Douglas Golf Club bridged an 18 year gap on Friday when they won the Munster Fred Daly Trophy at East Cork Golf Club.  It was in interesting journey for the Douglas boys as three times over the past few weeks it looked like they were heading out of the competition.  Their perseverance however saw them come back from the brink against Cork in the area final last week, Kanturk in the semi-final and Limerick in the final. 

A large crowd turned out for bother Douglas and Limerick for the final and they were in for a dramatic finish.   The hero of the day was Douglas Juvenile Captain Darragh Lonergan.  After going neck and neck with Limerick’s Luke O’Brien, he stroked home a four foot putt on the 20^th (2^nd tie hole) to win the all-important final match.  As it happened it was the second time that day that Lonergan had prevailed, in the semi-final he holed a very tricky 12 foot putt on the 18^th green against Kanturk to see Douglas book their place in the final.

Brian Barry from Douglas was also a key player as the match drew to a close.  Brian was the hero against Cork last week as he overturned a four hole deficit and won the final match on 18.  In the final again his match was crucial, he was two down through 12 but levelled the match on 15.  He parred the 16^th for an important half, and as Limerick won their third point ahead on the 18th, a win for Douglas was essential for survival.  After two great approach shots it looked like he’d win the hole with a par.  Barry had other ideas and holed a massive 40ft putt from the front edge to record an eagle, and he went one up with one hole to play.  The 18^th was halved in bogey’s and Douglas secured their third point.  The large crowd on the 18^th made their way to the second where they arrived just in time to see Lonergan sink the winning putt.

In the other matches Adam McSweeney and Barry O’Sullivan Geaney recorded wins for Douglas but Pierce Dorney and Daniel O’Sullivan lost their matches to tie the game.  John Boylan also lost out on the 18^th green.  It was a great result for the young Douglas golfers, every player contributed to their wins over the past three weeks as they beat holders Mallow, Cork, Kanturk and finally Limerick.  Needless to say Douglas Junior Officer Tony Keegan was deligheted with the win and quick to credit every member of the panel for their hard work and commitment.  Douglas now have an all-Ireland semi-final to look forward to, that takes place in Ardglass Co Down in four weeks time.