Drama never far away when ‘selfish’ golfers get together
However, there are very welcome exceptions when the routine of 72-hole tournaments gives way to team competitions.
Last weekend, the Walker Cup in Aberdeen resulted in a rare but deserved victory for Britain & Ireland over the Americans while this week the All-Ireland Cups and Shields finals are set for Castlerock, Co Derry and the Vivendi Seve Trophy is hosted by St Nom-La-Breteche near Paris.
Hundreds of loyal members and fans will make their way from 17 clubs dotted all over the country to Castlerock.
It would normally be as many as 20 but Warrenpoint are involved in three of the five competitions and Athenry are doubly engaged. The finals were long associated with Bulmers who, however, have ended their sponsorship after close on two decades and have been replaced by the insurance company Chartis.
This festival of golf is the envy of the England, Scotland and Wales Unions.
Each has tried to emulate the Irish model and failed and it is a credit to the spirit prevailing throughout the 32 counties that the series has endured for so long.
Whereas the Pierce Purcell Shield, catering for those over 12 handicap, and the Jimmy Bruen, for handicappers usually in the six to 11 bracket, were initiated in the 1970s and 80s respectively, the Senior and Junior Cups date back to 1900 and were followed by the Barton Shield in 1911. With the exception of the years of the two world wars, they have been held on an annual basis since.
Earning a national title for their club will be regarded as the highlight of many careers and accordingly nerves will be very much on edge. I have seen grown men reduced to trembling wrecks when confronted by a two-foot putt that they would normally hole with their eyes closed! The senior teams should suffer less in that regard given that most of the players have operated at a high level for several years but it will be a different matter for the Junior Cup and Purcell and Bruen Shield sides.
Warrenpoint have their sights set on a Barton Shield-Senior Cup-Jimmy Bruen Shield treble and while they are accustomed to success at this level, such is far from the case for Athenry, who have qualified in such widely contrasting events as the Barton and Purcell Shields.
The Co Galway club, however, are highly ambitious and will be bidding to build on their success in the Irish Club Youths Championship in 2004. Numerous other clubs, including Enniscorthy, Ballina, Mitchelstown, Co Meath, and Corrstown, will also relish a rare week in the golfing limelight.
The tradition has been to alternate the finals between the four provinces, invariably at a top-class venue and Castlerock will be no exception. It’s a cracking links on the Causeway Coast about six miles from Coleraine, its signature hole, the par-three fourth, rather quaintly known as ‘Leg of Mutton’.
The atmosphere at St Nom-La-Breteche for the Seve Trophy will be in total contrast but it will still be a very significant event for GB & I captain Paul McGinley.
He will be anxious to build on his own performance when finishing sixth in the KLM Dutch Open over the weekend while also strengthening his claims for the captaincy of the European Ryder Cup team in 2014.
GB&I won comfortably under his leadership two years ago but Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, two invaluable points contributors then, are absentees on this occasion.
While British Open champion Darren Clarke, Irish and KLM Dutch Open champion Simon Dyson, world number two Lee Westwood and two other current Ryder Cup men Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter will be teeing it up, the Continent (skippered by Jean van de Velde), can call upon another two-times winner this year, Thomas Bjorn, along with Matteo Manassero, Francesco Molinari, Miguel-Angel Jimenez, Peter Hanson and Anders Hansen and may posses greater strength in depth.
Team golf and match play offer a huge amount where drama and entertainment are concerned with Irish fans also looking forward to the Solheim Cup between the USA and Europe at Killeen Castle, Meath on September 23-25.
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