Former Gators golfer and current PGA Tour player Brian Gay, right, and his wife, Kimberly, at a Gators football game. (Photo: Courtesy of Gay family)
New Booster Brian Gay and family have much to cheer about
Wednesday, September 19, 2018 | Men's Golf, Chris Harry, Cheerleaders
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Veteran PGA Tour pro Brian Gay was in the suburbs of Philadelphia two weekends ago, relaxing between rounds of the BMW Championship at Aronimink Golf Club. The former UF All-American, four-time Southeastern Conference individual medalist and standout member of the 1993 NCAA championship team, Gay was doing what many loyal Gators do on Saturday nights in September. Makinley Gay
Watching football, of course.
It was the Kentucky game, so the scoreboard didn't make for the best of nights, but when a certain image flashed on the screen during one point in the game, Gay's mood quickly turned for the better — and it had nothing to do with anything that happened on the field.
Gay instantly texted his wife.
I just saw Makinley.
Gay's oldest daughter wasn't in the stands, but on the sidelines. Freshman Makinley Gay is a cheerleader on the UF junior varsity squad (the "Orange Team," it's called) and seeing her made for a proud-papa moment when the newest Gator in the family got some SEC Network airtime.
In a way, it was a bonus viewing. Despite a busy touring schedule that lasts well into the fall, Gay and wife Kimberly decided to dive back into the Florida football experience now that their kid was going to be part of the game-day pageantry.
Purchasing a townhouse in Gainesville and joining Gator Boosters wasn't enough. Before locking in their season tickets, they made a trip from their home in Orlando and asked if they could walk the Touchdown Terrace to shop for the best view possible — of the JV cheerleading squad, that is.
Can you blame them?
"I think maybe we went a little overboard. It was all based on where Makinley was going to be, not on how well we could see the game," Kimberly said. "Where we are now, she can see us, wave to us, and we can watch her the whole game."
That's what happened Saturday, when the Gators beat Colorado State 48-10. Brian had the weekend off and joined his wife in Section 221 and got to see Makinley and her colleagues do their thing live.
Top: Young Makinley with the original "Mr. Two Bits," George Edmondson, at a UF game. Bottom left: Baby Makinley, in Gator gear, cuddling with her father;. Bottom right: The Gays at a UF home game several years ago.
It's always great when athletic icons come back and support the program.
"Gator Boosters are the lifeblood of this program," said Phil Pharr, executive director of Gator Boosters. "Any time one of our former letter winners is able to come back and join our membership is very exciting for us."
Especially when that former letter winner is also a UF Athletic Hall of Famer (Class of 2010).
Brian Gay turned pro in 1994 , has four career victories and has banked more than $21 million in earnings.
Gay's wife went to Florida State, but her family bleeds generations of orange and blue blood, most notably brother Michael Gilmore, who was a starting safety for two SEC championship teams in the 1990s and went on to graduate from UF medical school. When she met her future husband, Kimberly Gilmore knew next to nothing about golf, but was well-versed in football.
Over the years, Makinley was raised as a Gator, and when she was chosen in the spring of her senior year at Dr. Phillips for the UF cheer squad she learned her coordinator and coach would be Courtnee Gilchrist, whose father, UF Hall-of-Famer Buddy Alexander, was Brian's collegiate coach. Talk about a Gator circle of life.
Now, she's cheering for the team she grew up with and the rest of her family is all in; with a birds-eye view of it all.
"I'll be honest, I watch her more than I do the game, but I'm going to get back to watching football," Kimberly said. "I will say, though, I have a newfound respect for how hard those cheer teams work. They put as much into it as the players."
The Gays, in turn, will put as much energy into cheering for both.
