By Martin Dempster (The Scotsman)
They fell in love through golf and now Kylie and Scott
Henry are set to earn a place in the record books in the game – as the first wife and husband to compete against each other in a professional tournament.
The historic occasion will take place later this week when the pair tee up in the ground-breaking Jordan Mixed Open as players from three separate golf circuits – the Ladies European Tour, Challenge Tour and Staysure Tour – lock horns in the same event.
“It is a new concept, so it is quite exciting to be in the first group of players to play in this event,” said Scott Henry, who competes on the Challenge Tour, the second-tier circuit in Europe.
The two Glaswegians were both amateur stars when they first met and have spurred each other on over the years, sharing highs from respective success and also lows from tough spells.
“We got to know each other through the Scottish Institute of Sport, having been involved in squads when we were teenagers,” said Mrs Henry, a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour.
“To be honest, I probably tried to hide how competitive I was at the start when we’d be out playing practice rounds at home, but I quickly discovered that, when you play with guy golfers who are good, it sparks an extra competitive edge.
“It really excites when me when I play against the guys because I feel it helps me take my game to another level. It is always good fun – and really good fun when you beat them.”
In a bid to try to create a level playing field, the 54-hole event in Jordan will see the three sets of players tackle the same course but from different tees. Mr Henry will face a test measuring 7,152 yards whereas Mrs Henry will be playing over 6,139 yards.
“You are never really going to come up with an exact formula for an event like this,” said Mr Henry, a winner on the Challenge Tour in 2012. “But the way they are doing it with different tees is about as close as you could come up with and it is going to be fun.”
A lot of the time the pair are thousands of miles apart when they are playing on their respective tours, so this event is a nice change as they play for the bragging rights in the Henry household.
“We’ve not quite settled on it yet,” said Mrs Henry, laughing of a likely side bet.
“Scott has always been so supportive of me. I feel lucky in that respect and next week is going to be enjoyable for us being at the same tournament.
“Quite a few of Scott’s friends are going to be there and quite a few of my friends, too, so it is going to be a fun week.”
While a place in the record books is nice, it would be even better, of course, if they both walked away with a healthy cheque in the £300,000 event next weekend.
“Professional sport is tough. It is stressful,” said Scott. “The travelling can be hard, especially if you are not on a good run, which I certainly haven’t been on lately. But it never puts a strain between us. We met through golf, but we are not together because of golf.”
