Ryan Towler - Under 18 win at Roc 3 in a string of Spring successes

Ireland's Ryan Towler is revelling in the title of Catalan under 18 champion.  "It is a truly great feeling and to make it better, now I know that I have the ability to win competitions not only in Ireland but in other countries."

 

Ryan's Dad, Dave Towler prompted him, to travel to the Catalan open. Ryan recalls,  "It happened all of a sudden. One night my father and myself were sitting down talking about Pitch and Putt and he asked me would I like to travel to play the game. I had never thought of it before he asked me, but I quickly answered him with a big 'yes', thinking nothing about it. The next day I came home from school and my dad told me that he had booked Spain for me, my brother Glenn, my cousin Craig and himself.  Of course.I knew it would be a trip to remember."

 

It was Ryan's first international open "and hopefully it won't be my last."

 

The journey to Catalonia didn't get off to an auspicious beginning!  "The trip started off to be an absolute disaster," laughs Ryan. "Myself, my dad, Glenn and Craig got the air coach up to Dublin on Thursday morning. When the bus dropped us off outside Dublin airport we went to get our baggage and we realised that the suitcase with our golf shoes, balls and tees was missing. We rang my mam who was back in Cork to ask if the suitcase was at home. We thought we might get lucky and that the suitcase might be at the back of the bus but no, it was back at home," explains Ryan. Help was at hand. "There were 3 hours until our plane took off so we rang my cousin Stephen to see if he would bring up the suitcase and fortunately he said yes. He arrived at the airport about a half an hour before departure so we grabbed the suitcase, checked it in and quickly ran to the plane to be told that the plane couldn't take off for another hour and a half!

 

Ryan is sanguine about most aspects of the trip and developed a fresh Pitch and Putt network. "I enjoyed meeting new people such as the lads from Limerick, who stayed in the same hotel as us.  I had never talked to them before Spain and after staying with them for only four days it feels like four years. I have become a lot closer to every single one of them. I also got a lot closer to people from my own county such as John Walsh, John Cahill, Shane Murphy, Brian Murphy, Weeshie Murphy and Denis Bouge."

 

Ryan, who also excels at association football (his team Kilreen recently won their league) was very impressed with the X Catalan Open venue.  "I really enjoyed the Roc 3 course. They had a beautiful variety of pitch shots, which I think suited a lot of competitors. They also had the greens in good condition considering 150+ people walking on them each day. What I also liked about the course is that if you hit a bad pitch shot you would be punished. You would very rarely get a lucky break."

 

The networking extended to juvenile contemporaries.  "I didn't really get to  meet any of the juveniles from the other countries because most of them didn't speak English.  I just stayed with the lads from Ireland who were Conor Fahy, my brother Glenn and Jason Gibney," continues Ryan.

 

About the future for international Pitch and Putt, Ryan Towler is upbeat. "I would absolutely love to see a future for international Pitch and Putt.  Not only do you get to compete with players from all over the world but you also meet new people. But the most important thing is that you enjoy doing so." And Ryan, who has also had recent success in Irish adult ranks at the St. Stephen's and Rocklodge Scratch Cups is anxious to be a part of it. "I would hope that I could travel a lot more and play in different countries in the future."

 

A number of the Towler family play pitch and putt. "My dad Dave, my brother Glenn (recently crowned Cork Juvenile Strokeplay champion), my two cousins Craig and Stephen play in addition to myself and we are starting to get my little 5 year old brother Callum to play the game."

 

Ryan is currently Irish Juvenile Strokeplay champion as well as Munster Juvenile Strokeplay and Matchplay champion.  Understandably, he has lofty aspirations in Pitch and Putt.  "My main ambition for my future in Pitch and Putt is like any other player who plays the game. I  would like to become a senior (grade) player and compete against the best players who have ever played the game of Pitch and Putt such as Ray Murphy and John Walsh."  One suspects he'll get there soon!