Golf: Ryder Cup hero Olazábal awaits triumphant Towler

Dewsbury Golf Club’s greens chairman Rick Towler, 56, will fly out to Spain next week to play the superb course at Real Golf Club de San Sebastian, in Fuenterrabia, where Olazábal learned to play as a child.

But the highlight of the Towler’s three-day stay in Spain will surely be spending time with Olazábal, who inspired Europe to their sensational Ryder Cup come-back win at Medinah Country Club a fortnight ago.

The sensational prize was won by Towler and his brother-in-law John Norrey after they triumphed in the Nespresso Trophy UK Challenge, a four-ball betterball pairs tournament in which amateurs from across the country competed.

The pairing started their charge with victory in a regional selection round at Woburn Golf Club, in Bedfordshire, last June, but booked their flights to Spain with a nail-biting win in the national finals at the prestigious Archerfield Links course, near Edinburgh, last month.

Towler and Norrey received their national winners’ trophy from Europe’s 1995 Ryder Cup winning skipper Bernard Gallagher.

However, it’s the meeting with Olazábal that is really exciting Towler, who said: “I watched the Ryder Cup at Medinah and there must be so many stories for Olazábal to tell.”