Weekly newspaper journalist and golf fan Nick Westby enjoyed the assignment of a lifetime when he travelled to Ireland to cover the Ryder Cup.

Nick, sports editor at the Worksop Guardian, covered the three-day tournament at the K Club in County Kildare after local golfer Lee Westwood was selected for Team Europe by captain Ian Woosnam.

And it was a case of right place, right time for Nick – as he only joined the Worksop Guardian in July after five years at the South Yorkshire Times.

Nick told HoldtheFrontPage: “It was absolutely fantastic.

“I’m a big golf fan and had my fingers crossed that Westwood would make it.

“He was picked three weeks ago as a wildcard and so I quickly booked a flight and stayed in a hostel as some of the hotels had been booked up for years.

“I go to The Open and follow golf but I had never been to the Ryder Cup or as media before.”

After flying out on Thursday night, Nick joined the rest of the media, rubbing shoulders with journalists from the nationals and American papers such as The Washington Post, although only those from the larger papers were allowed access inside the ropes.

He followed Westwood as he played every match and helped Europe claim the biggest prize in team golf for the third successive time.

Nick said: “They were long days of 15 or 16 hours but I loved doing it – I never thought of it as doing a job.

“It was absolutely out of this world. Superb.

“I hope I get the chance to go to Kentucky for the return but I think that is a long shot. I’ll be pulling as many strings as possible!”