GCA golf classic goes down a real treat!
IF Wicklow GAA can bottle the spirit, camaraderie and energy that was evident at last Saturday’s Garden County Academy golf classic in Coollattin Golf Club then the county’s fortunes could very soon be heading in the right direction.
A total of 35 teams from all over the county headed out on to the lush and beautiful golf course with a mixed variety of ages and abilities on view.
Credit must be given to the organising committee for all their hard work and according to committee member Paddy Dalton this event is just the first of many as part of an effort to revive interest in Wicklow GAA at all levels.
“We’re absolutely delighted with the event,” said Paddy. “We’re (the committee) hoping to meet up soon and review it and thank the generous sponsors and then we’ll be moving on to the next one,” he added.
Paddy says that as well as making some money for the Garden County Academy, the event was also a superb opportunity for Wicklow players, past and present (and future) and Wicklow Gaels to gather and enjoy each other’s company, swap stories and essentially generate a seed of enthusiasm and passion that might on day grow into a formidable force out of which a new future might be created.
“Obviously the big thing for us was to make money but it was just as important for us that everyone had a good time and that they enjoyed it,” said Paddy Dalton. “There are very few occasions, aside from football or hurling matches, that former players get to meet up and have a chat. In other counties they have supporters’ clubs, like in Donegal and Dublin for example, but we don’t have anything like that and it’s a pity really.
“Like, for example, I had never met Ray Danne before other than watching him as a youngster. I hadn’t talked to Harry Murphy in a while or any of the lads I had played with so it was great to meet up and in the future we would hope to have events to honour teams from the 70s, 80s or 90s and get those crews back together. It was important for us that a lad can come and enjoy himself. We set up this group on the back of nothing being done in that regard,” he added.
The setting couldn’t have been better for the event. Last Friday in Coollattin Golf Club must have been like a slice of heaven; sun splitting the ancient trees, birds singing merrily in the muscular boughs, a gentle breeze wafting over the pristine fairways and the odd barked expletive from a frustrated golfer who found the rough here or there sailing high into the pale blue September sky.
Paddy Dalton said that the event was a massive success and that the new Wicklow senior football manager, John Evans, generously gave of his time and lifted the gathering with some fine words and also was on hand to help out with the presentations.
The monies raised from this event will go to fund the young development squads who are currently moving through the system of the Garden County Academy and who are the Senior county footballers and hurlers of the future for Wicklow.
As always there had to be a winning team and on this occasion, it was the golfing gurus from nearby Carnew who claimed the crown. The winning team consisted Padraig Doyle, Timmy Collins, Damien Osborne and Ted Kennedy.