News & Fixtures

 

UCD’s John Greene produced one of the great putting displays to etch his name in the history books by claiming the South of Ireland Amateur Open title with a 2 and 1 win over Athlone’s Kelan McDonagh at Lahinch.

If happiness is a long walk with a putter, then Carlow's John Greene was the happiest man in Munster as he dissected Athlone's Kelan McDonagh with the blade to claim the 109th South of Ireland Championship at sun-kissed Lahinch yesterday.

The South of Ireland title is often won with a combination of imperious ball-striking and short-game wizardry, but the 24-year-old did all the damage on the putting surfaces as he defeated McDonagh by 2 and 1. If an out-of-sorts Pat Murray was bitterly disappointed to head for Killarney for the Irish Open with yet another semi-final defeat to contemplate, McDonagh was even more disconsolate.

The scholarship student from UCD and who is about to complete his Masters degree, became the first player from Carlow to win a domestic men's 'major' when he crushed Pat Murray's title dreams with a 5&4 semi-final victory before putting senior international McDonagh (20) to the sword by 2&1 in the decider thanks to a brilliant display on the greens.

"They call me 'Greener' but the putter is now the Green Machine," the winner beamed at the finish. "I holed everything I looked at. It's a massive win for me. Kelan beat me 4&3 in the second round last year and I felt he had all the luck on his side that time. Today, it all went my way."

Introduced to esteemed local journalist Arthur Quinlan, who was covering his 75th South at the age of 89, Greene remembered that it was only his second visit to the Co Clare for this classic championship.

McDonagh showed his class when he mounted a brave comeback to beat Castletroy's Cian Daly at the 20th in the other semi-final. Three down after 11 holes in an exciting tussle, McDonagh got back to one down playing the last, where he calmly holed a tricky eight-footer for a birdie and then looked on as Daly lipped out from inside three feet. McDonagh went on to win the match with a birdie four at the 20th, but he had no answer to Greene's putting brilliance in the final.

In the final McDonagh got back on terms with a winning par at the sixth, but the “Greene Machine” started to motor from that point on with a 15-footer for a half at the seventh and an eight-footer for a two at the eighth to make the turn with a one-up lead. This was then further followed by a 10-footer for another birdie at the 10th to go two up.

McDonagh took the 11th in par, but took six at the 12th to go two down and then crucially lost the 15th to an outrageous par, taking three from the front edge as Greene laid up from thick rough on the left and eventually rolled in an amazing 25-footer and a killer blow for his four.

Three down with three to go, McDonagh cut the gap with a winning par three at the 16th, where Greene was bunkered. But he overshot the 17th, failed to save par and looked on as Greene had the luxury of taking two putts from 10 feet to claim the title.

McDonagh, despite the disappointment praised the spectacular performance by John Greene. "He played well and holed more than his share of putts," said McDonagh, who is studying at NUI Maynooth under the Paddy Harrington Golf Scholarship scheme. "In fact, he holed my share as well.”