Peter O’Keeffe and Ireland selector John Carroll pictured after their Home Internationals win in Moortown this afternoon.
The 17th hole in the final match on the final day will be remembered for a very long time. That was the hole where Ireland captured the Home Internationals for the fourth time on a row. An hour earlier things didn’t look great, it looked like hosts England would win as Ireland were losing in six of the last eight matches on the course. But the tide started to turn and Ireland pulled themselves back into hte match with a series of wins. In the end it came down to Colm Campbell who was the last man left on the course. Campbell overturned a five hole deficit (he was four down after five) to take the lead on the 17th, that guaranteed him a half and that in turn guaranteed Ireland a historic fourth title in a row. Although Campbell lost the 18th and halved the match, that meant that the overall score was a draw with England. As Ireland won a greater number of matches, they retained the title for the fourth year. Just 0.5 of a point separated the sides with Ireland winning 26.5 matches against England’s 26.
While it was a great result for Ireland, Peter O’Keeffe was slightly disappointed, despite playing very well yesterday (and claiming two wins) he lost both of his matches today. Still the very fine margin of victory means that the three points he contributed were invaluable in the final tally. The Douglas member has more than justified his selection on the team, and this rounds off a great debut for him on the Irish team.
It was a great day too for John Carroll who was a selector on the team and was there in Moortown to witness the epic comeback. The Bandon member has been a long time servant to Munster and Irish teams and will no doubt relish a great celebration this evening with Tony Goode, Neil Manchip and all of the Irish team.
The winning Irish team, pic Thos Caffery I Golffile
Gary Ward had a double win last weekend, the Kinsale man scooped two senior scratch cups over the course of two days. On Saturday he headed to Kanturk and went around the North Cork course in one under par to record his second win of the year. On Sunday it was off to Co Clare for the 36 Dromoland Senior Scratch Cup, and Ward topped the leaderboard again after shooting rounds of 69 and 77. Ward won the Cobh Senior Scratch Cup in May, shooting a course record 66 on the way to his first senior scratch cup title. Ward played Kanturk for the first time on Saturday and it was a winning debut as he described. “It was my first time playing Kanturk and all I knew was that it was tight” said Ward. “I hit the ball where I could see it and played really steady golf the whole way around. The pins were very tough, a few hanging off slopes so it was tough to put it close. I never went over par and never went better than -2, my 3rd birdie on the par 3 16th saved my round and took my pars on 17 and 18 for a 70 to win by 1 from Peter Duane.”
Dunmore won the Munster Country Clubs Cup today, the West Cork Club was hosting the finals and overcame Raffeen Creek and Lisselan to claim the title. It’s the third time that Dunmore have won the title, their previous wins came in 2009 and 1991. After winning the semi-final, Dunmore faced local rivals Lisselan in the final. Dunmore didn’t have it all their own way in the final. At the halfway point it was very much even, with a hole or two at most separating each match. The back nine however proved critical and the home side started to take the upper hand, as the showers and wind impacted on the players. Jerry Lehane brought in the first point for Dunmore and two more followed from Martin Kelleher and Kevin Sutton. Niall Deasy brought in the winning point meaning that the final three matches were called in. It was a special day for Dumnore’s Captain and President, both Michal O’Leary and John O’Driscoll were both playing which added to the celebrations for the host club. It was a special win for the host club as they are celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2017 and recently held a number of events marking that milestone.
Cork Golf News 