No need to put spin on this popular sport

IN FOCUS: PITCH AND PUTT:As the All-Irelands approach this weekend in Portmarnock, Philip Reid talks to two of pitch and putt's finest exponents

FOR SOME, the sport of pitch and putt – as Irish as hurling – is a stepping stone or a starting point en route to golf. Graeme McDowell, for instance, first started to play it with a cut-down seven-iron, while Shane Lowry was an exponent of pitch and putt before the call of golf stole him away and transformed his life. Others, though, have stuck to the short game with a religious fervour. It is their passion, their life.

The chances are that Chrissie Byrne or John Walsh could walk down the street, into a shop or sit down in a restaurant with barely a second glance.

Ordinary folk. Yet, they are far from ordinary; they are extraordinary pitch and putt players. Byrne is the top-ranked women’s player in Ireland, and a one-time world champion. Walsh is the top-ranked men’s player, third in this year’s European Championships. This is their game.

The origins of pitch and putt are totally Irish, first developed in Cork in the early 1940s before spreading to Leinster. Nowadays, the sport has spread its tentacles into Europe – thriving in the Netherlands and Spain – and as far afield as Australia, Argentina, Chile and China.

Here in Ireland, where there are 115 clubs affiliated to the Pitch and Putt Union of Ireland – which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year – and in excess of 10,000 members, the sport is bucking the trend in these economically tough times and is actually attracting a growth in membership.

Byrne, the current Irish strokeplay champion, was born into pitch and putt. Her father, Seán, was one of the founders of the St Bridget’s Club in Kilcullen in Co Kildare and designed the course. All of her family played the sport, and it was natural that Byrne followed.

It also happened that she was good. Very good, in fact. She is now one of the most-decorated players ever with a string of national and international titles.

“It’s our family sport. My grandfather, father, the whole family played it. I had no option but to play. I’m the youngest in the family and my brothers and sisters all played. We’ve been playing for a long time and it is second nature, the whole family had a hunger for it. It’s a part of our lives at this stage and you plan your weekends around it,” said Byrne, who plays off scratch.

And, yet, she never got the golf bug. She played golf, but it wasn’t the same. Work, time factors, etc. For her, pitch and putt is the real deal.

As she put it: “Golf is all distance, trying to hit the ball as hard and as far as you can. I find pitch and putt requires a lot more skills, where you’re trying to get it as close as possible to the hole from the tee. You could be pitching a 27-metre hole trying to get very, very close, trying to stop the ball straight away.

“I think pitch and putt players make golfers but I don’t think golfers make pitch and putt players. That’s my own personal opinion. You’re constantly looking for twos, twos, twos, the whole time.”

Proponents of pitch and putt will emphasise the aggressive play, the skill involved in going after birdies the whole time. Walsh is no exception.

The 40-year-old Corkman – currently Ireland’s number one-ranked player – took up the sport when he was in his mid-teens. He played hurling in school and, to this day, employs the hurling grip when holding a club. “I get good accuracy with the cack-handed, hurling grip. It wouldn’t be very long off the tee in golf, but it is very accurate around the green,” said Walsh, who uses a Wilson Reflex 56-degree wedge, an Odyssey putter and a Bridgestone ball in his successful pursuit of titles.

Walsh plays occasional society golf – where he plays off 10 – but his primary focus is pitch and putt, where he is a plus-two handicapper and one of the top players in Europe.

You ask him to list off his career wins. Six or seven Munster titles. Two All-Irelands. Walsh took up the sport as a 14-year-old all those years ago because it was “cheap” and he lived beside one of the country’s top courses, at Collins Barracks in Cork city.

He points out that pitch and putt is a cost effective sport with family membership for himself, his wife and two children costing about €100 for the year and remains engrossed in the sport’s challenge.

“You need a lot of concentration. You’ve got pot bunkers in front of the greens and you need to control the ball with a bit of spin, to go for the middle of the green and spin it back. It’s very, very competitive in Cork and in Ireland,” he said.

This weekend, the All-Ireland inter-counties finals – which take place at Portmarnock Pitch and Putt Club, a links course – will provide what Byrne describes as “the pinnacle” of the season.

Byrne will be part of a strong Kildare team that won four titles in a row from 2005 to 2008 and which is again ranked number one heading into the 2011 finals, while Walsh will be part of a Cork team who are chasing a ninth All-Ireland title in succession. Walsh and Ray Murphy were members of all eight-winning teams.

Pauric Buggy, who is coaching and development officer with the PPUI, has targeted two diverse groupings in developing growth markets.

One is children and teenagers, with an increase in summer camps aimed at this age bracket; the other is attracting older people who are looking for a sporting outlet as adults.

“It’s important to get kids into sport at an early age, but the other important area is adults coming out of sport, out of football or hurling or rugby or soccer. People tend to stop playing these sports and look for something else to do and we’d obviously like more to come into pitch and putt.”

In pointing out that family memberships are “very popular” in affiliated clubs, Buggy added: “Sometimes you wonder how they get away with charging so little and still manage to provide such top-class facilities . . . Volunteers make the clubs.

“They’re cutting the greens, taking in green fees, and such dedicated members make for successful clubs.”

The All-Ireland finals this weekend in Portmarnock – where once upon a time current Irish soccer international and Wolves player Stephen Ward demonstrated his pitch and putt prowess as a member – will bring together the very best players in the country.

“It’s the pinnacle of the season, where we get the creme de la creme of pitch and putt, the top players from every county.

“It should be a great competition,” said Byrne.

PITCH AND PUTT

What is pitch and putt?First played in Cork in the 1940s, pitch and putt is an amateur sport which is played on a course that generally consists of 18 par-three holes with a maximum overall length of 1,000. The longest hole is no greater than 70 metres. However, European courses tend to be slightly longer, up to 1,200 metres with a maximum on any hole of 90 metres.

How many clubs are allowed?Players may use a maximum of three clubs, one of which must be a putter.

How good are these players?Very good. When Corkman Anthony O'Loughlin won the Irish strokeplay championship earlier this season, he was 12-under-par for his final round.

Why are the All-Ireland Inter-counties titles so important?Just like their hurling and football equivalents, this is the pinnacle of the season. The women's title has been shared in recent years with Kildare dominating from 2005 to '08 before Dublin claimed the title in '09. Cork are the current champions. In the men's event, Cork are chasing a ninth successive title at Portmarnock Pitch and Putt Club this weekend (women on Saturday, men on Sunday).