Dear All,
On what seemed one of the hottest days of the year so far, 60 of us descended on the Silves golf course, in various combinations of red and blue attire, to pay homage to the much enjoyed golf tournament that is the Ryder Cup. On this occasion, it was an also an opportunity for the Club to pay respects to the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II, and to toast the ascended King Charles III.
I guess to use an old cliche, this was a match of two halves. After 8 of the 15 pairings had come in, the match was evenly balanced at 16-16. Then suddenly the red pairings started coming in with a consistently larger chunk of the points available, and ultimately the USA ran away as 33.5 to 26.5 winners.
Prior to announcing the results, and the presentation of the trophy and wine to the winners, our President Peter Chapman - after a mad dash back from Spain - conducted an impeccably observed minute's silence in respect of Queen Elizabeth II. The attendant members and some guests then toasted the future health of King Charles III.
The stand-in USA captain of Mark Schmit accepted the trophy from losing European captain, Per Lars Tonstaad, but a wild victory celebration of a lap of the 18th green dressed only in a US flag - though discussed, mainly by me - never materialised.
I was going to suggest to the two teams all dressed in black and white that - if they are to hold their competition on the same weekend as us next year - they should rename their competition "Not the SDM Ryder Cup", but I couldn't identify who was in charge. Probably a good thing.
Thanks to everyone who volunteered during the week to complete fourballs, and especially to Michel who turned up un-announced and un-invited this morning to complete the field. Get well soon Tony.
Thanks to non-playing members and guests for their attendance, support, and participation.
Thanks to everyone who told me they had a good time.
Thanks to everyone who didn't have a good time for not telling me.
Thank you to all the staff at Silves GC today who, despite having rather a lot of other work on, accommodated and managed our event and special last minute requirements so well, and with good cheer.
Kind Regards,
Eddie Kassner