Blacklion Community Spirit Cup 2020 - N v S

The 2020 edition of Blacklion GC’s Community Spirit Cup - North v South - was played on October 3rd.

The tension was palpable when the team draw was broadcasted live via our facebook page. Friday evening, both captains and two independent watchers gathered in a socially distant way to announce their teams and order of play for the morning fourball and foursome session.

After the ‘stare off’ and the toss which Philip Maguire, Captain of the South, won … he decided Darren Boyle could announce his first paring to which Philip Maguire could add his own pairing until we had all pairings matched.

The weather forecast for the day was promising and after a hearty breakfast bap, 10 teams on each side headed for their designated tee box for 18 holes of golf. The first 9 were played in 4 ball betterball format and the second 9 moved then into a Scotch Foursomes format. The scorecards were prepared with shots allocated and markers showing when teams had to move to the 2nd format to avoid all confusion :-)

After 18, pairings came into the clubhouse where they all announced their scores over soup and a sandwich. Scores were then added on the scoreboard for all to see.

It was the South that took the lead 11 to 9 after the morning session. During lunch, both captains presented their singles line up which was then shown live on our clubhouse TV screen and which created some animo when players realised who they would be facing. After a hearty bowl of soup, players went out onto the course under beautiful blue skies to play their single match. Nothing was decided with so few points in it.

Following the 9 holes singles, players once again returned to the clubhouse for a warm meal during which the scores were announced. Again, shown on the clubhouse TV, every match announced their score and the scoreboard got updated. As we went through the scores, the South kept their narrow advantage but the carefully crafted and well though out line up by the Northern captain with some of the leading players at the tail end of proceedings proved to be too much for the South to handle. Admittedly, he also had another ace up his sleeve when Gareth McGovern was able to add himself to the line up at the last minute. The last couple of matches turned the table with the North taking 4.5 of the last 6 points. Final score, 20.5 to the North versus 10.5 to the South. After the South took the 1st edition in 2018, all eyes are now on the 2021 edition with the score 1 all.

The second edition of the Community Spirit Cup was again a roaring success with 12 new members participating giving them a good insight in our club life and hopefully encourage them to put their name down for competitions. The event was open to both long time as new members, both men and ladies and we can look back on a great event with a bit of ‘banter’ and lots of ‘craic’.