Boards Golf Society 2023 (Round 8 /Final) Killarney Mahony's point (2nd Sept @12:30pm)

A Lake Reflection.

As the near full moon lit the putting green at 2 am – a putting contest ended a spectacular year and amazing Captains Weekend.

The captains’ day is the highlight of the boards golf society year, but as the society has grown in strength and maturity – this is now almost a weekend and festival of golf – everything going on for a good 60 hours, all about golf, 2 rounds, challenges, golf  chats , putting mats, chipping , range – general odd and out there humor of golf and boards. What a weekend. As Benny always says – “I love the internet golf weirdos”.

 I had the privilege of picking Roadrunner to be captain for 2023 – I wanted a captain , we could trust and one who loves golf. The interesting thing about this was when he was picked , I knew it would be different – I knew he would put his own spin on things. And from the off, with the “4 club challenge” – he was able to surprise, shake things up , be fresh . Even the idea of a Links swing was very interesting. RR has a very different approach to most things – and that is what, I have grown to love about BGS – you can learn something , disagree on things , but still share a golfing journey together.

The one thing RR said to me when he took up the job was,  he is not good at public speaking – but that is not what the job is about – you should beware of loudmouths out front😐️. The job is about setting a theme and goal for the year. It was clear that RR wanted the year to be fun, informal , full of laughter and talking, great courses and enjoyable golf.

The weekend started on Friday – and it is a great testament to the society, that we got 16 golfers on a Friday. The weather was very poor for about 5 holes – but again , we are hardcore here and we all stayed out. Not only stayed out – RR himself had 36 / 37 pts – that is serious golf in them conditions. His driving was unreal, and as always, his distance control was incredible.

I’ve had a few things on this year, work and life wise – so again another lost season of golf for me. But over the last 3 weeks – I tried to put a bit of work into my game and there are small signs of hope. I was thinking I will at least try get on the jug team.

When we woke up on Saturday – it was glorious. The 1 iron challenge was to be held at a range – not actually at course – this felt awkward, but, when we got there, it was a golf facility I would kill to have in Dublin – we really have had terrible facilities in ranges in Dublin for too long. Everyone there was testing all their game – the sense of occasion was epic.

As I was chipping away , striking the wedges poor enough (again)  - Seve was there winning the 1 iron challenge and holing chips – I felt the signs were there.  My calls of him as favourite were shorting by the minute.

It was great fun and laughs – and you can see how much this group love their golf – golf is not just golf, it is their life, what they work hard at. But I’m beginning to see golf can be an escape, a refuge for many – an important part of your overall health and wellbeing.

All the various characters, that such a random golf society can bring along – the loud , the harsh, the deep, the brains to burn , the quiet ones, the steely ones, the determined ones, the funny ones, the glue, the heart , the joy.

We were having so much fun at the range – time was slipping, before I knew it. I was running to the first tee with hardly a practice putt. A thing I would regret for most the day and night.

We really had a great group – I was very lucky due to the maths of GOTY to be paired with Captain RR – and Token and Tiger – Tiger is now a long time friend and at times foe for the 5er. Token a new member – what a golfer. He can do anything as far as I can see. Token could literally have ran away with it – he was always near top of live scoring – but the greens killed him for the win.

My own quality of golf was excellent – but I just couldn’t hole anything.

Some of the ball striking from RR – was truly amazing – power and speed and spin and distance control, what a player . I told him he should be on tour , maybe the Asian tour.

Tiger loves the weekend away every year – but is struggling with injury at present. Hopefully he gets back – as he is a much cherished member of the society.

Rumours were going around that SeveOB was on a storm , I knew I would not be able to get into the 40s – something I can never do. But I was very happy to be at a boards outing and actually be competitive – something I haven’t been for many years.

And then we hit 18 – what an unusual hole, something that looks more like Cyprus point or some exotic course. Not south west Ireland.

We then hit the amazing clubhouse – and a sun was setting on a perfect lake view , reflecting a perfect Boards day.

