Pitch and Putt Matchplay Challenge: Professional Golfer Shane Lowry vs Tracey McGrath

Kingdom

Hi,

I wish to bring to your attention a Charity event taking place next Sunday May 13th in Erry Pitch and Putt Club, Clara, Co. Offaly, which is being presented by Clara Playground Group as part of their fundraising efforts for 2012. Irish Golfer Shane Lowry takes on Irish International Pitch and Putt Captain, Tracey McGrath of Erry Pitch and Putt Club in a 36 hole Matchplay Challenge.

I have attached a poster of the event which has been circulated locally, and which we wish to publicise to as great an audience as possible. We believe that this event is not only of great sporting interest on a local, provincial and national level, considering the unique nature of the challenge, but also that it is an event that many will be sympathetic to, as it concerns a social perspective that will resonate with people across the country. The goal is to raise funds for improving social facilities for children and I believe that this may be of interest to some of you.

I am a member of the Pitch and Putt Union of Ireland (PPUI) and more specifically a member of the Tullamore Pitch and Putt Club. Anyone I've spoken to in our circle are very excited about the Challenge - Tracey is one of the real stars of Pitch and Putt, and has accomplished much in her career so far. She is the recent captain of the Irish International Pitch and Putt Team, having captained the side to victory over our fierce rivals Catalonia in Killarney in 2011.

Tracey is the holder of the Irish Ladies International Open, and she has won just about every honour available to her including the National Double in 2009, while she is going down in the record books for her performances alongside her brother Joseph in our National and Provincial Mixed Foursomes Competitions in the past few years. Tracey truly is one of the greats of Ladies Pitch and Putt.

Shane Lowry also has a Pitch and Putt background, and he will be no stranger to the venue hosting the challenge, as he was a member of the Erry club in Clara for many years as a Juvenile before his golf career really took off. We even believe he attempted to join the Juvenile ranks prematurely such was his interest! The PPUI is always proud of the achievements of our ex-members, and many of this island's golfers come from a Pitch and Putt background, but to see a well-known local figure such as Shane Lowry winning the Irish Open as an amateur was really special.

The event is great for Pitch and Putt but even more so it is great for Clara, and the enthusiasm Shane has shown for the challenge is symptomatic of a really down-to-earth local hero willing to give back to his community. He should be commended for that. We hope that the challenge will showcase all that is good about Pitch and Putt, and it is entirely appropriate that the game takes place in Erry, as they were honored at the PPUI National Convention in February as being the recipient's of the PPUI Club of the Year, for their dedication to Pitch and Putt locally, provincially and nationally as their members are wonderful servants of Pitch and Putt, and travel far and wide, not just throughout Ireland, but throughout Europe to International Opens, representing their club and their town with pride at all times.

We also wish the Clara Playground Group the very best in it's efforts to raise money for their new playground. The PPUI is no different to any sport or community, and we acknowledge the need for the best of facilities for all children in every corner of the country; children are the bedrock of our community and wish Clara Playground Group all the success in trying to reach their goals. We hope the event will be a success for them and would encourage anyone at a loose end in the area to pop in to Erry and witness this unique event, while raising some much needed euro for this very good cause.

Please feel free to forward this on to anyone you think might have an interest in it. If there are any queries, send me a pm and I can forward the details to the relevant person in the PPUI or to the Chairman of the Clara Playground Group. If anyone wants to do so, I know all donations no matter how great or small would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading,
Kingdom

searay

Kingdom, Great idea and should get lots of the local kids interested in golf. Might head across from Athlone to see it. What road is the course on? Any chance you could post a map.

Kingdom

Well, I'd be hoping they'd get an interest in Pitch and Putt but it's all good!

The course is on the road out towards Clara bog, or Rahan. Aim towards the train station, but keep going past the station and up over the bridge. I'd say the course is just shy of 1k out the road.

Here is a link to a pretty basic map

http://g.co/maps/ghdkh

FixdePitchmark

Great idea.

Would love to hear scores after. What sort of score would an international pitch and putt player have over 18 holes ?

J6P

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Great idea.

Would love to hear scores after. What sort of score would an international pitch and putt player have over 18 holes ?

10 under would be classed as very good for the gents senior players, lower than that is not unheard of either. Not too sure what the top lady players get around in.

FixdePitchmark

J6P wrote: »

10 under would be classed as very good for the gents senior players, lower than that is not unheard of either. Not too sure what the top lady players get around in.

So 10 2s and 8 3s ? That is unreal. Should be a great match. What type of tee box will it be off, can Shane place ball on ground / good grass lie ?

Anyway, spent some time down that way, great people there.

Dr_Colossus

Great idea and should make for interesting viewing. Any chance the match is going to be filmed and either televised or put online somewhere? Would give pitch and putt some good exposure and would also be beneficial for all to see some top quality short game play.

Draupnir

At the recent 72 hole trial for the 2012 Irish National Pitch and Putt team, the leading score was -41. Next best was -33 (by a member of Boards.ie might I add) and the average was probably around -22.

