McNamara turns on the magic to shatter Gorey’s dreams
The 32-year-old Munster interprovincial fought back from four down with five to play to beat Whitson on the 19th.
But he was shown no mercy from 23-year-old Headfort star McNamara in the decider as the reigning North of Ireland champion won four holes in a row from the ninth to go four up and then closed out the match with a solid par at the 14th.
“I got out of jail against Reeve, but Rory didn’t miss a shot from nine to 14,” Gorey said. “I hit a couple of loose ones and he made a couple of birdies and it was all over very quickly.
“I played well today, but Rory hit some quality shots at the right time and capitalised. It’s disappointing. I still want to win a championship. It’s all I have left to achieve so I will keep going - this year anyway.”
As if on cue from the golfing gods, the Arctic-like conditions that marred the first four days gave way to more benign southeast breezes that allowed the large gallery to shed the gloves, if not the winter woolies.
But the real hot stuff came from 23-year-old McNamara in a scrappy final that was all-square until they came to the 159-yard ninth.
A winning par there was the first of four wins in a row for the Headfort man and while Gorey briefly stopped the rot with a half in par at the 13th, there was to be no repeat of his morning comeback
“I just lost the plot a bit and lost my concentration,” Whitson said. “Niall made a great birdie on the 14th to get back to three down and then I hit a bad tee shot on the 15th and from there I was just up against the momentum.”
McNamara, however, was not as forgiving.
Gorey could not afford a mistake but he carved his approach into the jungle right of the 14th green.
“When I saw Niall in trouble, I said, right, just close it out and I hit a nice five iron in there,” said McNamara, who beat defending champion Harry Diamond 4 and 3 in his semi-final.
His 25-footer slipped three feet past but after Gorey failed to get up and down, missing his 15-footer for par, the Headfort talent calmly stroked home the winning putt to add the “West” to his win in last year’s North of Ireland Championship.
“To win two championships in a few months, it’s fantastic. It feels great,” McNamara said. “I’m absolutely delighted. It was a long, long week.”
After two winters studying at a golf academy in Spain, he spent this year at La Cala near in Marbella, simply working to get better.
And while he’s almost certain to enter the European Tour Q-School as an amateur in the autumn, he’s happy to take advantage of the opportunities afforded him by the Golfing Union of Ireland set up.
“Since this tournament last year my golf has continued to improve and I just want to see how far I can go,” he said. “But I am very happy with the GUI set up at the moment because it has been very good for me and allows me to travel and compete all over the world.”
Semi-finals: N Gorey (Muskerry) bt R Whitson (Mourne) 19th; R McNamara (Headfort) bt H Diamond (Belvoir Park) 4 and 3.
Final: McNamara bt Gorey 5 and 4.
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