Last updated at 12:12, Sunday, 22 July 2012

WHILE The Open at Royal Lytham And St Annes dominates the golfing world this weekend, Furness got its own taste of the big time when Irish legend Ronan Rafferty came to town.

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The Ryder Cup winner and one-time European number one spent all day Thursday at the Walney Links, as part of the club’s 140th anniversary celebrations, holding a coaching session, playing 18 holes with some lucky members and then entertaining evening dinner guests with tales about his career on tour.

“It was a very good day, the sun was shining and everyone enjoyed it,” said Alyson Wood, the club’s first woman president, who played half a round with Rafferty, alongside local PGA professional Paul Rawlinson.

“He played nine holes with me and Paul, and then the lady captain and others played the next three holes with him and then another three played, and then another three, so he played a full round with different people, which was really good.

“I did all right. I was level par for the nine holes so it went quite well.

“He hit the ball very well, as these top pros do.

“When we were at The Open the other day (for Wednesday’s final practice) you notice how they strike the ball so solidly.”

She added: “Ronan did some coaching in the morning. He went through the grip and why you hold it the way you do, and then he explained things about the swing and went into the bunker and hit a lot of shots with one hand, just to show people the way to do it.

“He also did a bit of chipping over bunkers and explained a few things about the short game.”

Furness’s 140th celebrations were set to continue today with a competition, followed by a hog roast and an evening of entertainment with an Abba theme, as the day is being sponsored by Swedish windfarm firm Vatenfall.

First published at 16:17, Friday, 20 July 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk