Bitter-sweet ending as Shaw bows out of collegiate golf

GARETH SHAW is destined to bow out from collegiate golf with the coveted status of an All-American after reaching the final round of the 111th Men’s NCAA Division I Championships in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Four Irishmen, all representing East Tennessee State University, teed off on the par-72, 7,450-yard Kampen course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex after the final five-man team selections saw Dubliner David Rawluk omitted by Charlotte, Ballynahinch’s Gavin Reid miss out for the favourites Southern California and Cathal O’Malley from Mayo sit out from the Alabama at Birmingham quintet.

That left Lisburn’s Shaw, Limerick man Cian McNamara, West Waterford’s Seamus Power and Simon Doherty of Belfast, with Cornwall’s Rhys Enoch rounding out the Anglo-Irish team at East Tennessee State.

ETSU, however, fell victim to new championship rules which only allowed the top 15 teams contest the final round of the 72-hole tournament. While the Buccaneers team missed out by 10 strokes, Shaw did progress to the final round as one of the top six individuals whose teams did not make the cut.

Shaw finished the third round at 8-over 224 (74, 73, 77), tied for 20th and while he compiled a disappointing 12-over 83 in the final round to slip down the individual leaderboard to a tie for 43rd in the national championships as UCLA captured the team national championship by a stroke over Stanford, and UCLA’s Kevin Chappell took the individual medallist honours by three strokes.

Shaw, playing his final tournament as a student, was philosophical about the experience.

“I would have liked to have played along with the team, but once I realised that wasn’t going to happen I made it a goal to get to the finals as an individual,” Shaw said.

“It just didn’t happen for me.

“I’ve still had a great career at ETSU and I wouldn’t change a thing. My time here was unbelievable. I was able to play with (Welsh Walker Cup player) Rhys (Davies) for three years and being around Coach (Fred Warren) is something I wouldn’t change. I’ve improved my game each year I’ve been here and I hope to continue playing.”

Despite the team’s disappointment, Shaw and co enjoyed a successful campaign in 2007-08, reaching a national ranking of 16th, reaching the NCAA Regionals for the 20th time and advancing to the NCAA Championships for a third straight year.

Shaw also repeated Power’s feat of collecting the Atlantic Sun Conference individual title, keeping it at ETSU for a second year in a row and finishing his career as the nation’s 12th-ranked collegiate player.

Coach Warren also bids farewell to McNamara, who played in the past three NCAAs, and he said: “We will miss both Cian and Gareth. They’ve both meant a great deal to our program.”

Shaw and Jonny Caldwell have been named in a 16-man preliminary Great Britain & Ireland squad for this August’s St Andrews Trophy against the Continent of Europe at Kingsbarns.

The nine-man team picked to compete at Kingsbarns is likely to provide the foundation for the 2009 Walker Cup team to take on the USA at Merion, Pennsylvania.