In a way, it was almost fitting… A championship that began with one of the worst days in the West of Ireland’s now 102-year history, ended with arguably the most biblical 90 minutes of the entire week.
Think of the scene in Jurassic Park where the T-Rex breaks free, and you might be halfway to understanding the wind and rain that the heavens decided to gift Dylan Holmes, Colm Campbell and the 100-plus spectators that stuck with them until the bitter end.
Augusta National might frown upon the use of the word ‘fan’, deeming it’s derivative from ‘fanatic’ as more insulting than exalting, but only a fanatic would’ve braved those elements. Thankfully, it was a final match and an overall championship deserving of fanaticism.
As journalists, we’re supposed to be impartial, but even the most ethical of our tribe have our struggles.
For me, the Dylan Holmes versus Colm Campbell showpiece was even more challenging. On the one hand, you had the seasoned veteran, a four-time Irish Championship winner and a man deserving of having his name alongside the likes of Rory McIlroy, Pádraig Harrington, Shane Lowry and fellow Down man, Garth McGimpsey.
And for a reporter, Campbell is a dream… Always happy to talk, always eloquent, always insightful, and always appreciative of the spotlight we give to both the amateur players and to the events. To be fair, the same can be said for just about every amateur player, something that doesn’t always extend into the pro ranks, but that’s another story for another day.
And to make matters worse, I’d appeared on a pre-tournament preview show with Ocean FM’s Austin O’Callaghan and a series of other “experts” – “bluffers” might be equally apt – and we each had to give our pick for tournament winner. Campbell was mine, so for my own ego’s sake, I’d have a year and more of dining out on the fact that my expertise was trumps…
But on the other hand, you had the story…
An 18-year-old, playing in not only his first West of Ireland, but his first ever Men’s Championship. A young man with his Leaving Cert exams looming, who’d never represented Ireland in boy’s golf, and who’d readily admitted to being racked with nerves as early as his round of 16 match.
It was there that I first began to really follow him. 4UP with four to play against Athenry’s David Kitt, he conspired to lose three holes in a row as the experienced and dogged Kitt turned the screw and the match went up 18. Facing a howling right-to-left breeze, he found himself behind the left-hand bunker on the last, but hit a towering iron that rode the wind and came to rest within 10 feet of the flag, but it was the way in which he marched after the shot that caught my attention, and I spoke with him about it afterwards.
“Shades of Rory McIlroy on the 15th at Augusta,” I told him. Little did I know that that was only the beginning of the Rory McIlroy comparisons. Three matches later, he was youngest winner of the Championship since McIlroy himself back in 2006.
Call it confidence, call it youthful exuberance, call it innocence, call it what you like, he’d also declared that he was intent on winning the damn thing. Of course he was…. So were the other seven who comprised the quarter-finalists, but few would be prepared to admit it and you can’t blame them. They’ve all accumulated some sort of scarring as a result of looking too far ahead.
Maybe, in time, Holmes too will speak only of the match ahead, the hole ahead, the shot ahead, but it was a breath of fresh air and even better when his intentions were delivered upon.
Given his age, it was only natural that McIlroy comparisons would be drawn; how could they not? But it’s unfair to go beyond the free-flowing, powerful swing, the shy exterior and confident interior, and the swashbuckling way in which he tackled the Harry Colt Championship Links at County Sligo.
A quarter into his 19th year, McIlroy had already turned pro and secured his European Tour card, he’d already won the Silver Medal at the Open Championship, and he was already inside the top 250 in the World Rankings.
But on the evidence of his West of Ireland performance, there’s a bright future ahead for Holmes and this is just the beginning.
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