Holland the king of the Castle

Daniel Holland, a 21 year-old landscape artist who, in his own words, “never won anything before in golf”, emerged the hero for Dublin club Castle as they captured the Irish Senior Cup for the first time in their 99 year history at Kinsale on Saturday.

Holland gained his club’s third and decisive point against Warrenpoint’s Ryan Gribben when he wedged to six feet from 80 eighty yards at the 18th to win hole, match and title for Castle.

Holland, who plays off plus one and was winning his ninth match in as many appearances in the competition this year and is heading to the United States on internship in November, revealed the secret of his remarkable calmness even when the pressure is at its greatest.

“I hum music to myself and it was Kings and Queens by 30 Seconds to Mars coming up the 18th”, he said. “These matches are always tight and I had a feeling it was going to come down to me. They are never won at 1, 2 or 3. That never happens. I knew I had to be ready for it.”

Team captain Harry Gleeson (who also skippered the successful Jimmy Bruen Shield side in 2003) lauded Holland for his contribution: “He’s definitely the hardest worker on our squad. The other lads slag him because he puts in so much work. We’ve always played him number five, he seems to thrive under pressure. He knows he’s going to be called on when the posse start watching him and he has always delivered.”

The other winners for Castle in a cliffhanger of a decider against Warrenpoint were 16 year-old Jack Walsh, who edged out Stephen Coulter at the 17th, and the remarkable 43 year-old Conor Deegan who plays off plus 5, the lowest handicap in the country and came through 2 and 1 against David Barron.

It was his fourth All-Ireland medal following two senior All-Ireland senior football victories in 1991 and ’94 for his native Down, with whom he also picked a minor championship.

“I’ve been very lucky to have been in All-Ireland football finals but this is very different,” he said. “You have a very tight-knit club here and we’ve had tremendous support all week. We worked earlier in the year with sports psychologist Karl Morris, so we talk more, we understand the game a wee bit better, talking about process, staying in your bubble, all those good things.”

Killymoon, a founder member of the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1891, won their first green pennant when they beat Roscommon by 3-2 in a thrilling Jimmy Bruen Shield decider. Brian Gogarty was the playing captain of the team from Cookstown, Co Tyrone.

“This is surreal for when we kicked off in May, I never thought we could be All-Ireland champions,” he rejoiced.

“This means everything for the club, the first time we ever had any sort of glory. Club President Tom Doonan was a member of the side and with an age spread of over 50 years, there was a nice mix of youth and experience.”