With the
island games teeing off in just over two months, Orkney’s golfers are getting
into the swing of things as they get ready to chip in to Orkney’s 2005 medal
campaign. The county’s eight-strong squad, comprising four men and
four women, are now well into their games preparation and looking forward to gracing
Shetland’s quality courses. Orkney has been represented in the golfing
event in every games since 1991, except the 1995 Gibraltar games when golf was
excluded from the sporting card. Although Orkney has still to achieve golfing
glory at the island games, 2003’s squad performed consistently and looked
to be heading in the right direction. Admittance into the squad couldn’t
have been more challenging — each squad member was selected on their showing
throughout the whole of last season. A simple method of selection but one that
commands consistency and ability. Players have two opportunities in the
games, firstly in the individual event, and, secondly, in the competitive team
tournament. Orkney’s team will be in for a golfing treat in July when
they take to Shetland’s two Royal and Ancient recognised courses. The
Shetland Golf Club at Dale, on the outskirts of Lerwick, and the Whalsey Golf
Club, at Skaw on the isle of Whalsay, are both well-established clubs experienced
in hosting large events. Although the island games will be a step up for
the courses, they will provide a perfect setting for what promises to be a challenging
event. The Orkney team will be: Kenny Inkster, Brian Corsie, Stewart Fotherighame,
Steven Rendall, Shona Croy, Audrey Poke, Eileen Spence and Elspeth McLellan. Team
manager is John Lee and the coaches are Eric Sutherland and Lee Seator. It’s
a similar squad to that which travelled to Guernsey in 2003, with only two new
additions to the playing personnel. An intensive schedule adds extra pressure
on the golfers taking part — two practice days will be followed by four competition
days. Team coach Eric Sutherland is looking
forward to the challenges that lie ahead in Shetland, but is aware of the busy
schedule. He said: “When we get to Shetland we will have two practice
days which will be followed by four really tough competitive tournament days.
There will be a lot of travelling involved for us, so it will be a really intensive
week, but we can’t wait to get there. “The courses in Shetland
that we’ll be playing on look great, but they are really difficult. The Whalsay
course is beautiful and it will be great to play on. Of course, it all depends
on the weather as well, if it is good we will be playing in gorgeous conditions
and we will have every opportunity.” For Eric, the squad’s tough
selection process will ensure the most consistent performers will be gracing the
island games. He continued: “It was a really tough and challenging
selection process that we went through for the island games. “Throughout
the last year, we have awarded points for each of the open championships. Everyone
who has been playing in Kirkwall and Stromness has been awarded points so it has
meant that competition was open and it also means that the most consistent players
have been rewarded with an island games place. “In our first games,
everyone who wanted to go, got to do so. Competition has increased every two years
since then, so now there is a fight for places and our players all work really
hard to get in to the squad. “The golfing standard is tremendously
high at the island games, Guernsey have a player who has competed at international
level, and Jersey also have quality players. “We do have a squad going
to Shetland that can compete though. Shona Croy is familiar with the Shetland
courses, and she is one of our players that I think can do well.” A
number of islands have dominated the golf event in recent years, and Orkney will
have to do well to break the stronghold. At the last two games, Aland have
been a surprise package, doing well in both individual and team events. Island
games giants Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Wight have continued to stamp their
authority on the golfing events and Orkney will have to do a lot to overcome such
competition. At the 2003 games, Orkney finished eighth in both the men’s
and women’s team events. The most encouraging individual performance was
from Shona Croy, who finished sixth in the women’s event. Orkney’s
golfers will need to prepare extensively to compete with the standard of the top
teams, but Eric is confident that this season, they will do just that. He
said: “Our preparation will continue to increase as July comes nearer. The
golf season is just getting under way so the practice will start to come together. “Mel
Douglas, who is a professional in Inverness, is coming up to work with the youths
in Orkney. We are also getting him to do some work with the island games squad
so, hopefully, this will be beneficial for us. “Coaching is very important,
but these guys have been playing for a while now, so a lot of it is about practising.
They will continue to do this so I am hopeful that we will perform well at the
games. “It is difficult to predict what kind of success we can achieve
in Shetland, there will be competitors from areas that we don’t know, some
of the islands we do know are very good, so we are aware of how big the challenge
is going to be. “The men’s team finished eighth overall last time
so we definitely want to improve on that, which I think we can. In terms of the
individual events, it is impossible to predict what we can achieve on that front,
it is a case of waiting until we get there.” The Orkney team may be
unaware of the competition they face in Shetland, what they are sure of, however,
is that they are in for a great tournament. Eric concluded: “The games
is a great tournament and the atmosphere is excellent. We have a great competition
that has existed for a long time between Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, but the
island games is just massive. This is the competition we all want to be part of
and we hope that it goes as well as it can this year.” | 
