Colin Byrne - Bagman TV

This guy has written the most interesting golf column, week on week, for some time now. His slot in the Irish Times possesses not only the insider understanding of the tour that Liam Kelly, Dermot Gileese & co just don't have, but also the honesty to present it in a candid and unpretentious way. Many golfers will be familiar with Colin Byrne's work through his excellent 2004 book, "Bagman", and it’s sequel in 2009. Having parted ways with then employer Retief Goosen, the Irishman is now caddying for rising Scandinavian star Alexander Noren.

A TV Documentary will take in a short string of tournaments, including the Irish Open and The Open Championship, the Swede's relatively small but personally important home championship, and culminating in a thrilling finale in the Swiss Alps.

The documentary is split into two separate hour-long episodes, the first being shown on Setanta Sports prior to Sunday's Masters coverage, and the second the following evening.



In other news, Barton Cup preliminary rounds have mostly been concluded. There weren’t too many notable upsets, with the exception of St. Anne’s turfing out Portmarnock, and an interesting clash between Grange Castle and Newlands, the former coming out on top 3-2. The rest of the ties met fairly predictable outcomes, albeit without any real hammerings.

As Round 1 fixtures kick off in the coming days, there are relatively few fixtures of interest, many of the traditionally stronger teams having reasonably handy draws. Rathfarnham face a re-match with The South County, having beaten them in Round 2 last year, and Westmanstown have three home matches against Castle, which will be tricky for both teams.