The Inter / Junior championships were held in Stackallen on Saturday and we very nearly toasting a Dublin national title after some excellent performances in the Inter Championship.
First into action were the Juniors and Lucan’ Jack King and CPM John O’Keeffe. Both struggled in the opening round and failed to break 60. Jack played much better in the 2nd 18 but his round of 53 saw him just miss out on the final play-off.
There was a number of Inters from Dublin in the field and Dave Hayden II was first into action starting with a steady 53. Dublin Strokeplay champion Charlie Egan had a tough start with back to back bogeys as he posted a 57 and Glenn Woodward and Declan Potter struggled on the tough Slane course. However two Dubs who shinned brightly in the opening 18 was Keith Maher with a 50 and Eric Byrne led the way after a superb 48. In the 2nd round the scoring was not quite so good. Charlie Egan did add a fine 51 but his score of 108 fell short of the final 12. Aaron O’Droighneain added a 53 to his earlier 52 to lie on 105, and Keith Maher looked well positioned to contend for the title but back to back bogey’s on 17 and 18 saw him fall back to 105. Eric Byrne though recovered from a slow start to finish on 101 and a share of the lead.
Eric and Aaron were the two Dubs to make the cut. Aaron started the final round really well with four birdies in the first five holes to move to a share of the lead. For Eric it was a slower start but he managed a birdie on the 2nd to move to -8 to stay ahead of the chasing pack However he bogeyed the 7th to slip back to a three way share of the lead. Aaron slipped back to -6 and then -5 but he did recover to finish -6 and a great effort from the Glenville man. Eric Byrne though was right in the shakeup and birdies on 9th and 13th saw him lead the event on -9 but the groups ahead were also finding birdies and -9 was posted by Creagh Courtney and St Bridget’s Owen Farrell was to join him on that mark with a birdie on the 15th. Eric though had a bogey on the 14th and despite narrowly missing out on a chip in on the 16th. He finished on -8 and missed out on the play-off. The play-off was eventually won by Owen Farrell who won on the 1st sudden death hole after a blistering front nine by the two players.
Tomorrow the seniors are in the spot light with 16 Dubs hoping to make their mark in the 80 strong field. We are long overdue a National Strokeplay title and hopefully that 23 year wait will end on Sunday evening in Stackallen.