Men’s Golf Report
What a time to be alive! Writing this on St Patrick’s Day, with six months of seemingly endless rain finally looking like drying up, we now have a global pandemic, with Ireland in a state of lockdown, no parades for St Patrick’s Day, schools closed, universities closed and … As you will have seen, the golf course will remain open only for social golf, with all competitions/roll-ups cancelled (including Summer Knockouts) until 1st May. All tee times must be booked via Intelligent Golf (Monday – Sunday) and players must report to the Course Marshall before play.
The Club roll-ups of 7th March were rendered non-qualifying due to the number of temporary greens that had to be in play, and I can just about remember where my trolley hook is, as I haven’t used it for so long! Mostly I’m carrying eight clubs in my bag, and only occasionally missing the others. Perhaps this speeds up pace of play, by shortening the club selection process? Still, there were nine players in the AM Roll-up, which was won by Paul Taylor on 38 points ahead of Lou Tricarico on 35 points.
And so, to Saturday 14th March, and the eagerly anticipated match between Ireland and Rest of the World. 32 players, eight greensomes matches, five of them mixed, and a golf course in fine condition despite overnight rain necessitating four temporary greens. The idea, first and foremost, was to have fun and with that in mind, Paul and I mixed up our teams with many players playing together for the first time, and it all went very well I’m pleased to say!
Thank you to everyone who participated and made it such a memorable day. I’d especially like to thank our Ladies’ Captain, Angela, who arranged for the placement of several leprechauns around the course, very thoughtful, and enjoyed by everyone!
Ireland were so busy having fun that we rather overlooked the need to win points and the Rest of the World were 5.5 to 2.5-point victors. In the Members Bar afterwards I presented Paul with the Grand Tankard, which I think he’s rebranding as the ‘Dennigan’ for future contests.
Some photos from a great day below.
With just two temporary greens in play, the AM Roll-Up on Sunday 15th March went ahead as a qualifying event with 13 players. The greens were putting even better than on Saturday and Paul Gordon-Brown enjoyed them very much on his way to shooting an excellent 43 points, just keeping ahead of Craig Wallace with his impressive 42 points. Ed Thomas took third place with a solid 38 points. Paul and Craig now find themselves playing off 13 rather than 15, and Ed has moved back to playing off 12 rather than 13. Very well played chaps!
Perhaps it was the poor weather forecasted for Sunday afternoon, but just two players came to enter the PM roll-up which was cancelled.
I hope everyone stays safe.