Galway bidding for elusive treble

GALWAY GOLF CLUB go in search of a rare treble at Rosslare this week when they contest the finals of the Bulmers Irish Senior and Junior Cups and Barton Shield.

They have a particularly busy start to this marvellous end-of-season festival today when they take on Ballybunion in the semi-finals of the Barton Shield and Clonmel at the penultimate stage of the Junior Cup.

The Barton Shield quartet of this year’s Irish Close Championship runner-up Eddie McCormack, John Neary, Joe Lyons and former Close champion Mark O’Sullivan kick off the programme at 10.30am hopeful of going on to emulate the sides who captured the national inter-club foursomes championship in 1957, 72 and 99. They do so against Ballybunion, whose name has yet to appear on the magnificent old trophy, but whose quartet of former South of Ireland champion Peter Sheehan, JD Guiney, Eoin O’Connor and Hannes Boch has derived much confidence from the manner in which they squeezed out wins over Tramore and Limerick in the recent Munster finals at Muskerry.

In the other semi-final, the odds again appear to favour the holders, Sutton, a club boasting a proud tradition in the Barton Shield having also emerged successful in 1946, 49 and 50 in the heyday of the legendary Joe Carr.

Nevertheless, Sutton, who include Munster Interpro Mark Collins in their ranks, will take nothing for granted in their battle with Ulster champions Warrenpoint who dominated the club scene in the late 80s and who captured the Barton Shield in 86, 87 and 88 and 98.

Galway first won the Junior Cup in 1938, triumphed again in 1957 and 58 until their most recent success was achieved over their home course at Salthill in 1986. Their clash with Clonmel promises to be a particularly close affair given the nature of the Tipperary club’s magnificent victory in the Munster final against Lee Valley when they edged through only after Pat Johnson and Billy Hewitt had each claimed decisive points at the 19th hole.

Clonmel’s sole success in the Junior Cup came at Galway in 1978 while the other semi-finalists, Castle and Fortwilliam, await their first win in the competition. The sunny south-east has been living up to its reputation during the practice days with sun cream one of the prerequisites during practice. The 6,500 yards, par-72 Rosslare links is in excellent condition and with a stiff breeze certain to blow in off the Irish Sea, will prove a worthy challenge for the seniors and something a little more daunting for the higher handicap brigade.

The Rosslare club was founded exactly 100 years ago and for much of that time has been waging an intensive battle with coastal erosion. Large tracts have been lost to the seas and they even saw their clubhouse swept away in 1950. To their credit, Rosslare have not just protected and saved their course but also developed it cleverly.

It is a delightfully scenic layout with views of the Dogger Bank at the entrance to Wexford Harbour to the north and the Tuskar Lighthouse to the south.

Today’s pairings:

Barton Shield semi finals: 10.30am Ballybunion v Galway (Ballybunion names first) Eoin O’Connor & Hannes Boch v John Neary & Eddie McCormack; JD Guiney & Peter Sheehan v Joe Lyons & Mark O’Sullivan 10.50am Sutton v Warrenpoint (Sutton names first) Mark Collins & Seamus McMonagle v Paul Reavey & Barrie Trainor; Alan Darbey & Sean Doherty v Jim Carvill & Colm Campbell Final, tomorrow, 11am

Junior Cup semi finals 11.10am:

Galway v Clonmel (Galway names first):

Jonathan Hehir v Barry McMenamin; Gary Scott v Pat Johnson; Joe Costello v Billy Hewitt; Michael Hennelly v Billy McEvoy; Eddie Mulholland v Brian McLean 12.00pm Fortwilliam v Castle (Fortwilliam names first) Gary Brown v James Hanby; Conan McLarnon v Karl Swaine; Paul Maguire v Stephen Webster; Gary O’Hara v Omar Bhamjee; Michael Tierney v Harry Gleeson.