Bandon denied at death
The Cork side lost by one hole in an exciting and closely fought contest that produced a lot of fine golf, especially over the closing stages. But the Belfast side prevailed when Stephen Crowe and Glen McAuley birdied the par five 18th to edge out Donie O’Donovan and Kieran Hurley and put them into today’s decider against Headfort, who enjoyed a surprisingly comfortable win over four-time champions Galway.
It was also a disappointing day for East Cork, who put up a brave performance before going down in the semi-final of the Junior Cup against a well-balanced Naas outfit. The Leinster champions now go forward to meet Portumna in today’s final.
Whereas Headfort took control of their Barton Shield clash with Galway around the turn and romped home by seven holes, the meeting of Dunmurry and Bandon was a very close affair.
With Munster interpro Brian O’Donovan and Ger Tobin both unavailable, seniors international John Carroll was pressed into action by his team captain Denis O’Brien and duly did a magnificent job for Bandon. An Achilles tendon injury has ruled the former soccer star out of action for the best part of a year and he had his first 18 holes in practice here on Tuesday in all that time.
Carroll and Dwayne Twomey came from two down to level at the 15th against Darren Crowe and Paddy McGlone in the first match but after two cracking tee shots to the short 16th, McGlone sank a 12-footer for a two and Carroll just missed from a little closer. It was back to level pegging again when the Bandon pair claimed the difficult 17th with a great par four by which stage, the chilly, swirling wind was making ball control extremely difficult.
Both pairings had their problems at various stages but still managed to make par. Indeed, Carroll left a brilliant 35-foot uphill putt for birdie inches past the cup before McGlone shaved the hole for a four to leave the overall outcome depending on the second match. Donie O’Donovan and Kieran Hurley for Bandon were also all square playing the last against Stephen Crowe and Glen McAuley but lost it to a superb four when McAuley cracked a three-wood to the edge of the green to set up the decisive birdie four.
Neither Dunmurry nor Headfort have ever won a national pennant. The Belfast club will start favourites thanks largely to the presence of the Crowe brothers, Darren (a former South of Ireland champion) and Stephen, both of whom are seasoned campaigners in the various championships.
In contrast, the Headfort team has a combined age of 77. Their top pair, Joe Dillon and Greg Mungovan, are both 18 and defeated Joe Lyons and Damien Coyne by 2 holes. Rory McNamara, 21, and Brian Casey, 20, had five holes to spare over Eddie McCormack and Damien Glynn.
McNamara, who has been capped by Ireland at boys, youths and senior levels, is poised to make a little piece of golfing history for he is also a member of the Co Sligo Senior Cup team favoured to capture the Irish Senior Cup over the weekend. There is no precedent for a player to win the Barton Shield and Senior Cup with different clubs from different provinces in the same year.
Furthermore, brothers would have been on opposite sides in today’s Junior Cup final but for a surprise change in the Naas team. Ray Lynch, a native of Portumna, has led the way for Naas throughout the campaign but has been dropped for the decider, presumably because of losing yesterday at the 18th against East Cork’s Eric Walsh, who maintained his outstanding record in the event. Lynch’s sibling, Ger, is a member of Portumna, yesterday’s conquerors of Banbridge.
59-year-old Kevin Byrne has played a massive role in getting East Cork to the national finals for the first time but yesterday fell short against David Prendergast. Further wins for Mark Holmes and Conor O’Hehir saw Naas into the decider. O’Hehir is a son of race commentator Peter and a grandson of the legendary Michael.
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