The South team in atrocious conditions
The fourth renewal of the Ryder Cup Challenge finally got underway today at Owston Hall – but in fact it was a near thing: such were the atrocious weather conditions here in South Yorkshire this morning that even after the course was declared playable by the management there were still serious discussions about Continue reading
The hotel and course at Owston Hall
The months have flown by again and the 2009 renewal of the Ryder Cup will soon be upon us. The southerners in fact held a warm-up weekend as long ago as last November, when in admittedly somewhat chilly but nonetheless playable conditions some of the core team members covered 18 holes at Thorpeness on the beautiful Suffolk coast.
This year it is the turn of the North to play host to the challenge event and, as they seek to retain the trophy Continue reading
Bell presents the Cup to captain Hooley
After the dramatic denouement of Saturday afternoon there was plenty of time for celebrations and commiserations in the bar (and indeed for a few hands of brag) before the presentation dinner got underway. The Suffolk hotel’s facilities, incidentally, had been well appreciated throughout the weekend, and excellent cuisine Continue reading
Trevor Hooley & team gather on first tee
With a solid 5-3 lead from Day One it was a confident team of Northerners who stepped up to the tee for the Saturday’s singles. The oddsmakers (that is, Mark Wallis) were offering at least 16-1 about the South gaining the 5½ points required to wrest the cup from the sweaty northern grip. However southern skipper Continue reading
The South team on first tee
North will take a significant but not necessarily decisive lead into Saturday’s singles after a good afternoon performance left them 5-3 ahead after the first day’s play. Although the captains have not been made available for comment, the feeling here is that the holders are fairly comfortable with this position – not unreasonable as they have Continue reading
Calla out!
With just a week to go before the 2007 event gets underway, today brought the shock news of the withdrawal of North’s Steve Callaghan, who has historically been not only the event’s leading point scorer but also a formidable psychological weapon in the Ryder Cup rivalry.
North captain Trevor Hooley remained stoic whilst announcing the news – and naming Ryder Cup Continue reading