We can really help others with just a little foresight
TEN years ago this week, 132 past inter-county players travelled to Spain for ‘The All Ireland Charity Golf Inter County Championships’.
Those four days were among the most enjoyable I care to remember.
The sheer competitiveness of each and every player fighting to the bitter end to win money for their charities of choice was a joy to behold.
It was a concept that I had toyed with for a while and what a incredible success it was.
To witness the camaraderie and to see such happiness on the faces of players who had battled hard against one another was special.
Mick Mcginley – the father of ex-ryder Cup captain Paul – played for Donegal and was a wonderful help to me in terms of kick-starting the event. One of life’s true gentlemen.
The same applies to Joe Kernan, Sean Finnegan, Michael Duignan, Kevin Mccabe and Ollie Brady, to mention but a few.
The four players on each county team represented a charity within their county, with all of them paying their own way.
Over four separate trips, they helped to raise close on a staggering €300k for charities. An amazing achievement.
That it was all so professionally run was mainly down to our voluntary tournament director, Mayo man Sean Finnegan.
Each day, all the players were dressed in their different county attire – with their county crests proudly displayed on their buggies.
A massive scoreboard overlooking the 18th green made it all the more thrilling as we could all monitor who was winning and losing.
I’ll never forget the first year of the event in La Manga. There was an incredible €50,000 first prize on offer, and €100,000 overall.
Dublin and Kildare were neck and neck playing the last hole alongside each other – and this was a type of pressure none of those great players had experienced before.
It was nail-biting stuff with big money on the line – and with us all looking on as they came down the 18th green. every one of them.
Dublin – represented by Keith Barr, John Kearns, Jack Sheedy and Tom Carr – were utterly devastated when Kildare’s team of Willie Mccreery, Pat Mccarthy, John Finn and Martin Lynch pipped them with the last putt of the tournament.
The Lilywhite boys were ecstatic to win the first prize for the Kildare branch of the Alzheimer’s Society.
It was incredible, and to see them calling home to the charity immediately with the good news was amazing.
So was that never-say-die competitive streak in them.
The GAA has been the
We raised close on €300k for charity
I felt for common denominator in cementing so many friendships over the years.
For this reason, l’m working on a few ideas and would passionately love to see a proper past players group set up to help out guys who have fallen on hard times.
Look at what we did as a group with a few golf tournaments for charity. It was fabulous, and I’m now firmly of the opinion that we need to do it for former colleagues and rivals who need our help.
As past players we can become a powerful movement and make a real difference.
So if you are genuinely interested in helping out, please contact me on: berniegflynn@gmail.com