A touching note on the website of my local golf club regarding the Big Event on Monday: ‘We are open as normal today, Queens funeral will be shown on all tv’s (sic) in the clubhouse‘. Hopefully, this will keep everyone happy, from those who want to play a round of golf and those who want to go to their local golf club to watch the Queen’s funeral on television. We’re all being catered for.
I was concerned that the course might be closed all day ‘to show respect to the Queen’ but my feeling is that the club has done the right thing.
I was rather hoping that as we will be on the course at the exact time the funeral is taking place, we would be able to enjoy ‘millionaires’ golf’, virtually the only people out there, but that’s far from the case. Indeed, as of now there is just one tee time left available for Monday morning, which is about as busy as I can remember the course being, even at the height of summer. I don’t know if you can read anything into that. Lots of people have an extra bank holiday and are going to use some of that time with a hack around their local golf club. I don’t think that means that golfers are somehow militant republicans. More that if you are given some time-off, you’re going to use it, even if that means watching the crystal bucket.
I mean no offence by playing golf on such a solemn occasion. I wouldn’t have watched the funeral anyway. Funerals are never my idea of fun at the best of times and having been to three for people I actually know in recent weeks, I could do without another one. For all that, I do see why so many people do want to watch. I’ve run through the arguments many times. The Queen gave us quiet but strong leadership in dark times and as she was always there she provided stability in unstable times. She also gave us the glue that held this divided country together. People feel her loss, others fear what comes next. The world and his wife (and her husband) have ‘paid their respects’ in the last week or so and I feel I’ve paid mine, in my own way through this blog.
