither of their places. They’ve compromised and are now living on the Sunshine Coast.
PETER MCCARTHY
You guys met at the Gold Coast World Masters event and Kristin I believe you were there with your mother?
KRISTIN GRIFFITHS
Yes, yes, that year I was. I managed to come across to the tournament once by myself, and then with my mother who was a very keen golfer she came to after.
PETER MCCARTHY
And Kevin did you come up by yourself down from Sydney?
KEVIN MACDOUGAL
I actually came up with Serg Nogarato. He was coming to the event and he talked me into coming up.
That was my first event.
PETER MCCARTHY
So how did you come to meet Kristin?
KEVIN MACDOUGAL
On the 4th tee at Robina Woods. Kristin was playing with her mum, Di at the 2-ball ambrose.
Di, Serg, Kevin & Kristin at the 2-ball ambrose, Gold Coast World Masters
She said, “this is my mum, Di”, and I said “this is my dad, Serg!”
PETER MCCARTHY
So who made the first move?
KEVIN MACDOUGAL
Oh, Kristin, I think haha. No, we met up a couple of times at 19th hole and then hit it off at the closing dinner.
PETER MCCARTHY
So Kristin was in New Zealand, and Kevin you were in Sydney at the time. So how did the long-distance thing work out?
KRISTIN GRIFFITHS
Pretty good. I think the following year I moved to Brisbane and live there for a couple of years.
So we went back to the tournament again, and Kevin and Serg went again too. So we all hooked up.
Mum and I played the 2-ball ambrose with them like the previous year and from there, there was no looking back!
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