The presentation was great fun – and despite RRs prediction that he did not like or do speeches – his members and audience, have really enjoyed them , his angle and humor and performances over the year. But as I said earlier, that is all bull ****. Golfers , know when a captain has been a great captain, they know it is about the golf and the fun and comradeship . And RR has made the year amazing in that regard.

So another year done – the years are floating by after covid. People have had tough times over the last few years – there has been dark times and loss for some members.

 BGS is a place you can escape, challenge yourself to play new courses – and challenge yourself to be outside your comfort zone.

Fair play SeveOB on winning the captains prize – you’ve put the work in, so well deserved. BallyK was an extremely popular winner of GOTY – and he made a beautiful speech after – and the pints were flowing from him.

I’m off to get ready for the jug – just made it , but Token a massive loss.

I’m delighted that Alanm is the new captain – he is an absolutely class golfer , a solid honest guy , a total gent. But the most important reason is . Alanm – has done all his own work on his golf game , but I’d like to think Boards played a massive part in the golfer he became.

Hopefully see all next year – I will end on one point , please keep posting – or at the very least – keep hitting “BOMBS”.

Best of luck RR on the Asian tour and the after dinner speech circuit. 

Good morning golfers and lurkers

I'll post properly later on, but just want to say a quick thanks again to Captain Fantastic on a well organised weekend of great golf, craic and fun.

Here is something to get the nerds excited, the 1 iron challenge results

and for the uber nerds, here is a link to the full stats of your shots in excel

I can upload or pm anyone who want a video of their shot

There are certainly not many more spectacular sites for a golf course than Killarney, surrounded with lakes and the Macgillycuddy's Reeks it really shows off how stunning the Irish landscape can be.

A really apt site to finish off a great year of golf.

Had the pleasure of a chauffeur driven trip down with the Captain talking golf, friends, music, film, TV and cartoons, just to name a few of the topics. A stop off to charge in Cashel gave us a quick view of the Rock, another fantastic Irish landmark.

Arrived down to find a great crew ready to go and play the Killeen course. A warm day, sun shining, and great company.

I think I've switched into lucky charm mode since I came back from my holiday at the start of August. Have played 4 singles events times, twice at my home course where my playing partners won the comps, then played with the Friday and Saturday winners in Killarney. Think I'll be a popular partner as word gets out. Must be my fantastic company and calming influence that brings out the best in other golfers 😉

Played with RR, Alanm and Fix on the day, and the lads all played superbly, finishing as the top 3 golfers on the day.

The sun didn't last all round with some seriously torrential stuff mid round. Think we were some of the few stubborn enough to stick it out (in typical Boards fashion), but we played in in the sun and rounded out a great day with a few pints, a quiz and a putting comp in the hotel, roping in a wedding party to the comp.

A few seedy heads the next morning, but everyone was looking focussed and ready for the big day.

Started with the 1 iron challenge and unfortunately I used up all my good strikes with Bakerbhoys warm up 1-iron (I really struck it well, was actually pretty tempting)

Onto the golf and the Captains Prize, had Seve, Slave and Kiith for company. Have had the pleasure of all of their company's in the best, and all are absolute gents and have their own talents on the course.

Slaves distance control with a wedge or iron is superb. He had a big score lurking, but the usually fantastic putter just couldn't get up to speed on the day.

Kiith has prodigious length and a great attitude. Plays with a smile on his face, but his golf balls certainly don't smile with the hurt he puts on them. A few bad lines off the tee probably hurt him but a solid round of golf.

Seve looked focussed from arrival on Friday and kept that focus and determination on show throughout. Stalked the greens and putted well. When Seve drives well he usually scores well, and he drove well on the day, but also chipped and putted well with some serious up&downs for pars.

For me, I played some great golf and some terrible golf over the 2 days. Highlights being a birdie on the index 2 in Killeen on Friday from a 6i from a fairway bunker to about 18 inches, one of the best shots I've ever hit.

