Published: Thursday, 30th July, 2009 9:00am

An experience of golf we don't want to repeat

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Dear Sir, - Thank you for the tickets to 'The Duel on the Lough' at Lough Erne Golf Resort yesterday resulting from your competition.

Not being golf enthusiasts other than watching same on television I noted on receipt that the tickets were marked VIP and numbered 179 and 180 of 200. We were delighted to be honoured in this way and had a look on the internet to see what this entailed. It appeared that we were to be honoured with a 3 course lunch before the golf and from the tickets concluded we had to attend at 1230 hours. My wife arranged to have the day off work.

We set off from home at 1140 hrs dressed for the occasion and bringing with us appropriate clothing for the golf. We were delayed in Enniskillen for 20 minutes with heavy traffic and proceeded as far as Silverhill where we joined a long tail back. We were still in this queue at 1245 hrs and reached a police cordon at the entrance to a field where cars were being parked. The police officer asked us if we had a pass authorising us to park at the Golf Resort. We replied 'no' and he advised us that without such a pass we would not be admitted to the grounds. He advised us to park in the field and take an Ulsterbus to the Golf Resort. We parked in the field, changed into our golfing attire and then boarded the bus. We arrived at the site at 1315 hrs and produced our tickets to an official who explained that the tickets were not VIP tickets but solely admission to watch the golf. Not being golf enthusiasts we were then left with the choice of returning to our car by bus or making the best of a bad situation.

We went to the restaurant in Castle Hume Golf Club where we had a not too impressive lunch (good fish but poor accompaniments). We concluded that we were out for the day and would make the best of a bad situation and watch some of the golf. We watched the first 6 holes and to our surprise enjoyed what we saw although the size of the crowd following one match left visibility to a minimum.

All in all this was one experience of golf we would not wish to repeat. We appreciate that this is not in any way the fault of the 'Impartial Reporter'. It would have been appropriate for the organisers to have enclosed with the tickets some explanation as to what the prize entailed, directions as to how to get there and parking arrangements. We could then have prepared accordingly.

I would add that on boarding the bus the driver asked if we had our tickets as we would not get into the grounds without same - prudent on the driver's part. However we were never asked for our tickets and could have boarded the bus and watched the golf free.

Finally I had a conversation with an American gentleman in Castle Hume Golf Club who asked me if the prize money was in dollars or sterling. I said I thought dollars and he said it was a rip off at £40 per ticket. I didn't have the heart to tell him we won ours.

Yours sincerely,

Name and Address

Supplied