Friday, January 28, 2011
THE grandly-named Herbert Warren Wind touched down in Dublin for the first time in 1967.
Nine years earlier, at the Augusta National Golf Club — home of the Masters, of course — the Sports Illustrated journalist christened the second shot at the 11th, all of the 12th, and the tee shot at the 13th ‘Amen Corner’. You’ll still hear it referred to as such today.
The nickname is derived from a song that Wind had heard while a student at the prestigious Ivy League college of Yale in the 1930s — "Shoutin’ in that Amen Corner" by the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.
Years later he said that the rocky road to Dublin — or rather a turbulent flight into the Irish capital — caused him plenty of cause for shouting amens too. But he got here.
With the help of the sports editor of The Irish Times, Paul MacWeeney, he planned a golfing trip around the island in a hired car, first looping north, returning to Liffeyside for a dinner with his pal, before pointing the motor southwards towards Lahinch, Ballybunion and Killarney.
He fell in love with the Kingdom — and particularly BallyB. "Very simply, Ballybunion revealed itself to be nothing less than the finest seaside course I have ever seen. No other links, in my opinion, presents a more satisfying adventure in golf," he wrote in The New Yorker magazine.
They should put that on a poster, right? For me though, as someone whose expertise in golf extends no further than zig-zagging a bucket of balls up a driving range on the odd summer’s evening or losing money to a certain Mr P Power when the majors roll around, I get more of a kick out of Wind’s take on our own games.
"When people think of sport in Ireland, the first things that come to mind are the wonderful horses raised in the Curragh and the national exuberance of the horse racing, and after that the excellent salmon fishing in the south-west and the Irish fondness for two national games that are played practically nowhere else — Gaelic football, which is a combination of soccer and rugby, and hurling, which is a combination of field hockey and a special Celtic brand of karate."
Wow... it’s like the hackneyed plot to a Steven Seagal film; we were martial artists the whole time, and no one knew it! It explains Wexford’s lowly yellow belt, I suppose.
But field hockey? I’m afraid I really think I need that sport explained to me a little. ‘Herb’ — a friend to Ireland and its golfers — was buried in his trademark tweed five years ago. But this week one of our best hockey players attempted to explain the game to a novice. For many on this island, it is one of our games.
Emma Gray is a 23-year-old part-time pharmacist from Dublin. She gets up in the morning, goes to work, heads home for an episode of The Hills and a mug of tea.
We all have our foibles; Gray likes Michael Connelly thrillers, Thai food and says moisturising is the key to good skin (I appreciate the beauty tip but put more weight behind an aggressive exfoliation routine). Clearly, she’s a normal 23-year-old.
Where we differ is what we do between episodes of Jersey Shore. Gray keeps goal for our national hockey team and, after she snaps shut the Connelly mystery story, and calls it a day at night, she dreams of Olympic gold.
And sleep is not shy when you pour so much into the week, like Gray and her teammates. The 18-cap shot-stopper is part of the Orwellian-sounding Central Preparation Programme (CPP), which is designed to prepare Ireland’s senior international hockey players for the 2011 EuroHockey Nations Championship, where they will also seek qualification for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
This is the average week: "I play for my club on the Saturday, we train on the Sunday, there’s two on Mondays, Tuesday’s the gym, Wednesday is recovery, although I have specific goalkeeper training on Wednesday night. Thursday’s the gym and there’s another session. And we rest Friday."
I think I missed a few more but she rattled through it. Doesn’t leave much time for the normal things that 23-year-olds do? "It’s all about balance.
"You wouldn’t exactly be out so much but it’s important to see your friends and family and have a life. Otherwise the training would be too much."
Gray lines out in goal for Hermes in the capital. There’s little recognition from the likes of us. But she knows, should the unsung heroes book an open–ended ticket to London next summer, they’ll see their names in 60-point headlines more. "That’s the dream, that’s the destination..." she trails off. "But we’re a good bunch and we’re all friends on this programme, morale is great. So we’ll enjoy trying to get there too."
Amen.
email: adrianjrussell@gmail.com Twitter: @adrianrussell
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