A glitch on the live scoring had me convinced Seves closing 2 holes had lost it for him. The par 3 18th marked as a par 9 in the system certainly skewed results 😆

A tense reading out of the results led to many worthy winners on the day (well not that many since Seve won most of the prizes)

A fantastic night out with a 2am pitch black putting contest to finish things off. What a way to sign things off.

Was delighted to hold on to a jug spot and hope to bring the trophy back home.

Thanks to Roadrunner for a great weekend and year.

Good luck to AlanM for 2024, can't wait to see how it plays out.

What a brilliant weekend that was! Congrats RoadRunner on a fantastic year.

Congratulations BallyK on the GOTY, you've had a very solid year and it was well deserved. Also congratulations Seve, a great score on what turned out to be a resonably tough course in the end - and of course congrats to all the other prize winners on the day.

The weekend started out with a good group playing the Killeen course on the Friday afternoon. Following a long drive down, I had a good hour to get ready for round 1. Of course I spent that entire time chatting and messing on the putting green so standing on the first tee with no full swing warm up I wasn't expecting too much. As it happens, it didn't hurt me much as I proceeded to play some very steady golf (my short game really rescuing a score). I really enjoyed playing with RoadRunner/Space and Fix, the standard of golf was very high even during the torrential downpour - in fact, I think I got better in the rain! As already mentioned, it is a testament to our group that not 1 person went in - although I'd say it did cross all our minds at one stage, especitally when the water started pooling on the greens! The course took it well and it wasn't too long before the worst drained off.

So round 1 done, second place prize for myself (with a nice 75/36 pts), confidence high, roll on day 2. Before that of course there were a few beers, a putting contest, a random bride and groom joining in, more beers and just a little hangover leading into day 2.

Prior to the main event, we had the 1 iron challenge - never hit one before, it was fun! Mine was over 200 yds almost dead straight, I'd nearly buy it off you Seve - it even works well for 30 yd chips (isnt' that right Fix/GG :D)

I played Mahonys point with Break80/Kev_S88 and A Post Punk, a very enjoyable round of golf, great company and some pretty decent shots hit by all of us from time to time. Unfortunately not quite enough great shots from any of us to be up there challenging for the top spot. The weather was glorious, the views spectacular and all in all a great choice of course for a captains final outing.

Following the prize giving, a quick shower and into Killarney for many beers, some quality dancing (not by me), some loud singing (again not much by me) and a lot of craic. Plenty of late night pizza followed by beers and phone lit putting. A fitting end to a quality year.

Best of luck to all who made the Jug and I look forward to seeing you all next year.

(Soon to be captain) Alan.

Here is the full results from Saturday

I was really glad when A Post Punk reached out to me a few weeks back to let me know there were some slots for Captains Day, having been a regular BGS member for a number of years followed by some years in exile and the odd round as a guest here and there it was great to get back amongst familiar faces and new faces in a stunning setting that is Killarney. (Thanks to GG and RR for facilitating my guest appearance)

It is amazing to see what the Society has blossomed into without getting too far away from it's roots - I explained this to Jimmy Bottlehead when he was getting frustrated at his game at one point during our round Saturday - BGS is always about like minded people who have a obssesive interest in the game if golf but have varying abilities - whether that's starting out or whether that's low handicappers of which there are a few in the society. I have always found the society members will always tolerate all abilities both on and off the course. AlanM detailed most of the off course abilities in his post 😉

So to the golf, having had a busy morning I just about made it in time to apply some sun protection, wash my hands and head straight to the first tee without a practice putt similar to Fixed. I wasn't feeling very confident given I struggled to get off the tee just 2 days previously and anybody who has played with me before knows that my game is in my long game - not my short game. I was thankful to meet a familiar face on the first tee in Paulos (Last time we played together was in the Ryder Jug quite a few years ago - we won of course) and a new face in Jimmy - we all got our tee shots away, Paulos and Jimmy over to the right rough a long way back and me striped down the middle 110 yds left to the pin. In true Paulos fashion he managed to put his ball on the green, and I missed the green short..... double bogey on 1 to start the day😁 This was generally how the front 9 holes went, me outdriving my playing partners, Paulos invariably getting it up around the green and getting up and down more often than not and me doing my usual wasting shots around the greens... Jimmy's game is in there, he needs to use the big frame he has and get that body turning, I have no doubt he'll start tumbling down soon if he sticks at it, some small focus on the fundamentals i.e. alignment will get that 13 points (not 10 points) up significantly.

