Archer takes on golfers in bizarre spectacle

A remarkable match up took place this summer, at Portsalon Golf Links in Donegal, between three golfers and an archer. The latter, Major Cadman, who is the Northern England archery champion, had issued a challenge earlier in the year that he could beat good golfers around a decent links course.

The three golfers played as usual, with the best score of the three counting against Major Cadman's score. The archer 'holed out' by shooting at a circular white paper disc, set on the green and equidistant from the tee.

The result was a very close match indeed, with the golfers winning in the end by two strokes after a round of 72, an admirable score considering the difficulty of the course.

It might have been quite different, however. Major Cadman found himself at a slight disadvantage in a number of regards; his main difficulty was the fact that his arrows were blunt and the greens were quite hard. This meant that although on a number of occasions his approach shot landed quite close to his target, his arrow skidded on another ten to 15 yards, leaving him a difficult shot. A sharp arrow on the other hand would have stuck.

It remains to be seen whether Major Cadman, after having a taste of this kind of competition, will issue another challenge, or perhaps leave this match as a one-off spectacle, never to be repeated.