A strong quartet of players, all on golfing scholarships in the United States, represents Ireland in the annual Spirit international team competition, which takes place at Whispering Pines in Texas, starting on Thursday.
Kate Dillon (Oughterard/Arizona State), Katie Poots (Knock/Indiana University), Patrick Keeling (Roganstown/University of Louisville) and Gavin O’Neill (Malahide/Grand Canyon University), under the captaincy of Gillian O’Leary, will aim to secure a first title for Ireland in the event which has been played since 2001, with Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris among past winners.
Dillon won the inaugural West of Ireland women’s championship this season, while Poots was the winner of the Irish Women’s Close. Keeling claimed the Irish Amateur Open, while O’Neill was the winner of the Dutch Junior Open.
Featuring 20 teams – Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and the United States – the 54-hole format of fourball strokeplay will result in an overall winner along with separate titles in both men’s and women’s.
READ MORE
England are the defending championships, while hosts USA include women’s world amateur number one Farah O’Keefe among a strong team.
Irish tourism business triumphs at awards
Irish-owned golf tourism business Fairways and FunDays completed a notable hat-trick when securing the World’s Best Golf Tour Operator award at the 13th World Golf Awards gala ceremony held in Cairo, Egypt, over the weekend.
It marked the third straight year that the company claimed the prestigious global award in what is a highly competitive category, winning out from 15 shortlisted nominations.
Joe O’Carroll, of Fairways and FunDays, was naturally delighted with the award. “What makes us most proud is that we’re an Irish company selling one destination, and one destination only – our beautiful island of Ireland,” he said.
“We’re competing against outstanding companies that sell golf holidays to destinations all over the world. We’ve chosen to focus entirely on Ireland because we genuinely believe there is nowhere quite like it. Of course, we have some of the finest golf courses on the planet. But what makes Ireland truly special goes far beyond the fairways. It’s our people, our welcome, our music, our culture, our scenery, our stories and that unique Irish ability to make a visitor feel like a friend.”
Another Irish company, Destination Golf, emerged as the recipients of the World’s Best Golf Travel magazine, while Mission Hills in China was awarded best golf hotel and St Andrews Old Course the best golf course.
Word of Mouth
“Golf is one of the greatest games in the world. It challenges you mentally, physically, spiritually. It challenges you in every aspect of us, right? I just go back to, you know, five-year-old Blades that was watching the TV and watching Tiger Woods and all those great players win Major championships, and to think that I’m now in a similar spot with having won a PGA Tour event is mind-blowing.” – Blades Brown, who, at 19, became the youngest winner on the PGA Tour since 1931, on claiming the World Wide Technology Championship in a playoff against Ben James.
By the Numbers: 2029
Carnoustie will play host to The Open for a ninth time, after the R&A announced the Scottish links as the venue of the 157th edition of golf’s oldest Major championship from July 15th-22nd, 2029. The venue was the scene of Pádraig Harrington’s breakthrough Major success in 2007 and also staged the event most recently in 2018 when Francesco Molinari lifted the Claret Jug.
On this day: November 10th, 1991
The Benson & Hedges Trophy was a short-lived unofficial tournament on the PGA European Tour but was very much ahead of its time, being a mixed two-player team event. And its fourth and final edition, played at Las Brisas in Spain, provided a fourth different winning team.
The pairing of Anders Forsbrand, who was the first ever Swedish winner on the men’s European Tour when he captured the Swiss Open in 1987, and Helen Alfredsson, a multiple winner on the LPGA Tour, including her only Major victory in the Nabisco Championship (now Chevron), combined for a winning total of 13-under-par 275.
[ Séamus Power looking for strong run-in to carry in to next seasonOpens in new window ]
The Forsbrand-Alfredsson pairing finished two shots clear of England’s Malcolm MacKenzie and Penny Grice Whittaker and the American duo of Bryan Norton and Pearl Sinn. The Swedes had started the final round with a one-stroke lead and closed with a 68 to increase the winning margin to two.
Staged from 1988 to 1991, that success by the Swedes proved to be last time the tournament was staged.
Social Swing
“These freaking kids are ruining the game. They should have stayed in school” – a joking Michael Kim, who finished third behind 19-year-old Blades Brown and 24-year-old Ben James in the World Wide Technology championship on the PGA Tour.
“I still believe in team golf. It may look different in the future, but I still believe it’s essential to growing the game. Arnold Palmer said no player is bigger than the game, and I want to acknowledge that, along the way, I’ve said some things that didn’t help. Whatever comes next, I’ll approach it with humility and respect for the people who carried this game long before me. In December, I’ll compete at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, Gary Player’s event, in front of fans who made my first visit to South Africa unforgettable. Beyond that, I’ll go about whatever is next the right way. My passion has been to grow this game. That’s still the goal. Thank you for sticking with me. Together we can all grow this great game we love” – Bryson DeChambeau, ready to move on after the demise of LIV, committing to play the Nedbank in Sun City next month.
In the Bag: Blades Brown (World Wide Technology Championship)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees)
3-wood: Callaway Quantum Ti (15 degrees)
5-wood: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (21 degrees)
Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4), Callaway Apex M B (5-PW)
Wedges: Callaway Opus SP (50, 54 and 58 degrees)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Double Wide
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
Know the Rules
Q: In a match, player B has completed the hole in five strokes. Player A, who has a putt for a five, asks B what their score was for the hole. B mistakenly states that they holed out in four strokes. Player A picks up their ball without marking its position. Player B then corrects their mistake. What is the ruling?
A: Player B loses the hole for telling the opponent the wrong number of strokes and not correcting it before the ball was lifted. This situation is covered by Rule 3.2d(1).
