It would have been hard to imagine that yesterday’s drama in the Challenge, All-Ireland semi final could have been topped, but today’s climax to the event was certainly right up there with it…
The team had played their practice round on Thursday, a quarter final on Friday, a semi final on Saturday and today were to play the final. A lot of golf, but that, of course is what a panel is for, and, as she did yesterday, Iris made another two changes to the team line up for today’s match. She recalled Wendy Lee and Vice-Captain Celine Joyce having given them a day off yesterday. Wendy and Celine came in for Trisha Moore and Regina Connaughton so Trisha and Regina along with Regina’s excellent campaign caddie, Geraldine Mulcahy, were cheer-leading from the sideline today.
The tee time for the final today had been brought forward from mid-day to eight AM due to the yellow weather alert which had been issued by Met Eireann. When the matches first teed off the weather was reasonable, however Met Eireann turned out to be spot on and within a few minutes the heavens began to open and the rain continued to get progressively worse right to the end of the match.
With Trisha not playing, Anne Browner, with Anne Clarke on her bag, was out first today and won the first, always a nice start. The next five holes were halved before Anne won both the seventh and eighth holes to extend her lead to three, and a loss on the ninth still had her with a two hole advantage going to the back nine. Wins on the eleventh and twelfth might perhaps have given the supporters a false sense of security with the match at four up at this stage.
Celine was out second and managed to halve the first but really struggled with the conditions and lost the second, third, fourth and fifth holes to go four down. A change to wet weather gloves at this point certainly helped as did her coming to terms with the speed of greens a bit better. Celine holed a crucial eight footer on the sixth for a half and did the same on the seventh, for another half. A first win on the eighth followed by another half and she turned three down.
Third out today was Orla Rush and, like all the players was finding it tough going in the very wet conditions. Orla played solidly however, making fewer mistakes than her opponent (the name of the game today) and was two up at the halfway point. The status quo was maintained with a loss on the tenth being followed by a great win on the eleventh for Orla. At this point the squeegees were out on the greens and it was becoming very difficult to even hold a club. Two holes later the match was back to all square, Orla having visited the water on the thirteenth. It was still looking good for Greystones however, after a half on the fourteenth and yet another win on the fifteenth. Orla lost the tricky sixteenth however and moved to the seventeenth all square.
Fourth out was Wendy Lee who was up against a wily player and would have needed to have her best game with her today to win (as she has done so often during this campaign). Today’s conditions definitely didn’t suit Wendy and she unfortunately lost on the eleventh 8&7. First blood to Headfort.
The ever dependable Grace Dodd was out last today and she started the round with three straight wins. Yesterday’s result was definitely not going to be repeated as by the eight hole, Grace found herself one down – not a regular occurrence for her. As she got more used to the conditions however Grace bounced back with a win on the ninth to turn, as they had began, all square. She found herself behind again after the tenth however, but then took control of the match, winning the eleventh and twelfth before halving the thirteenth to go just one up but now playing really well.
As the course conditions had worsened Anne’s opponents game seemed to suit them better and, after halving the thirteenth, she proceeded to win the next four holes to bring the match back to all square with just the waterlogged eighteenth to play.
On the back nine, Celine was a different player and won the tenth, eleventh and twelfth holes to get the match back to all square for the first time since the second. No match was going to won easily today and the Headfort player hit straight back on the long, water lined, par five thirteenth, to restore a one hole advantage. The match was back to all square however after a win for Celine on the fourteenth and when she cleared the water, her ball coming to a stop on the back fringe of the tricky par three, sixteenth, it loaded a little extra pressure on her opponent. A four was enough for Celine to move to one up, for the first time in the match, heading for the seventeenth. On the seventeenth Celine was unlucky to find a bunker which was pretty much waterlogged but the only relief offered was to drop within the bunker on a downhill slope. She took two to get out and the match was back to all square as the pair trudged to the eighteenth tee.
So the state of play at this stage was, one point to Headfort, Anne was on the eighteenth, all square, Celine was right behind her on the hole, also all square. Orla was playing the seventeenth, also all square while Grace was behind playing well and up in her match.
On the eighteenth, Anne’s opponent found the greenside bunker, Anne having found the front of the green. The Headfort bunker shot flew the green and landed in a bunker on the other side of the green, however, to be fair, the conditions were, at this stage bordering on unplayable. Anne stayed calm and finished out the hole really well to win our first point of the day – one all !!
News then filtered through that Grace had come up trumps yet again (she has never lost a match this campaign), after winning fourteen, fifteen and sixteen to win her match 4&2.
We now needed one match from either Celine or Orla to win our second Challenge All-Ireland in eight years. Word back from the eighteenth tee box was that Orla had lost the seventeenth to go one down with one to play, but still very much in the game.
Celine and her opponent slogged it up a fairway that offered no run on the ball whatsoever. The Headfort player had, perhaps, a fifty yard advantage, and had played one shot less as they approached the green. This advantage evaporated however when Celine hit a great rescue to the fringe on the left had side of the green and the Headfort lady’s iron shot found the same greenside bunker as her teammate had found just a few minutes before in Anne’s match. It was deja vu as she played her bunker shot to the opposite bunker and then managed to only just get out of that one. At this stage, with both players on the green, the squeegees were out in force again. As they cleared the water it appeared to replenish immediately however. Celine hit a good chip but it was a little to hard and she left herself twelve feet with two putts for the match, or three if Headfort missed their remaining five foot putt. Celine’s first putt went four feet past and when the Headfort putt failed to drop, Celine putted up the holeside – have two – take two, for the match and the overall win – All-Ireland champions !!
Manager, Iris later presented the pennant to Lady Captain, Amanda and in her speech dedicated the win to Captain Danny, a lovely touch.
