Nenagh have won the AIG Men’s Pierce Purcell while The K Club captured the AIG Women’s Intermediate Cup in an exciting day of inter-club competition at Limerick Golf Club on Saturday.
First of the final matches was between Elm Park and Nenagh. Elm Park have already secured two AIG All-Ireland pennants this year, winning the AIG Women’s Senior Cup and the AIG Men’s Barton Shield in recent weeks.
With Nenagh winning the top two matches and Elm Park clinching the third, it was down to the unbeaten pairing of Bernard Hackett and Pat Hogan to claim the winning point and secure the title for the Munster club.
“I can’t really put into words now to be honest, it’s been a hard slog the last couple of days. Every match was tight so it’s just great to get it over the line. It’s mentally draining,” said Hackett afterwards.
“From the word go we knew it was going to be nip and tuck, nobody was getting anything simple. If you made mistakes you were going to be punished so we tried to limit our mistakes and it just worked out for us in the end.”
Hogan has been a long-standing member of the Nenagh Pierce Purcell team and vows to retire on a high now following the successful win this year.
“It’s been a pleasure to play with this man,” continued Hackett. “For the last 10 years we’ve played together on-and-off and we’ve never been beaten. A man of 75 years of age, to still be going, it says a lot about his character.”
Meanwhile out on the course, the AIG Women’s Intermediate Cup Final was reaching its culmination and with 3 matches concluded, two in favour of The K Club ,it was a race to the finish line to see which of the remaining matches could secure the winning point.
Beryl Bowden reached the 16th hole 3-up in her match against Mary Mahon (Athy) and her 3-foot putt for bogey enough to half the hole and win her match 3&2.
“I’m absolutely like a jelly, my legs nearly gave way as the girls came up to me there,” said Bowden. “It’s so amazing to have gotten this far.”
Bowden had been the hero in the quarter final when, having been 5 down thru 12, she won her match on the 19th and again today she embraced playing that role.
“It’s just been wonderful, the whole thing was wonderful, we just kept winning throughout the season. It felt like we were beating Covid, because what’s Covid when you can get out and play golf? It makes you so happy to be out in the fresh air.”
“That last putt, I’d missed one on the previous hole and I was very nervous but told myself to just put it in, it’s all you need!”
Meanwhile, Newlands and Galway Bay will face off tomorrow in the women’s AIG Junior Cup final while Corrstown, Rathfarnham, Ballinasloe and Killarney progressed in the AIG Men’s Junior Cup.
Play will resume on Sunday from 8am with the AIG Men’s Junior Cup semi-finals followed by the AIG Women’s Junior Cup final.
RESULTS: AIG Men’s Pierce Purcell Final
Elm Park (1.5) Nenagh (3.5) (Elm Park names first) Moore & Gilmor lost to Hackett & McGrath 4&3, O’Reilly & O’Gorman lost to O’Gara & O’Donoghue 3&2,
MacMahon & Barrett beat Moloney & Hickey 3&2, Sheedy & Roche lost to Hackett & Hogan 4&3, Dunne & Redford halved with Slattery & O’Brien (called in)
AIG Women’s Intermediate Cup Final
The K Club (3.5) Athy (1.5) (K Club names first) P Desmond lost to A Kelly 7&6, S A O’Connor beat H Hegarty 2&1, C Barry halved with S Smyth (called-in), N O’Grady beat J McDonald-Hyland 6&5, B Bowden beat M Mahon 3&2
AIG Women’s Junior Cup Semi-Finals
Ardee (1.5) Newlands (3.5) (Ardee names first) K Forrester lost to M O’Connell 2&1, L Halpenny beat A Hughes (2 holes), A Caffrey lost to F Ryan 2&1, S McQuaid lost to L Murphy 4&3, S Byrne halved with P Curtis (called-in)
Galway Bay (3) Tullamore (2) (Galway Bay names first) E Morrow lost to A Spain 1 hole, F O’Driscoll beat E O’Donohue 1 hole, K Coleman beat Richelle O’Neill 3&2, H O’Flaherty lost to E O’Connell 1 hole, M Cosgrave beat C Hinch 1 hole
AIG Men’s Junior Cup Quarter-Finals
Cushendall (2) Corrstown (3) (Cushendall names first) C McLaughlin lost to D Mahony 3&2, R McCambridge beat G Costigan 5&4, A Burns lost to A Barker 5&4, A McGregor beat P Keogh 3&2, A McQuillan lost to J Davis 6&5
Holywood (1) Rathfarnham (4) (Holywood names first) T Gedge lost to J Byrne 2&1, S Templeton halved with R Feighery (called-in), J Nevin beat J Staunton 2&1, R McClelland lost to D Ennis 2 holes, S Murray lost to A Buckley 1 hole
Ballinasloe (4) Clonmel (1) (Ballinasloe names first) T Cafferky beat L Phelan 3&2, C Mooney beat S Hawkins 2&1, A Grenham beat E Pyke 3&2, F Finneran halved with K O’Reilly (called-in), J Corbett halved with B Hewitt (called-in)
Naas (2) Killarney (3) (Naas names first) E McCormack lost to J Kerrisk 1 hole, C Culhane beat Paud O’Donoghue 4&3, A Rohan beat D O’Donoghue 2&1, J O’Rourke lost to A MacSweeney 3&1, S Gammell lost to M Tuite 20th
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