Sunshine after the rain

As traffic backed up to the roundabout outside Dunshaughlin from the gates to car park two at Killeen Castle the chants of 'Europe, Europe' and 'Hey Hey USA' could be heard on what was a memorable day for Meath, Ireland and Europe. There may have been no Irish representation on the Europe team that claimed the Solheim Cup for the first time since 2003 with their stunning 15-13 victory over USA, but that didn't stop thousands of indigenous golfing fans flocking to the magnificent Meath venue to lend their vocal support to Ali Nicholas and her merry band of women. Even the thunderous downpours of rain and the threat of sporadic lightning didn't dampen spirits and as the victorious Europeans made their way up the stunning 18th fairway close to 25,000 were still in attendance to launch a massive party which continued late into the night. At a time of economic doom and gloom and when Europe is seen more as a foe than a friend because of austerity measures being imposed on this country to bring us back into a fiscal line, it was refreshing to hear the EU come together as one with a united goal of drowning out over-enthusiastic Americans. Throughout the week the USA followers made themselves heard at Killeen Castle. Europe captain Nicholas even questioned where the local support was, but when the practice was over and real action got underway on Friday morning it was clear that the European support was in full flow. On each of the three days of competition the atmosphere on the first tee was electric. The fans sat divided on the grandstand, but united in their support for their respective teams and the banter was witty and good natured throughout. In the past the American, players and supporters alike, have been accused of being over-boisterous, but on this occasion they met their match. While Friday and Saturday mornings were buzzing around the first tee at 7.40am, it was renditions at the tee box at the later time of 10.10 on Sunday morning that made the hair stand on end. The players and management of both teams got involved with the fans urging them to be louder and louder, they responded positively. "We need six points, how about you?", cheered the USA fans to their European counterparts. "Six and a half with see us through" replied the ecletic mix of mainly, English, Irish, Scottish, Swedish and Norweigians. Throughout the singles matches every player had their own little pocket of supporters, but it was Germany's Sandra Gal who attracted the most appropriately dressed supporters with over a dozen lads following her every move dressed head to toe in Bavarian Lederhosen. As the beer flowed the Bavarian boys became more boisterous, but it quickly became clear that their accents betrayed their origin. Instead of a foreign tone it was the subtleties of a Cork accent that began to ring out. It transpired that the Lederhosen clad young men were all good friends of Gal's caddy Roy Clarke who hails from Cork and they offered him and Gal their full support. The threat of rain hung heavy in the air all morning on Sunday and by the time English veteran Laura Davis had lost the first hole of her thrilling match with Juli Inkster the heavens started to weep. The rain continued to soak all and sundry for over an hour before officials eventually called a halt because of flooded bunkers and greens. After the rain took a break the excellence of the Killeen Castle drainage kicked in. Millions of euros has been invested on the course to ensure it is always playable and the outstanding greenkeepers quickly had the players on the move again. A second downpour quickly rolled in and forced a delay for almost two hours, some supporters lost patience with the weather and edged towards the car parks and exits, calling it a day long before the thrilling conclusion left them nursing immediate regrets. Another stop for safety reasons because of a threat of lightning underlined the predictable unpredictability of Irish weather and when play did resume it appeared the USA were on the rise. Effervescent Christina Kim hammered Maria Hjorth 4&2, Gal and her supporters were subdued 6&5 by Brittany Lang and Mel Reid was humbled by Vicky Hurst. All hope looked lost for Europe, but then up stepped Suzann Pettersen who stunned Michelle Wie and dramatically Caroline Hedwall rallied to force a halve with Ryann O'Toole after being two down with two to play. That outcome, coupled with Azahara Munoz's birdie at 17 which moved her 1up on Angela Stanford and therefore unbeatable moved Europe beyond the magical 14 point mark and sparked wild celebrations which capped off a wonderful week. The whole event was an enormous triumph for Killeen Castle and Irish and European golf. The future of Killeen Castle has been cast in doubt by many doom and gloom merchants who begrudingly always want to see ambitious projects fail. However, on the evidence of last week and the international praise lavished upon the superb venue, Killeen Castle which has been around since 1181 could well last another 830 years.