Delight for Caldwell, despair for Kilpatrick

WHILE they celebrated at Clandeboye Golf Club last night after the inclusion of Jonathan Caldwell in the British & Irish team to play the US in the Walker Cup at Royal Co Down on September 9 and 10, there was disappointment at Banbridge when Richard Kilpatrick was omitted.

There were high hopes that a third Down man would have been included alongside Caldwell and teenager Rory McIlroy who was, of course, a certainty for selection. Like McIlroy and Caldwell, Kilpatrick was a key man in the Irish team that captured the European Championship at Western Gailes last month and prior to that he set a new 72 hole record in walking away with the East of Ireland Championship at Baltray.

Indeed, another strong candidate was Shane Lowry, the Irish Close champion from Esker Hills but not for the first time there is disappointment in Ireland at the low number of our players involved in the bi-annual classic.