Colin Sheridan: Confessions of an Irish sporting childhood

As kids, we learned there was the golf we saw on TV, and then there was real golf, played on links courses during infinite winter

The thrill of playing sport as a kid is a treasured memory for Colin Sheridan, one he has passed on to his own children. Picture: Getty Images

Just like Ted Cruz, my dad always tried to do right by his kids. We never quite made it to Cancún during an unprecedented world catastrophe, but he did bring as many of us as he could fit in the car to Rosses Point every Easter weekend to watch the West of Ireland golf championship.

Dressed like mini-Shackletons, we’d brace the Atlantic tempest and witness shotmaking that would embarrass Herbert Warren Wind.