Back 9 went a lot better for me however I wasted shots on 15,16 and 17 after 3 great drives - 15 I was between the bunker on the front left and the green with my drive, hit a terrible chip and then another chip and 2 putts for a 5 on a certain birdie hole after my drive, on 16 hit a great drive but was down the right 220 left to the pin downhill, made for my 3 hybrid and pulled it way left, was lucky to find out but after chipping out sideways from the trees I took another 4 to get it into the hole, a 7 on what should have been a guaranteed par after where I was. On 17 I hit a great drive down the left side of the fairway - 85 yards left to the flag with wind off the right, same as the first came up way short of the green, putted rather than chipped but putted through the green and then took another 3 to get down - so wasteful.... having not been able to break 90 this year, I finished with 95 and those 3 holes alone cost me it on Saturday and cost me a score close to Seve's... so all in all was very happy with how I played in that the game is there and it hasn't fully deserted me yet!

Congrats to the winner Seve on a fine score, I have played with Seve a few times and his game is a lot better than his handicap suggests, not surprising at all to see him up there. Congrats to BallyK also on GOTY and apologies to both that I wasn't able to hang around until ye were in, was trying to balance the books with the missus but also a little jealous of the motely crew that is BGS hitting the town of Killarney that evening...

Well done to RR on a successful captaincy, apologies I didn't see much of it however I am looking forward to playing some more next year with AlanM at the help - I played with AlanM in Nenagh last year I believe and think he will do a fine job as captain.

Epic Post @ballyk, really good stuff and some very kind words, thank you very much. I do love this society though, not just for the golf, but the new courses, the new faces, the trips away, the friends I have made, the craic, the high and the lows and much much more. Someone has to do the grunt work so it gives me great pleasure to help out where I can.

If I may just point out 1 anomaly in your post though 😁. The year you were captain I was not pipped to the post for the main prize. It is probably fairer to say that yes I really should have won the captains prize that day as I essentially had it in the bag after 13 holes, but I closed out the last 5 holes with a paltry 3 points to leave me well down the leader board and licking my wounds. I was however (as a result of not closing out the round that day with 4 points instead of 3) pipped at the post to the Golfer of the Year. You did remember that though in your lovely speech on Saturday evening as you rubbed salt into my wounds 😂🤣

Hearty congrats to you my friend for picking up the golfer of the year. I actually thought you had won it before so I'm delighted you got to put your name on it and add the victory to your golfing CV. As I mentioned to your good self afterwards, you are now the only person who has their name on the Captains prize trophy... who never actually won the trophy and got to bring it home for the mantle! Change that next year fella.

Busy here now, so I'll post later on about my own round and weekend.

Please no

17.

Sitting proudly on the beach waiting to be played.

What a fantastic end to the season a fitting tribute to all the hard work put in by the Captain and the committee.

Many golf clubs could learn a lot from you all on how to organise and run a club.

It has all been said already but let me reiterate how very much aporeciated all the effort is by us mere mortals.

Congratulations Captain on a brilliant year..all it needs now is the Jug back home.

Had the absolute pleasure of playing with Golfgraffix Benny and Snackbox,3 genuine golfers who always give their all and know the value of having a laugh..especially when things are going astray.

I arrived knowing every point counted as sitting in 11th place after Bunclody I needed to minimise errors and proceeded to scratch the first 2 holes.

Had to zone in and manged 15 on the next 7 holes a few 1 pointers and scratch on the last left me only able to bring in 17 on the back nine.

While the scenery and course looked great I found the greens very slow and hairy.Indeed some were cut against the grain which didnt help.I love fast greens..hopefully Headfort will be that way.