This should be a fantastic match, I would expect it to be very close scoring wise.

Kingdom

The Irish ladies are the standard bearers of Pitch and Putt on the international stage. The scores for an international event would differ from our own Irish championships, particularily in Catalonia where they play on average longer holes than here. Holland play a more Irish version of Pitch and Putt.

In Irish competitions it wouldn't be unusual to see the top tier of ladies posting scores of 46/47/48 on a consistent basis, i.e. -6/-8 under par.

The gents were the main players on the International stage, but have been joined at the top by the Catalans. Home advantage has taken on a big dimension now.
In our Irish championships, the winning score of the Senior Strokeplay (for 54 holes) would rarely be lower than 25 under par. In 2008 I was runner-up with 28 under par for 54 holes.
There is a novelty perception about pitch and putt, justified in some cases, but on PPUI championship courses, both the standard of course, and of the competitors are anything but novelty.

As Draupnir alluded there with the Irish team trial scoring, at the top level of Pitch and Putt, there's no messing around, it's a big deal for all concerned.

With regards to getting the event televised, it's something that I'm working on, but it could be a little too close to make something happen.

Kingdom

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

So 10 2s and 8 3s ? That is unreal. Should be a great match. What type of tee box will it be off, can Shane place ball on ground / good grass lie ?

Anyway, spent some time down that way, great people there.

The teeing areas are the standard Pitch and Putt ones, raised areas with a rubber mat. Shane would be used to this. I am unsure if he is allowed to tee from grass, if they are using standard PPUI rules, he would not be allowed!

Keano

Kingdom wrote: »

The Irish ladies are the standard bearers of Pitch and Putt on the international stage. The scores for an international event would differ from our own Irish championships, particularily in Catalonia where they play on average longer holes than here. Holland play a more Irish version of Pitch and Putt.

In Irish competitions it wouldn't be unusual to see the top tier of ladies posting scores of 46/47/48 on a consistent basis, i.e. -6/-8 under par.

The gents were the main players on the International stage, but have been joined at the top by the Catalans. Home advantage has taken on a big dimension now.
In our Irish championships, the winning score of the Senior Strokeplay (for 54 holes) would rarely be lower than 25 under par. In 2008 I was runner-up with 28 under par for 54 holes.
There is a novelty perception about pitch and putt, justified in some cases, but on PPUI championship courses, both the standard of course, and of the competitors are anything but novelty.

As Draupnir alluded there with the Irish team trial scoring, at the top level of Pitch and Putt, there's no messing around, it's a big deal for all concerned.

With regards to getting the event televised, it's something that I'm working on, but it could be a little too close to make something happen.

I would have thought this but now as I play lot's of golf I realise how important the pitching and putting element is to the game and how hard it is. Any person scoring 25 under that is serious shooting.

Good luck with the event.

Kingdom

Without trying to troll the golf forum....

A final update from myself before Sunday. We've really pushed hard this week to try and get as people aware of this event as possible.
We have got good exposure from Today FM, Midlands 103 and I believe a big Dublin station is coming on board tomorrow.
We've made contact with just about every paper in the area.

There is a real buzz about the locality. There will be a couple of reporters covering it locally, as well as a few provincial journo's, a couple of online guys will be in attendence, and it looks like there will be three camera's rolling, with a live hope on tv coverage.

There is a big crowd expected, and if it's half of what is anticipated, it will probably be the biggest crowd on a PPUI course in my time.

All are welcome!

mr.jingle

Was just popping in to mention this but of course i should have known Kingdom had it already sorted!

Should be a fantastic event and great for the local's to see a now settled and near seasoned professional golfer take on one of the best ladies pitch and putt players of all time and in fact still captain of the Irish pitch and putt team.

Wish everyone involved in this the best of luck and it's going to be a win/win situation for all with Pitch and Putt getting some much needed exposure outside it's own fraternity and also for the charity it is being played for. Well done to all involved

I'll go for Tracey to win on the 18th!
Was Lowry a former member of Tullamore/Erry?

charlieIRL

he's still a member of Esker Hills as far as i know

stabo

Any reports on how this went?

mr.jingle

stabo wrote: »

Any reports on how this went?

I believe Tracey won 4&3, other than that didn't hear much else i'll let Mr.Kingdom who i believe was at it do a little write up on it.

searay

mr.jingle wrote: »

stabo wrote: »

Any reports on how this went?

I believe Tracey won 4&3, other than that didn't hear much else i'll let Mr.Kingdom who i believe was at it do a little write up on it.

Very enjoyable day. Brought the kids along and they enjoyed it. Difficult playing conditions with a strong wind. Haven't seen a pitch and putt match before but Tracey is a really skillful player with a super touch.

Shane was very relaxed and great with the kids. His golf style of play with lots of spin didn't suit the game but Was great to see close up.

Well done to the organizers and the players. Hope you're happy with the outcome and that you can repeat it again.