Scholars dish out hard lesson
NUIM’s young golfers overcame the experience of Banbridge in the foursomes event at the Chartis-sponsored national finals to win by an aggregate of eight holes. Naas duo Jonathan Yates, 19, and Conor O’Rourke, 21, won the opening match by one hole over Banbridge’s playing captain Rory Leonard and Colin Wilton, before Sligo golfer Barry Anderson, 21, and West Waterford’s Irish boys’ international Gary Hurley, 19, ran out seven-hole winners against Connor Doran and Jim Carvill.
“That was a wider margin than any of us ever expected,” Anderson said. “We were all aware of the reputations of the boys we were playing against, Connor and Jim, and we thought it would be a very tight match.
“We were surprised at how we ran away but in fairness, three birdies in 10 holes is good golf in blustery conditions.”
Coached by the GUI National Academy coach Neil Manchip and with a full-time Paddy Harrington Scholarship Scheme manager in Barry Fennelly, the NUIM golfers see themselves as standard bearers for Irish college golf as a viable alternative to taking up scholarships in the US.
“This title recognises that the college can compete with the best, instead of people going to America. By going to Maynooth we get the best facilities, using the GUI Academy at Carton House,” O’Rourke said.
Anderson added: “And the best coaching and the best team behind closed doors, everybody such as Barry Fennelly and Bob Joyce [scholarship co-ordinator], the work they do is immense and it’s great to see it all come together.”
Fennelly was one of the former Harrington scholars who handed the NUIM team a drubbing at Carton House last week. “They gave us a good hammering and that woke us up a bit,” Yates admitted, while for Hurley, who turned down numerous offers of US college scholarships to go to Maynooth, and Anderson, who passed up the chance to go to Graeme McDowell’s alma mater at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, the victory served as vindication for their decision to stay home.
“I had a few offers, Arkansas was one of them,” Hurley said. “But I always wanted to come to Maynooth. You put in the work here and it’s all up to you. You go to America and they’ll make you practice no matter what but if you want to put in the work you’ll definitely get the results.”
There was further reward in the form of a message to the team from Pádraig Harrington, whose scholarships bear his late father’s name. “Well done to all the team. I’m delighted for them,” Harrington texted.
There some even younger guns tasting All-Ireland victory in the Junior Cup after Ulster champions Donaghadee, featuring teenagers Mark Rea, 15, and Andrew Clegg, 16, helped the coastal County Down club defeat Connacht pennant winners Athenry 4-1 in singles.
Donaghadee did not lose a rubber in the final, with three victories and two halved matches, and team captain Gareth Stranaghan called the victory “one of the proudest days of my life.”
He added: “I’m absolutely gobsmacked. It means so much, itreally means so much for this golf club. A major All-Ireland pennant for the first time in our 113-year history and that group of guys, I don’t have words to describe them anymore. They got control of that match today from the first tee and I was just waiting for them to get over the line and eventually they did it. For me, it’s just fairy-tale stuff, a dream come true.”
With two titles decided, the focus now switches to today’s Pierce Purcell Shield final between Newcastle West and Gort. Limerick’s Munsterchampions Newcastle West defeated Royal Dublin 4-1, while Gort kept Connacht hopes alive in a 3-2 victory over Ulster’s Foyle.
Today’s action also sees the semi-finals in the Senior Cup and Jimmy Bruen Shield take place. The Bruen pits Waterford against Roscommon and Killymooon against Goldcoast for a place in tomorrow’s final.
Tramore take on Warrenpoint in the Senior Cup while Castle GC meet Co. Sligo in the other semi-final.
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