THERE'S nothing like a spot of rivalry to bring out the best in a sportsman, and when that rivalry is keenly brought to focus by having your talents usurped under your own roof, it can spur you onto greater things.
Having witnessed most of the headlines in this column being written by son Jordan; Paul MacLean shot a magnificent 72 (Nett 62) to win the Jackson Medal qualifier last Saturday.
The significance of this is not so much in the winning, as the rela
tive change in bragging rights at Goathill Rd when it comes to handicaps.
As mentioned last week, the real measure a golfer uses to determine his standing is the handicap he plays off; and when two golfers of relatively similar abilities discuss their "game", the first thing they will ask is "What do you play off?"
With father Paul having relinquished the "best golfer in the house" title to young Jordan latterly, he will have been delighted to have walked into the house on Saturday evening as the lower handicap golfer.
With just 0.1 of a shot separating them both now, the battles to lower handicap further, and/or remain in the buffer-zone will be keenly fought, and every competition will see the other asking " how did he get on?".
Neither will want to increase their allowance.
Don't get me wrong; as much as it pleases Paul to see his son thrive as a senior; winning competitions and better than holding his own, he still gets satisfaction from being able to compete at the same level.
In many other sports you would never see a father able to compete to the same standard as his son.
The chances of Paul overtaking Jordan in the 100 metres butterfly are probably slim, or hanging onto his coat tails over a cross-country race, but he can still look at his card on the tee in any golf competition and realise that he still can still look him in the eye and say " Not yet son, not yet".
Maybe it's just me, and my own nature, that seem to need to keep old age at bay (if only in my mind) by being able to get one over on my own son at sports; but as he sprouts to 6 ft plus, and develops more ability than I ever possessed at several sports, the only arena in which I have any chance is on the golf course.
In order to recapture some youth, and get some value from the membership fee I pay for him annually, I took him out for a "match" last Friday night in order to (in my own words) "show him who was boss" (at golf).
He doesn't play often, so this would be easy!
It's sad, I know, and an unhealthy way to bring up your kids; using them to validate your status as "top-dog" by winning at games/sports….anything, but when a straw is offered to me, I've always been one to grab at it with both hands.
Especially when it is a carefully chosen straw.
After a fairly comprehensive 3 and 1 defeat, I am left with that awfully uneasy feeling that my "wee fellah" is now the "big fellah" in this family, but that I can still beat him at Scrabble.
Luckily vocabulary and shoe size bear no correlation.
An interesting three-ball in front of me on Saturday saw a group of vastly experienced golfer's display their combined talents to the full shooting a 63, 64 and 69, in what must surely have been the best scoring group of the day.
Well played to Roddy Martin, Murdie MacDonald and Iain MacRitchie respectively , who not only managed the conditions superbly well, but who displayed an uncanny knack of knowing how and when to take exactly the right amount of refreshment on board to sustain them over 18 blistering holes of golf.
Last Wednesday saw Norrie "Onions" Macdonald resort to a new tactic to attempt to dispel the memories and the "Ghost" of Afandou which has somewhat been haunting him since Rhodes last year.
Never quite managing to capture the form he showed prior to competing in the World Island Games last summer as our only "scratch" golfer, he had slumped (everything is relative) to a two handicap, and was looking for some answers.
Borrowing greenkeeper Al MacLeod's old irons, he nonchalantly sauntered round in a mere 66 blows (nett 64) to comfortably qualify for the Caledonian Medal Final, and followed this up with a fantastic 64 (nett 63) on Saturday, shaving 0.7 off his handicap.
Back within touching distance of that elusive magic number, he will set his sights on the up-coming club championship as a bench-mark for his season and progress.
Shooting 130 blows for two rounds is something that may well put him in contention.
Al, it is rumoured, has changed the price tag on the clubs, and withdrawn them from e-bay.
In the Ladies section, Mary Joyce claimed her first win for over a month in the Exhibition trophy, and must be hoping this will kick-start her season proper.
She will however find Jane Nicolson in her path at almost every turn and with Mairi MacIver back after a lay off through injury, and perennial challengers An Galbraith and Donna MacLeod always in the thick of things, competition remains fierce.
New member Gill Chadwick is coming to terms with the subtle nuances of the Stornoway layout, and may well feature strongly also as we enter August.
Already with two wins under her belt, she will look to challenge in every competition.
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