Inter County Championships reviewed
P.P.U.I. - 10/09/2012 - Cork Ladies and Wexford Gents take a bowThe Inter County Championships have always been regarded as
the Holy Grail of Team Pitch & Putt and this year exemplified why this
status is well deserved. Both events were decided on the final green and
provided exceptionally entertaining play for the small but enthusiastic
attendance in St. Patrick’s.
The St. Patrick’s course in Enniscorthy would not be one of
the best known in the country but it is certainly a well laid out and
challenging test and was for the occasion prepared to the nth degree. Bunkers
are more plentiful there than snuff at a wake and the slopes and contours of
the greens can exact a fearsome penalty for the unwary putter.
The Ladies event started at 10.00 on Saturday morning amid
glorious sunshine with eight teams competing. Scoring after the Foursomes was
very tight with only two strokes separating the top three teams. Tipperary
led on 172 with Cork and Dublin
in joint second on 174. All the teams were finding the playing conditions tough
as the greens were receptive only to the most accurate of pitches and the
bunkers exacted a fearsome toll on some players. The superb weather continued
for the singles section and tension mounted as it became apparent that Kildare
had overhauled Tipperary and had
posted a clubhouse total of 462. The bush telegraph was working overtime and as
the scores came through it looked like Kildare would be successful but then the
two anchor players from Cork Eleanor Walsh and Siobhan Scannell both posted sub
par rounds of 53 and 52 respectively to snatch a narrow two stroke win on a
total of 460. Dublin were third on
467
Full results
1st Cork
(Ann Daly, Vera McCarthy, Valerie O’Leary, Sharon Bowes, Eleanor Walsh and
Siobhan Scannell) 460, 2nd Kildare (Bernie Dunne, Mairead O’Toole,
Rose Kelly, Tara Dillon, Marian Byrne and Christine Byrne) 462, 3rd
(Linda Thompson, Barbara Furlong, Stella Sheridan, Sheila Elmes, Siobhan Keely
and Geraldine Ward) 467
The Gents Championship which commenced at 9.00 on Sunday
morning was the most eagerly awaited of recent times as for once there were a
number of teams being mentioned as potential winners. Dublin,
Kerry and Wexford were all put forward as possibilities to end the juggernaut
that was Cork’s dominance. It all
remained to be done as Louth and Clare brought proceedings to a start.
The sunshine of Saturday proved to be but a memory as play
got underway. Early scoring was not exciting as players found the greens to be
tricky to hold as well as discovering that the slightest carelessness exacted a
fearsome cost. Only two teams had all sub par rounds with Wexford leading on
150 just a single stroke ahead of Cork
on 151 with Dublin next on 153.
Those who had thought that Wexford might be overawed by playing with multi
title winning Cork were rapidly
reviewing their opinion while Dublin
supporters dared to hope that a long awaited success might be theirs.
With the singles came rain, initially relatively light but
then heavy rain persisted for about two hours and finally a clearance came and
sunny weather returned for the final pairing of Cork & Wexford. In fairness
to those who played during the rain they were at a considerable disadvantage but
then such is the luck of the draw. Dublin
who played through the worst of the weather posted a score of 412 and they then
had to wait and see what their rivals could produce. Once again the championship
went to the final hole where Ray Murphy and Paul Tobin like knights of old were
in single combat. Paul needed to outscore Ray by 5 strokes to bring Wexford
victory, An 18 inch putt from Paul brought him a best of day round of 46
against Ray’s score of 51 and victory was Wexford’s by just a single stroke.
Wexford’s victory will be welcomed by everyone as an example
of how tenacity and dedication can bring success. If two years ago one said
that Wexford would be the county to end Cork’s
stranglehold your opinion would have been laughed at. Those in the know would
tell you that it would be one of the previous winners, if any, would be the
victor and not a county with only a single club. So all of the previously less
successful counties should take heart from Wexford’s example.
As ever there will be endless debate about the what if’s and the if only’s
but in truth I think even the most jaundiced Pitch & Putt supporter will be
delighted by the Wexford victory, it is good for Pitch & Putt and at the
end of the day that is what we all want
Full Results
1st Wexford
(Shane Redmond, Martin O’Neill, Kevin Doyle, Conor Murphy, William Hudson, Paul
Tobin) 404, 2nd Cork (Paudie O’Sullivan, Kieran
Dunscombe, Darren Collins, John Walsh, Noel Collins, Ray Murphy) 405, 3rd
Dublin (John Crangle, Mark Millar, Stephen Murray, Paul Nolan, Eoin Mithen,
Junior Smith) 412
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