“We told her to look that up,” ad-
vised Lewis, “but apparently she didn’t.”
“I went to bed,” explained O’Toole.
English Match Play. She was a full
England international at the age of 14.
Not everyone approves of a child
being home-schooled for the sake of his
or her golf. David Hull, however, had no
doubts that he was doing the right thing
with his 16-year-old daughter Charley,
even before the home-schooled Alexis
Thompson became the youngest winner
on the LPGA Tour.
David, whose Charley was playing
for Europe in the Junior Solheim Cup,
maintains that taking his daughter out
of school was “the best thing I have ever
done regardless of the golf.”
He pointed to how, at £900, the
annual cost of the Oxfordshire Home
final of the
There were mixed views on how
much it mattered that Europe, who
went into this year’s match having won
only three matches out of the eight
played thus far, needed to win. Some
felt it should become a USA versus the
Rest of the World affair if Europe were
to lose again, while others felt it would
not matter a jot how things worked out.
Juli Inkster came out strongly on
the side of leaving the match as it is. “I
don’t think we need to change it at all,”
said Inkster. “I think that sometimes you
just have to stick with tradition. I don’t
think you need to tweak things all the
time. I love the tradition about this. This,
for me, is the way it needs to be played.”
Mark Collins, the course superintendent at Killeen Castle, is no stranger
to match-play golf at a high level. As a
scratchman at Sutton GC, he was a key
member of the side which captured the
Barton Shield at Shannon GC in 2004.
With his staff augmented by 32 volunteering greenkeepers, local and from
as far afield as Holland, he had reason
to be pleased with his efforts, helped
significantly by ideal golfing weather. A
feature of the course preparation was
green speeds of 11. 3 on the Stimpmeter and a diamond pattern on the
fairways, in contrast to the light and
dark mowing they employed during last
month’s Irish Ladies Open.
The inspirational figure of Jack
Nicklaus which dominates the first tee
at Killeen Castle, revived memories of
the Ryder Cup at Oak Hill in 1995 when
the great Byron Nelson was introduced
to each competing player. But there
were two crucial differences during the
Solheim Cup.
One was the fact that the Killeen
course designer was simply repre-
sented by a larger-than-life bronze
statue, albeit created by Ireland’s lead-
ing sculptor, Paul Ferriter, at a cost
of around €80,000. The other was that
it happened to be located beside the
professional tee, about 50 yards back
from the men’s medal tee, from where
Solheim competitors were hitting their
As the final installment of a five-year
deal, Killeen Castle will play host to the
Irish Ladies Open again next year. This
represents a third successive staging at
the venue where it moved from Port-
marnock Links in 2010. It also prompts
the question as to whether the event
will continue beyond that date.
There are plenty of Ryder Cup and
Solheim Cup captains who would not
dream of choosing a vice-captain who
might in any way outshine them. Not
so Alison Nicholas. It was her idea to
invite the laureled Annika Sorenstam
to serve as one of her assistants. She
rang the Swede, who hesitated for only
a matter of minutes before returning
the call and accepting the invitation.
“Annika’s one of the best players
there’s ever been,” said Nicholas.
“I’m not bothered about being big
news myself. I’m only interested in
what’s best for the team. Annika
brings so much to the party.”
One question to exercise minds on
the eve of the championship con-
cerned the Nicholas-Davies situa-
tion. Two years ago, these old friends
fell out when Nicholas failed to keep
Davies updated as she left the player
out of each of the three middle ses-
sions. Davies made no secret of the
fact that the situation left her “angry
and disappointed.”
That the pair got back on speaking
terms earlier this year was vital for
team harmony. But did it mean that
Nicholas was going to find it difficult to
leave this larger-than-life character on
the sidelines this time around?
L.M.
Two senior citizens from Arizona
relished the Solheim Cup in a rather
special way. And they could claim the A
