Previous Captain’s Letters
2014
 
My Fellow Sean Chairde It gives me great pleasure to be in the position of Captain of my team for the second time in our 15 year history. The last time I was asked to be Captain it was by our great friend Hocko, I was his vice captain back in 2003 in Dundrum. In 2004 we had 12 per team and 10 of my team back in 2004 are again playing this year which really says so much about the SC and it is so sad that one of the two missing is of course Colm. It is customary for the incoming captain of last years winning team to write the invitation letter so I did not get the chance to do that in 2004 because we were beaten in the previous year by a strong team lead by Alan Vard and 9 of that team including Conor Carolan all played last year in Adare. In 2004 we had a really close contest and my opposing Captain was Gavin Brooks who brought his team home as winners. I still remember the pain of being a loosing Captain so I am now getting my chance to rectify that so Barry Orr I invite you to the challenge and I am sure we will have a brilliant battle in August. Seven months has passed since SC 2013 and what a super event it was. I was honoured to be Vice Captain to Cousin Luke and what a super victory we enjoyed and I have to say we are still enjoying it. Between 2003 and 2012 we only had one victory which was in 2008 so it makes it all the sweeter and for the likes of Luke who joined us in Bunclody 2009, Layna in Knightsbrook 2010 and Barry Maher in Mount Wolseley 2011 as they had not tasted victory at all. Even better for Richard Taylor who has played every year of the SC apart for 2008 so he did not even get the chance to enjoy the year of Captain Mick's success. In fact Richard had to wait 11 years to enjoy the feeling of winning as a team again and from speaking with him it is clear how much it meant to him. The Tears: I am wondering if the rarity of our wins gives our winning captain Luke the excuse for his girly tears (I know Des says there is no excuse for weakness, it was just pathetic) when the word had come that one of our hero's Shay was still hanging in there against Mark Scharrenberg and our other hero Mick Hurley had just holed the winning put on the 17th. What a sight that was to see a grown man walking away from the lads with tears in his eyes as he headed off to find his winners. At the same time Des and Barry Maher were playing the 15th and as they played into the green the word had come that it was a done deal, in keeping with the good nature of the SC the two lads shook hands with Shane and Conor Carolan (saving Conor from Norway) and we were all able to get the party started. We had finally won again for the first time since 2008 and to have Mick hole the winning put it was just a dream come true. Hard luck to Oscar and you really have to be applauded for all the hard work you did as Vice Captain in 2012 and then as Captain in 2013. You made it so much easier for the committee with all your input and organisational skills and it was very much appreciated. Maybe that was your downfall as you were distracted which led you onto the dreaded Norway, although luck was certainly not on your side in your Captains match, the script was written it appeared when Luke hit his second shot on 17 straight into the woods on the right only for his ball to smash off several trees and appear back on the fairway and then as they say the rest . Overall it was truly a tight battle with only one point separating the teams coming into the singles. We had been close before at this point but it has gone against us so it was a nice surprise to see it go the other way. The Captains and Vice Captain singles were two big points for us to send our boys out with confidence, there were a few warriors out watching our matches on the Saturday morning and it was rather dismal stuff but when the everyone was gone and we were left to concentrate on the job in hand we got the job done. I heard afterwards that our lads could see the scores changing on our SC App and that by Myself and Luke winning the score changed in our favour to 13-10 and that gave great confidence to others who were on the course. Well done to my Vice Captain Karl James on his MVP success and also to Johnny Mc who played great golf and brought home 4 out of 4 vital points. It was really special to be able to play the SC on such a top quality championship course. It really did tick all the boxes and I think it is the first year that myself and the other lads on the committeeI have not heard a single complaint. The change to the 4 rounds seems to have worked very well which could be to do with our ageing profile. The good news is that everything is booked again for Adare Manor and we are going to do everything the same again with the 4 rounds and the official arrival date is Thursday the 7th of August. I am sure that most of my team will check in on the Wednesday to make sure they get started with their practice so we can go out on Thursday to claim back to back victories which we have not done since 2001 and 2002. Last year we played the SC with 13 men per team which was unusual and it was due to tragic circumstances for Alan and Eddie's friend but I believe we will be back up to 14 again this year so I look forward to the contest and hearing who your 14 players actually are as I have heard there are a few changes. It was great to see Conor Carolan, Conor Crean and Mark all make such a big effort by flying home for the event but I know that is not possible every year. The first ball will be struck by one of my team for a change as we will have the honour on the tee and it will be on Thursday the 7th at 12.30pm. May I wish you all well in the build up the SC 2014 and I look forward to working with and then battling against your noble captain Barry Orr. All details of the Next event, Previous results, Photos (some great ones of 2013 as Shay was busy with the camera) etc are all on the website Kind Regards Barry Nestor
Hi Barry, Apologies for the delay in responding but every time I begin to read the below novel I succumb to a self-diagnosed bout of narcolepsy (curiously, Hussey has also been inflected when presented with this correspondence) BUT you do capture the spirit of the SC beautifully so I salute you and congratulate you on last year’s victory! Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to publically thanking Oscar Carolan for all his hard work on last year’s event (you make it easy OC!) and to praise Peter Moloney for accepting the not to inconsiderable challenge of filling my shoes as VC. Secondly, our team is confirmed (see below) and following a review of our disappointing performance in 2013, intense Spring training has begun with special focus on swing tempo, plane acceleration and course management. Confidence is rightly high so I accept with relish the challenge of playing your fine team in August. 1. Barry Orr 2. Peter Maloney 3. Karl Butler 4. Gavin Brooks 5. Conor Crean 6. Shane O’Reilly 7. William Fitzgerald 8. David Flusk 9. Barry O’Flanagan 10. Ian Stanley 11. Alan Vard 12. Paul MacManus 13. Oscar Carolan 14. Marcus Hayes I am looking forward to playing a small part in making this year’s renewal the success we have all come to appreciate and I’m thankful that you are the opposing captain – not just because you’re the only person I’ve ever beaten in singles – but because you’re a decent skin! Yours in friendship Barry Orr