Gavin Tiernan isn’t burdening himself with thoughts of qualifying for the Walker Cup in Lahinch this September but would love to sample the “carnage” that could unfold as Great Britain and Ireland tackle Team USA in front of an electric Irish crowd.
Tiernan represented GB&I last September in Cypress Point as a brave team effort came up short in the final day singles. With the Walker Cup coming to Ireland a host of Irish amateurs will be dreaming of a place on Dean Robertson’s squad. The County Louth clubman is very process driven but even he has let his mind wander to competing in front of a rumoured 30,000 strong carnival atmosphere.
“I haven’t been thinking too much about the Walker Cup it’s obviously huge dreams and goals, you want to play it so badly but playing or not playing, I’m focusing on my progression as a player,” the Malahide native explains.
“I can imagine what it will be like I heard 30,000 fans which is mental. I can imagine the absolute carnage it would be, the atmosphere will be unbelievable, especially with the Irish fans the Irish fans are unbelievable and if you have Irish players playing it will be mental.
“It would be huge for GB&I because if we have the crowd could be a huge benefit to us.”
Indeed the rise of the 20-year-old has been rapid after a meteoric summer. Initially not on the High Performance panel last year, Tiernan rose from 1038th in the world to 359th after a season which saw him finish runner-up at the Amateur Championship finish third at the East of Ireland and represent Ireland at the European Team Championships and Home Internationals and GB&I at the St Andrews Trophy and Walker Cup.
From Cypress Point to St Georges and Killarney, Tiernan did more than just pull up a few trees. His name is on the map and the next step for him is ensuring he becomes a household name at the top level of amateur golf before entering the pro ranks in a few years.
“It’s only really been the past few weeks that I’ve actually sat down and written down my reflection and thoughts over the season and I think if you told me at the start of the year that I’d be in Cypress Point playing Walker Cup I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t believe you but I would have probably been in shock,” Tiernan says with a grin.
“It was a great season for me I really progressed, my swing came a long way and I’m really happy with the season. The pinnacle was Cypress Point and having that experience, playing against the best players at the highest level, they are invaluable. You can hit as many balls in the range as you like but you’re not going to get those experiences that create the route for your game to progress.
“The Amateur Championship was fantastic as well and getting to represent Ireland at the European Team Championships, all just amazing experiences that you can learn from.”
Tiernan was nowhere near the GB&I Walker Cup radar when he arrived on site for the qualifier for the Amateur Championship at Royal St Georges. Even after he breezed through those 18 holes, just being in for the 36-holes of strokeplay was seen as an achievement for the youngster.
But he navigated the strokeplay at his ease and after he claimed the scalp of soon to be Walker Cup teammate Niall Shiels-Donegan, people began to take notice and from there he went on a dream yet dramatic run with all but two matches going the distance before facing America’s Ethan Fang in the decider.
Despite his world ranking of 1038th being referenced whenever he was about to hit a shot, Tiernan never saw his ranking as a sense of inferiority.
“The way I’ve always thought about it is that it is me against the golf course it doesn’t matter if the guy next to me is number five in the world,” he explains. “Going into the tournament and then the matchplay I knew just to play my own game and just see where it takes me. I think in matchplay as well people get caught playing the man way too much from what I see. I’ve always tried to play my own game and there can be something intimidating about playing someone who just doesn’t care what you’re doing and goes about their own business.
“I love going down the stretch that’s what you live for, that’s why you play the game. I twas an eye opener for me that I loved the feeling of it being a tight match. Definitely some of the matches being tight helped me for some of the latter matches. Hitting shots into 18 where I am literally shaking so nervous, but just because I felt nervous or excited or had a ton of adrenaline I was able to acknowledge that and not let it affect the outcome.”
Unbelievably, but maybe not to him, Tiernan led the 36-hole final 1UP at the halfway stage. The Royal St Georges terrain became a sea of red as the Baltray members flocked to the Kent area to back one of their own.
Unfortunately, Tiernan’s bid to become the first Irish golfer to clinch the Amateur title since James Sugrue in 2019 began to fade as the world number three ranked Fang turned the screw, moving two up with three to play.
But Tiernan produced a gutsy comeback with birdies on the 34th and 35th holes to level affairs before his dreams were dashed brutally by a closing birdie from Fang who became the first US winner since 2007 and snatched the title and starts at the Open, US Open and Masters away from Tiernan.
“There was a gut-wrenching feeling of having come so close and I’ve lost but Ethan just produced the goods, the mind does go to things you could have done different but looking back I am extremely happy like I had to qualify just to get into the tournament so I am happy with the experience, reflects Tiernan who would at least reap some rewards with a Walker Cup place being all but secured courtesy of his sensational run.
Irish selection and a St Andrews Trophy debut helped Tiernan cement his spot on the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team in Cypress Point last September. It was unique for Irish golf as he was joined by his clubmate Stuart Grehan – their achievement was honoured at the club at a later date.
“The atmosphere that our captain Dean created was unbelievable it was like we had known each other for years and years. To have two team members from the same club too was mental,” adds Tiernan who had the indescribable honour of raising the Irish flag at the opening ceremony.
“I was lucky enough to be able to raise the Irish flag in the opening ceremony and when you’re raising that with the anthem going up you could feel the tears coming on it was like a moment out of a movie, just so special.”
GB&I were written off by almost everybody as they touched down Stateside. USA had won the last four editions while GB&I had only twice tasted victory away from home.
But the underdogs packed a punch, a strong foursomes performance where they won one and halved another session saw them trail by just a single point going into the final day singles. However, the hosts the USA produced 8.5 of the available 10 points to romp to a 17-9 victory, the largest turn around of a final session and perhaps a harsh scoreline on GB&I.
Tiernan was the only GB&I player to win a singles point on the final day beating Michael La Sasso 2&1 and redeeming himself after he was hammered 7&5 by Stewart Hagestad the day before.
“That was nice for me just to prove a point I feel like I am one of the best players in the world and I can prove it here by beating one of the best in the world. I don’t think the score reflected how the day was going. For a lot of the time the first four or five matches were all one down or all square so if they had swung our way we’re having a different conversation.
“We really believed that we were going to win unfortunately it didn’t go our way but we had that true true belief that we were going to win.”
This is an excerpt taken from episode 199 of the Irish Golfer Podcast as I sat down with Gavin Tiernan. To hear the rest of our chat listen to the podcast via this LINK.
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