Reigning Irish Strokeplay champion Mark Millar was selected to serve as co-captain of the European Pitch and Putt team to play South America in the Fenando Morgado Trophy at Puerto Velero in Chile. It turned out to be a memorable trip to South America for the Drogheda, Ireland native. Fippa.org was delighted to get Mark's reaction after his return home.
 

fippa.org. (Q.): How much of an honour was it to be invited to captain Team Europe?

 

Mark Millar (MM): It was a huge honour for me to be co-captain of the first ever European team. It’s something that I will never forget. 

 

Q. How easy was it to engender a team spirit?

 

 

Q. Winning the Chile Open must have been a huge additional bonus?

 

MM: It certainly was a bonus! From a playing perspective, the main focus was to win the Ryder Cup and once we’d accumulated almost enough points in the first singles session to do that we were focused on the individual event. To win my first International Open in South America was really special! 

 

Q. Four Matchplay wins and the Chilean Open title! You obviously played very well?

 

MM: I think I played solidly over the three days without doing anything spectacular. I was losing three of the four matches after twelve holes but thankfully the last six in Puerto Velero are similar to what we play in Ireland and I was able to pick up birdies while my playing partners struggled with the shorter holes. 

 

Q. The Puerto Velero course was tricky?

 

MM: It was by far the hardest course I’ve ever played. Officially the course measured just a metre under the maximum of 1,200 metres but most of the pins were towards the back of some very big greens so it played much longer. With the very tight pins, deep bunkers, strong winds, inconsistent greens, thick rough and intense heat every shot demanded full concentration. 

 

Q. You spoke very well at the prize presentation. Your impressions of Pitch and Putt in South America?

 

MM: Pitch and Putt is very much in its infancy in South America but they have some very ambitious and driven people that are pushing very hard to grow the sport. The Fernando Morgado Trophy was just the start of something that has the potential to be massive. It was great to see representation from Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador and hopefully they will build on the success of the week in Puerto Velero and develop the sport in those countries and beyond. 

 

Q. Reigning Irish Strokeplay champion and an international open win! To what factors do you attribute this tremendous success after your return to top level Pitch and Putt?

 

MM: My practice time has been very limited over the last few years which certainly causes me to be inconsistent but I still believe in myself when I’m in contention to win and I can still focus well under pressure. I enjoy the sport now more than ever before and that brings out the best in me. 

 

Q. Will you be at Urduna for the European Team Championships?

 

MM: It’s been 17 years since I played on the Irish team that won the European Championships in Catalonia and that remains one of my very best memories in Pitch and Putt. I would be delighted to represent Ireland again so hopefully I can make it through the qualifiers or obtain one of the wild cards to make the team. 

 

Q. What other major international events are on your 2018 schedule?

 

MM: Unfortunately, I won’t get to travel much this year. I’m hoping to play in the European Championships in June as mentioned above and I will play in the Irish Open in Seapoint. Due to other commitments I’ve never played in the Irish Open before so I’m really looking forward to playing it on my favourite course. 

 

Q. Did you see much of Chile apart from Pitch and Putt?

 

MM: We had a 10 hour wait in Santiago for a connecting flight on our first day in Chile and went for a walk into the city. We noticed people rushing around to take photos of someone so I joined in and took a selfie with this person in the background. We found out later that this man had just become the President of Chile two days before we arrived! 

We also had a bus tour through the Andes which included a winery tour and a visit to the resting place of Gabriela Mistral, a Chilean Nobel Prize winner.