I never hook my drives but managed it 4 times on saturday which made my task harder..however an hour at the range sunday and forensically looking at the picture taken of me by spacecoyote sorted me out.Thanks Space.

Overall happy with the game..approach shots and pitching worked well,the putting I am not bothered about as managed to bring in 36 pts sunday at home with only 28 putts so happy there.

The craic as always was unreal afterwards and the suspense for all involved in either the prizes or the Jug team was palpable.

Congratulations to Seve on a fantastic win..nearly a clean sweep..and to Ballyk on GOY.

Best wishes to alanm for next year.I need to organise better and ensure i get the full weekend in next year as i was getting jealous reading all the posts and the craic that i missed.

Thanks to each and everyone of you for being a part of the best society ever and see the rest of the Jug team on the day...Win or die trying..leave nothing behind.

😂

great photo post... looks like a painting

I have visited Killarney many many times over the years and have been lucky enough to play both courses when I was a kid and again in my early 20's. But that was a long time ago and even having played Killeen in 2017 with the society I really didn't remember a lot. Its by far the superior of the 2 courses, but the biggest winner is the backdrop of Lough Leane and the McGillicuddy Reeks. As I said to @Kiith on Saturday, it's a place I would love to live for so many reasons, but a place I would probably find difficult to live in for so many other reasons!

With my family we had spent a week in a holiday home in the Castlerosse Hotel last year and I have stayed in the hotel itself a few times over the years so I knew it was a great location to stay at for the weekend and hence I cajoled the captain into choosing it. I think it worked out well as you can all tell from the stories above. Breakfast overlooking the lake and their own golf course was spectacular.

Well onto the golf. I was one of the 16 headcases who stayed out in the biblical rain on Friday last. Playing with @Jimmy Bottlehead and @Snackbox20 for the first time was a pleasure. @Break80 is a long time friend at this stage and he made up our fourball. I'm not really sure how the lads were scoring but I was doing ok till the rain hit. Well we were on the 10th and I was the last to hit just when it started to bucket and I let the club slip to put my ball well right of the green. We took a bit of shelter thinking it might pass. When it didn't we finished out the hole and then sheltered some more and allowed the group behind to go through. I have a pretty new and very expensive umbrella which decided last week that it would no longer stay up. That got to me as it was to hot to be sticking on extra clothing. Eventually when we realised that the rain wasn't stopping and we were probably half an hour into it now we teed up on the 11th. Surprisingly I got out of 10 & 11 with 2 points each to stand on the 12th tee with 22 points. But then everything started to get properly wet and clubs slipping and water everywhere got to me. 2 bogeys and a par over the last 7 holes was as good as I could do along with lots of muck, but a can of beer at the halfway house (oddly at the 14th green) was warmly welcomes as the rain had finally dissipated. So 31 points and now I see a PCC of 3 makes it look a bit better in my Golf Ireland record.

Funny story of the weekend was giving @Snackbox20 a rules lesson about casual water after observing him from a distance take his stand in the middle of the 11th fairway 2 inches deep in a puddle and doing well to slap his ball forward about 20 yards.

As @ballyk alluded to above, I had my chance to win the Captains in his year in Killarney but more so the Golfer of the year. Both which I made a mess of. Last year I also had a fantastic opportunity to pick up the Captains Prize in Mount Juliet (a place very special to me), but again I made a mess of the last 7 or 8 holes. So I was more determined than ever this year to give myself every chance. So after a Guinness fuelled August Bank Holiday weekend in Achill I made the decision to take a break from the booze and work on a bit of fitness. Not only was I working on my fitness but I also had a lesson and hit the range a few times which is not the usual for me. I'm normally terrible at practicing. It was all going well for a couple of weeks till the old man took a bad heart attack. He is on the road to recovery now thankfully but it took the wind out of my sails with lots of running around after him required and no time to keep up my keep fit routine... though it also meant that I'd no time for drinking either 😁 That beer on the 14th Friday afternoon was followed up by only a couple more Friday evening in the hotel but late to bed and not a great sleep at all was not good prep for the big day.

