Golf: And now the Irish version of the game

By BOB PEARCE

The Scots - or perhaps the Romans - invented golf. Now the Irish have come up with their variation, galfcuig.

And Aucklanders will get a taste of this invention at the Formosa course next month in a fundraiser for the Special Olympics.

Galfcuig is played by teams of five, hence the name - "galf," Irish for golf, and "cuig," Irish for five.

Two teams tee off on each hole at the sound of a cannon. Before the start, each team member is allocated one different club and the players retain that club and play all 18 holes in the same order with one ball.

That can mean a par three on one hole results in the first player on the next driving off with a sand wedge and another team member getting out of a bunker with a driver.

Only on the green is a putter made available.

There are no handicaps involved and teams can be all-men, all-women or mixed.

The contest ends with a green-tie dinner and a hooley with plenty of Guinness.

The Formosa event, on February 21, has been organised by the Ireland Fund of New Zealand, which fosters links between the two countries.

It has undertaken fundraising for the New Zealand team who will be competing at the Special Olympics in Dublin in June.

All the golfing slots have been filled for the day, but there are still places available for the dinner and hooley.

Tongue in cheek, Rodney Walshe, honorary consul-general for Ireland and a trustee of the fund, offers a brief rundown on the origins of galfcuig.

Tradition has it that it began, he says, in the tiny town of Ballymoreuseless, so small that when the front of a car was leaving, the rear end was arriving.

The town wanted a golf course and, after visits to the several pubs in the town, it was agreed there should be a one-hole course and the players should have five clubs.

Teams of five were formed and the Lord Mayor of Ballymoreuseless teed off with a loud cry of "cuig" instead of "ceathair," which is Gaelic for four (or perhaps fore).

Not only was it the first, it was also the last round of galfcuig played in Ballymoreuseless.

Next day the Government commandeered the land for a motorway extension.