2006 Event Proves to be a Special One

View All Entries | Date Posted: Jul 9, 2007 | Time Posted: 13:27

'The Darren Clarke Foundation Champions Weekend 2006 was particularly special for me for a number of reasons. Firstly, because of the illness of my late wife Heather throughout 2005, I reluctantly had to cancel the 2005 Champions Weekend although I’m glad to say that all those who qualified for the 2005 Champions Weekend were invited in 2006.

Secondly the host venue was Moyvalley Golf Club, a course which I designed in conjunction with European Golf Design Services Ltd. To make the event a little more special, the course had not officially opened and the first golfers to play on the course were the participants of the 2005/2006 Champions Weekend.

Once we amalgamated the 2005 qualifiers with the 2006 qualifiers we had a big group. In total we had 24 golfers; 7 girls and 17 boys. In previous years we’ve had 15/16 participants and while smaller numbers are easier to manage I do hope that all of the 24 participants in this year’s Champions Weekend enjoyed the experience.

Saturday 21st October, 2006
When I arrived at Moyvalley at about 11.00 on Saturday, 21 st October, I sensed a great feeling of excitement amongst the 24 participants. I don’t think they knew quite what to expect but when advised that they were going to be the first ever golfers to play the golf course I think it came as a bit of a surprise to them. Over all the years that I’ve been playing golf I can’t remember ever being the first player on a golf course, one that I didn’t design in any event, and I definitely did notice a little bit of excitement and perhaps trepidation among the participants.

We got the 24 golfers out on the course. It was a lovely late autumn day, clear and bright and I decided to tour the course in a buggy. I brought my golf clubs with me and spent quite a bit of time meeting each of the groups, watching them play particular holes and particular shots and having a chat with them as to how they might approach a particular chip or putt. As always during the Saturday of the Champions Weekend I concentrated on the short game and I hit a good number of chips and putts with the players.

This also gave me an opportunity to talk to the players about the golf course and look at it myself from a different perspective. While design work can be fun and it can be interesting, it is something that is constantly evolving. You can look at a golf hole that you’ve designed and even after it’s built you might see that a different shaping, some new moundings or an additional bunker might add greatly to the design and playability of the hole. Thus I had my notebook with me as I toured the course on my buggy and I made some interesting notes which I planned to go over with my design team over the coming weeks.

Moyvalley is a very interesting development. Firstly I think it’s a lovely golf course and the developer Alastair Jackson is an extremely forward thinking and ambitious developer. Even though the golf course is fully completed and if I may so the greens are superb, the course will not officially open until April 2007. This will give the course the entire winter to settle down. In the meantime it will be maintained fully by Niall Richardson and the rest of the green-keeping staff at Moyvalley. I believe that this 6/8 month period of rest after completion of the golf course will have huge long-term benefits. I believe that very few developers would have the foresight of Alastair Jackson to completely close the course for the winter months but I think it will have significant long-term benefits.

As everyone finished playing we went straight to the chipping green where I did a one-on-one tuition session with each of the 24 participants. As you can imagine this took quite a while and it was almost dark before we finished up and went into the clubhouse. I always try to arrange a few golf balls and bits of equipment for the participants and when we went back into the Clubhouse all of this stuff had arrived and I handed it out to all the smiling faces.

Transportation was on hand to take all of the participants back to their hotels and we reconvened for drinks and dinner at 7.30 in Ballyna House which is the original residential house at Moyvalley. It is a magnificent old house which has been carefully restored by Alastair and his team and it provided a perfect setting for the dinner. I was delighted that we had a number of VIP guests. We had representatives from the Golfing Union of Ireland and the Irish Ladies’ Golf Union. I have to say that the support that the GUI and the ILGU have given to the Darren Clarke Foundation is phenomenal and I believe that their combined attitudes in relation to junior golf and the promotion of junior golf in Ireland will continue to yield huge benefits and hopefully we will continue to produce world-class players capable of performing at the very highest levels. I had a very good chat with Albert Lee, former President of the Golfing Union of Ireland about increasing the level of participation and co-operation between the Foundation and the GUI and the ILGU.

We had an excellent dinner. We split the participants into three tables of eight and I joined each of them for forty-five minutes or so. I’m constantly amazed at the maturity of some of our participants. Even though they are all under 18 many of them are playing and competing successfully in senior championships in Ireland, the UK and further afield. I always encourage the participants to ask me whatever questions they want about the Tour, being a professional golfer and about some of the top ranked golfers whom I play with regularly. We also had good conversations about fitness, diet, psychology, preparation and the importance of practice, in particular short game practice.

I think that everyone enjoyed the evening. I certainly did and we packed off all of the participants at about 11.30pm.

Sunday 22nd October, 2006
Sunday morning was again a nice, crisp, bright day and after all of the participants had breakfast in their hotel; we reassembled at Moyvalley at about 10.30am. I conducted a clinic for about 45 minutes on the range and watched the participants warm up. I always enjoy doing a clinic particularly with such talented golfers.

Eyeing Up A Fairway Drive

The first group teed off at 11.30 and I played two holes with each of the eight groups. I was extremely impressed with the abilities of all of the participants and while it is perhaps somewhat unfair to single out any one or two of the participants, I think that Lisa and Leona Maguire, the 11 year old twins deserve special mention. I was incredibly impressed with their huge talent. Their fundamentals are very sound. Their grip, set-up and swing are a testament to their coach and they have a wonderful short game. I, like many others, predict great things for these two young girls. I only wish I could tell them apart. They both dress identically, they swing pretty much identically and they are of course identical. Next year I’ll have to think about getting them name tags.

Some of the other golfers were very impressive in particular Shane Lowry, Niall Kearney, Iarlaith Keane and Chris Drumm. I see all of these and in fact all of the Champions Weekend participants winning tournaments in 2007 and again in subsequent years.

We wrapped up with lunch in the Clubhouse and a prize giving and photo session. On behalf of myself and all of the participants I would like to pass on special thanks to all at Moyvalley for looking after us so well during the entire weekend. The quality of service and food was superb and I think that the 24 hungry mouths were kept sated and satisfied.

Thanks also to the parents who came along to support their offspring. It’s nice to see so many of them come along.

I really enjoyed the 2006 Champions Weekend and I’m looking forward to 2007 already'.