I do feel that I may have had an advantage with the 1 iron challenge as I'm one of very few people I know who carries a 3 iron in their bag. Indeed my last 2 sets I also had 2 irons, but I've never had a 1 iron. I was giving @RoadRunner a hand to get the challenge organised and looking to get a club for the challenge and when the old man was in hospital I had a route around his shed for his old 1 iron. I found a pretty antique one with a wooden shaft but I knew he had another Ping Eye one at one stage. So next time I was in the hospital with him I asked where it was. "In my golf bag, I use it" came the reply from the 74 year old 32 handicapper 😂 On Wednesday evening I figured I better make sure I have the R10 set up and working properly, so I threw up a net (which I had picked up for €25 on adverts months ago) for the first time in the back garden and went at it with the 3 iron. When I hit one 202 and only 4 yards left I threw a snap of it into the committee group and told them a shot like that might be enough to win on Saturday. @RoadRunner told me he fancied me for the challenge and I did also. After getting it all set up at the range, I took hold of @bakerbhoys selection of 1 & 2 irons and started whacking them to warm up, a crucial and decisive decision. Then I saw @Alanm hit three almost perfect shots. The guy is soooo good and consistent. He was a total of 7 yards off line with his 3 shots. Tour Player stuff is that. His best shot of the challenge was 201, 2 yards right. I said that's it, game over, there was nobody beating that. I was up next and my first one was not bad @ 194 12R but it was the second one I nailed @214 3L. I closed it out with 204 & 16R so 3 decent shots, but only 1 of them good enough which was thankfully all that was required.

Onto the main event and teeing it up in the penultimate group with @Kiith, @slave1 & @spacecoyote . 3 excellent golfers and good guys. I found myself lucky on the first to find my tee shot after pulling it left and secure 2 points but on the second hole I was lucky to get a point after finding the rock hard greenside bunker and making a mess of it. A really nice run of 5 pars followed, mixed with getting up and down 3 times and missing 2 great birdie chances. My putting is definitely the weakest part of my game. 37 putts on Friday was not great, but it was better than the usual for me of late. After pretty much hacking it up the 8th, I somehow managed a tap in bogey after playing my best chip of the day (which I very nearly holed for par). I again got lucky on the 9th when going at the green with the driver was probably not the clever play and I after hitting it into the trees on the right I walk up to find it had got through enough to give me a full swing with only 80 yards to the pin. Walking off with a regulation 2 putt par and another great up and down on the 10th for yet another par had me cruising. A respectable 5 on the index 1 11th after being green side in 2 was followed by a solid long range 2 putt par on the par 3 12th (even if I did get lucky after hitting a bad first putt which I got away with as I had clearly misread the break and pace). The 13th I just had an episode of brain farts after being beside par 5 green in 2 I was lucky to get a bogey. More brain farts on the 14th with a duffed chip and a pathetic 3 putt. I was starting to sink. I needed to cop on and although I pulled my tee shot on the short 15th, there was enough room there to leave me with a free shot at a tricky pin. Another solid 2 putt for par and I then played the 16th hole perfect with a drive, 4 iron and wedge into about 12 foot and another 2 putt par.

So I stand on the short enough 17th tee with 39 points on the card and a decision to make. Hit the driver which I have been reasonably good with or maybe a 3/4 iron to leave maybe a 9 or 8 into the green. Driver it had to be. It wasn't far off line, but the only hole where you couldn't be right and I hit it right. Ironically a bit further right and there was a beach and I might have had a chance of finding it, but it was in the gorse and the only option was a reload off the tee because a drop from the point of entry was not going to do me any favours. A good drive this time if a little left, but a weak approach shot left me a looonnngggg putt from off the front of the green and a really pathetic effort meant a typical @Seve OB 3 putt and scratch. The choice on 18 was 6 or 7 iron. A 6 might be needed to get to the Pin at the back of the green but it could have me out the back door. A 7 will have me comfortably in the middle for the green. That's unless I do exactly the opposite of what my recent golf lesson was teaching me and I don't hit down on the ball. 🙄 So yea I make connection with my hands way behind the ball and finish right of the green. Unlike my solid enough chip shots earlier in the round I do make exactly the same hands behind the ball connection as I did on the tee and the 14th hold chip and I barely get the ball on the green and leave myself a long putt which I race 10 foot past. Of course I miss the one back and walk off with a 5 and only 1 point for the last 2 holes thinking I had done it again, been in the winners enclosure and fallen and choked at the last hurdle.

