Golf etiquette: Irish Open
- Monday, 18 May 2009
- 3 Comments
Amatuer Shane Lowry celebrates winning the Irish Open in front of his home crowd
Watching this week’s Irish Open, I was reminded of one of those sporting situations that can really turn sour, where golf etiquette is brought into question. I’m referring to the cheers that followed any errant Robert Rock shot in the closing stages at County Louth Golf Club as he went down to worthy winner, amateur Shane Lowry.
Golf is a sport that prides itself on good manners yet apparently its spectators - a large proportion of who must be accustomed to golf’s reputation as the standard bearer of sporting etiquette - sometimes need to be reminded of this.
Was cheering Rock’s ball as it scuttled into the bunker on the 18th hole acceptable? What about when the Englishman missed his nine-footer for the title? It reminded me a little of the days when ‘Henmania’ compelled tennis fans to shout for joy when Tim’s rival double-faulted or slapped one into the net on Centre Court.
On this occasion, let’s just hope the fans were suffering from a temporary condition, ‘Shanemania’ perhaps. Local favourite and mere amateur or not, cheering a fellow competitor’s misfortune is unacceptable. After all, what would have happened if Rock had given it a fist pump when Lowry missed a three-footer in regulation play?
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Reader comments
Add your commentsJune 03 12:10
Putty Man
An interesting point, however as someone lucky enough to have been there, I feel obliged to comment.
Yes there was a large, vocal, even raucious crowd watching every stroke of that final group. But to suggest that they were cheering Robert Rocks' misfortune is simply incorrect. The small cheers which were heard were most definetly of relief and anticipation of Shane's next shot. To suggest otherwise is misinfomred and borderline disrespectful to the attending galleries.
When Rock rolled in an excellent putt to birdie the 17th, everyone clapped, albeit with less fervour than for Lowry. But to expect Rock to get the same vocal suport as Lowry is obviously ridiculous.
One final point relates to the authors final comment 'what would have happened if Rock had given it a fist pump when Lowry missed a three-footer in regulation play?'. To infer that Shane was fist pumping when Robert missed a putt or similar is, again, borderline slanderous.
June 03 12:36
Michael Weston
Thanks for your comments. Doubtless some cheers were more to do with relief, but having received a host of comments from others who attended on the final day of the Irish Open, some cheers had nothing to do with relief. As for fist pumping, I'm not aware he fist pumped any missed putts made by Rock, absolutely not. My point was, players would be slammed for cheering a missed putt by a rival, rightly so, so spectators should take note of that because they have a duty to show respect too.
June 04 21:15
JOHN DAVIES
IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE PUTTY MAN THINKS THAT BECAUSE WE WERE NOT THERE WE COULD NOT HERE AND SEE THE SPECTACLE ON OUR DIGGY TV. IT WAS A TOTALLY ENTHRALING END TO THE IRISH OPEN AND CANNOT BLAME THE FANS BEING BIASED TOWARDS THE IRISHMAN. BUT THOSE WHO CHOSE TO BEHAVE IN THE WAY THEY DID COULD NOT BE CALLED A GOLFER THAT PLAYS THE GAME IN THE TRUE SPIRIT .