Gerard Dunne hopes he can hold up his end of the bargain as he looks to make it a Louth double at Croke Park and the Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship in Seapoint.
Dunne holds a share of the lead alongside England’s Lewy Hayward heading into today’s final round on twelve-under-par as he searches for his maiden championship title.
Those from the wee county who haven’t flocked to Croker will pack the fairways in support of Dunne who is a former Seapoint member and now plays his golf out of neighbouring Baltray.
Dunne handled the pressure of the final group and having the local support well on Saturday as he maintained his share of the lead but he knows today will be a completely different kettle of fish with the margin for error so slim with eighteen holes to go.
“I’ve been playing in a lot of championships and although I haven’t been in this position too often, I’m getting a bit older now and the experience does help. Knowing the course and having a bit of support definitely helps but trying to keep it simple and take one shot at a time,” said the guidance counsellor.
Dunne hasn’t shied away from thinking about lifting the trophy and etching his name alongside the likes of Cecil Ewing, JB Carr and Louis Oosthuizen on the roll of honour.
“It would be massive, massive for my own golfing career if you want to call it that so far. I put a huge amount of time and energy into it, part time as it is but it would be huge.”
Dunne tees off at 11:34 this morning and the hope is that everything can be done and dusted before the 4:15 throw in between Meath and Louth in the Leinster Final and he is confident that a sweet double is on the cards.
“Louth all day, and hopefully I can do the double and we can all be very happy,” he laughed.
On Saturday, Dunne waited all day to send a packed local crowd into raptures and he did so in style as he rolled in an eight-foot eagle putt on the 18th to grab a share of the lead.
On a dramatic afternoon Dunne held firm while others around him endured tricky spells on the back nine and he got his reward on the last to climb alongside Hayward after a hard fought round of 70.
“Delighted with the finish, battled all day. It was tougher today so bit of patience and we got rewarded with a nice three on the last so I’m delighted with it,” said Dunne.
Teeing off in uncharted territory, Dunne opened with a bogey but drew his first cheer of the afternoon with a birdie on the par-5 8th. The Baltray man birdied the tenth and bogeyed the eleventh but was steady if unspectacular as he left several birdie putts short.
He held the putts when he needed to most coming down the stretch. After fluffing a pitch into the green side bunker on 16, he got up and down before a towering iron shot to 8-feet set up a grandstand eagle finish which has given him a chance to win his maiden championship.
“It’s massive, I hit a really poor drive on sixteen and hit an equally as poor second shot but got a decent lie in the bunker to be fair, left myself six feet down the hill. Hit good shots into 17 and 18 to get something out of the round.”
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