Hugh Foley holds off Peter O’Keeffe to claim glory in the South

Peter O’Keeffe would dearly have loved to win the 120th South, but the Douglas man had few complaints as he went down 3&1 to Royal Dublin’s Hugh Foley at Lahinch

Mon, 25 Jul, 2022 - 08:10

Brian Keogh

South of Ireland Championship, Lahinch

Peter O’Keeffe would dearly have loved to win the 120th South of Ireland Championship, but the Douglas man had few complaints as he went down 3&1 to Royal Dublin’s Hugh Foley in a stiff southwesterly breeze at Lahinch.

“When he’s playing well, he’s the best player,” said O’Keeffe, who pulled off a minor miracle in the morning semi-finals played in typhoon-like conditions by coming back from four down after eight holes to beat Galway’s Liam Nolan on the 19th.

“Out of all the players in Ireland, he can play all the shots,” he said. “I came up against it today and he was on his game. I had a few chances I didn’t take and got unlucky, I thought, on 17, but he made a great birdie on 16, so that’s the way it goes.”

Foley became the first man since Darren Clarke in 1990 to do the double when he followed his North of Ireland win 10 days ago with a memorable triumph in the Pierse Motors Volkswagen-sponsored event at the pristine Co Clare links.

The 25-year-old Dubliner came of age at Lahinch in 2019 when he led the qualifiers by a whopping seven strokes (64-70) and beat O’Keeffe, who birdied the 18th and then hit his approach to four feet as Nolan bogeyed the 19th in the last 16 en route to a quarter-final appearance.

Buoyed by that success and after improving his game at the Made in Holywood Academy under the watchful eye of Geoff Loughrey (and Michael Bannon) at Roganstown, he went on to win the AIG Irish Close at Rosapenna in 2020 and last September’s strokeplay edition of the West of Ireland before picking up his third ‘major’ at Royal Portrush with some stunning play down the stretch. While he has set his sights on next year’s Walker Cup, he’d love to add some overseas silverware to his collection so he can stake his claim to a place on that Great Britain and Ireland team at the Old Course.

“It feels great, feels amazing, so many boxes ticked,” said Foley, who beat Naas’ Robert Brazil 5&4 in wind and rain in the morning. “It’s one of my favourite championships because of the golf course, the people, the town.

“I’ve done well in strokeplay and always felt I ran out of steam [in matchplay]. Somehow didn’t run out of steam this week.”

The final took just two hours and 52 minutes in a stiff but dry southwesterly wind and just three holes halved on the front nine as Foley birdied the first but bogeyed the second and third and lost the fourth to a birdie to find himself two down.

He got back to level with pars at the sixth and seventh, but after losing the 10th to a par to go one down, he recalled how he played the back nine in 31 to win at Portrush, and moved up a gear.

With his reliable fade back in the groove following some remedial work with coach Loughrey and his confidence restored at Portrush after an indifferent year, Foley made a good putt for a half in par at the 11th and halved the 12th in birdie.

Portrush crossed his mind as he walked to the 13th tee and he won the hole with a two-putt birdie from the apron to level the match before taking the 14th in par, almost holing from 100ft, to go one-up as O’Keeffe missed the green left and failed to get up and down.

The 15th was halved in bogey fives before Foley hit a 202-yard seven-iron to 20ft at the 16th and rolled in the putt to go 2up after O’Keeffe again missed long left and faced a tough putt for par.

“I said it to [caddie] Marcus [Nolan] that this guy is someone who chips it on to 10ft and holes it when he has to, so just try and roll it in,” said Foley.

Foley split the 17th fairway, and with O’Keeffe’s drive up against the boundary wall on the left, he mercilessly rifled a six-iron to the heart of the green and didn’t have to putt as the Corkman was forced to chip out sideways and was still not down in four.

“I’m no Darren Clarke, but it’s a nice thing to share with him,” said the champion, who may try Q-School in September, but plans to chase the “pinnacle” of the amateur game and that Walker Cup cap next year. “I’ve a long way to go if I’m to catch him.”