I'm a traditionalist and despite the move in technology and our amazing sponsorship from @Golfgraffix I'm not a fan of live scoring. I think everyone's score should be kept secret until the results are read out, especially at Captains prize. I think it just adds to the suspense and excitement of the day. But it also IMO affects the way people will play their golf. We are not the European Tour with the leaders going out last and the early tee times having no chance of winning. Everyone has a chance on the day and early pace setters are at a disadvantage if the followers can see what scores they need to shoot and can Taylor their games accordingly. If I had of known the scores of others with 2 holes to play, I would most definitely have played the last 2 holes differently. I probably would have secured 4 points instead of 1. But I didn't and I went hard hunting for pars and even birdies because I didn't know if 44 was going to be the required number like it was last year.

So it wasn’t until we walked off the 18th when the lads showed me I was in second place on the live scoring but that I was actually leading due to a technicality. I paid no heed and it wasn’t until I was gathering the cards with the Captain and doing up the final scores in the computer that I knew I had just about crawled across the finish line. It is a great honour to win a boards outing and it’s very special to win @RoadRunner captains prize. Needless to say I’m delighted to win and even more delighted that despite my best efforts, I didn’t throw it away yet again 🤣

Many thanks to the 6 lads I played with over the weekend, as usual at a boards outing it’s the craic you have with your playing partners that makes it all the more enjoyable. Well done to all the other prize winners on the day and commiserations to @token56 on coming up short which sounded like a very good game well played. A very special thanks to @RoadRunner for the fantastic prizes but most of all, the hard work he has put into the society throughout the year. I know we have a solid group backing the captain up, but they are responsible for the heavy lifting and it’s very much appreciated so thanks again.

@Alanm is a fantastic choice as captain for next year. The best golfer in the society and a good friend at this stage so good luck with your year. Big boots to fill but no problem to you.

Lastly to the Golfer of the year. Congratulations to the top 10 for securing your places in a team which is even harder to get into than the European Ryder Cup. It’s probably one of the most coveted prizes of the boards year so it’s great to see so much determination in making the team. We will give the Reps a fine battle this year and I fully expect us to take the Jug home. As I mentioned above, I’m a traditionalist and enjoy only finding out the results as they are being read out. So as I knew I was in the hunt for golfer of the year, I processed the scores of the day with captain @RoadRunner but I didn’t really pay to much heed of who finished where and how many points they got. I already knew I pretty much had to finish in the top 3 to have any kind of a chance of winning the golfer of the year but I equally knew I really had to have a real chance. It all depended on other scores though as I was after all in 6th position. So after doing the scoring for the day, I ran the golfer of the year updates without looking at it and passed my laptop over to the Captain. So when he read the top 10 out in reverse order and we got down to the last 2 names I was on tenter hooks 🙏. Then we find out that it was tied 🤯. To be honest I wasn’t even sure who the other golfer could be at that moment. I played my first boards outing in Portarlington in 2013 with @ballyk and a nicer guy you will never meet. Whilst it was gut wrenching to loose out on a tie breaker, I was equally delighted that it was himself who claimed the title of golfer of the year. Congratulations @ballyk on a great season of golf, it was well deserved.

I think we will leave it there and won’t go into the minute detail of the 10+ pints of Guinness and Jamesons and cokes that were consumed in the bustling pubs of Killarney into the wee hours. Suffice it to say that a great bit of craic was had to finish off the season in style. See you all next year (or at the jug )