O'Mahony earns trophy for Mallow

Ultimately, the mix was unbeatable. A number of young guns, one of them making his amateur farewell before a move into the professional ranks, and a veteran - displaying all the attributes of a gunslinger certain that each move would be his last - combined to give Mallow a history-making win over Portmarnock in the Irish Senior Cup, the finale to the Bulmers All-Ireland Cups and Shields at Newlands on Saturday.

In an emotional and spontaneous reaction to Tim O'Mahony's winning birdie putt in the decisive fifth and final match, the large contingent of Mallow supporters invaded the 18th green of the course that adjoins Ireland's busiest roadway.

And such a response ensured that O'Mahony, a 21-year-old scratch golfer drafted into the team because the club's number one player Mervyn Owens was unavailable to play due to a family wedding, was immediately made aware of the enormity of his achievement.

Mallow's feat was, indeed, the stuff of fairytales. O'Mahony hadn't actually played a match in the Cork club's march through Munster.

Once he answered the call, though, he delivered, winning his two matches in Newlands, none more importantly than in birdieing the last hole to defeat Michael Brett.

"I was determined we weren't going to leave it behind," he remarked.

In fact, O'Mahony was two down to Brett after 11 holes but contrived to level matters at the 14th where he hit an eight-iron approach to 15 feet below the hole. He had reduced the deficit at the 12th, where a par was sufficient, and edged into the lead on the 16th where Brett's tee-shot missed the green left.

The final two holes, however, contained much drama. With a huge gallery - and their respective team-mates - walking the fairways behind them, O'Mahony's drive down the 17th finished behind a tree on the left, while Brett's drive missed the fairway on the right.

O'Mahony's attempted approach shot hit one of the giant fir trees and, when Brett produced a winning par, it all came down to the last hole of the last match.

Brett's tee-shot finished in a fairway bunker and he had no option other than to splash out onto the fairway. Meanwhile, O'Mahony's tee-shot found the middle of the fairway and, with 231 yards to the flag, his three-iron approach crucially cleared the greenside bunkers that guard the elevated green and he finished in some style by deftly chipping to four feet and sinking the birdie putt to give Mallow their first ever national senior title.

While O'Mahony was the key man, the performance of 56-year-old Jimmy Murphy was equally impressive. Murphy holed a 20-footer for birdie at the first and never trailed in his match with Aengus McAllister.

However, having been three-up after 10 holes, it seemed that the initiative had swung back to Portmarnock when his younger opponent levelled matters on the 15th.

But Murphy, who has played senior cup golf since the mid-60s, regained the one-hole advantage on the 16th and gamely held on to win his match, though he had to endure an anxious time on the 18th green when McAllister had a five-footer to force extra holes.

"There's not a chance in the world that you'll see me in this situation again," said Murphy.

Mallow's other winner didn't have to endure such tense moments. Michael Collins, another 21-year-old, who is due to take up an assistant professional post in Charleville this week, was a 6 and 5 winner over David Kelleher.

So it was that Portmarnock's two internationals Adrian Morrow and Noel Fox - who gave an exhibition of driving, cutting off the dog-leg at the 330 yards 11th to find the green with his tee shot - both won their matches, against David Finn and David Conway respectively, only to see the green pennant claimed by first-time winners Mallow.

It proved to be a good day for Munster clubs, as Thurles were 4-1 winners over Holywood in the Jimmy Bruen Shield. Three members of the team - Ray Shannon, Seamus Troy and Joe Irwin - had been on the 1996 winning team in the same competition while Troy, Declan Corcoran and David Judge were members of the recent national mixed foursomes' winning side.

JIMMY BRUEN SHIELD - Final: Thurles 4 Holywood 1 (R Shannon/E Clancy bt G Shellard/P McMillen 5 and 4; J O'Dwyer/B Maher halved with S Doherty/J Hume; J McCormack/JJ Maher bt S Gordon/S Biggerstaff 5 and 4; D Corcoran/D Judge halved with M Dickson/S Gilpin; S Troy/J Irwin bt A Nugent/M Gillen 6 and 5).

IRISH SENIOR CUP - Final: Mallow 3 Portmarnock 2 (D Finn lost to A Morrow 2 and 1; J Murphy bt A McAllister 1 hole; D Conway lost to N Fox 6 and 5; T O'Mahony bt M Brett 1 hole; M Collins bt D Kelleher 6 and 5.

ROLL OF HONOUR 2001

Irish Senior Cup - Mallow.

Barton Shield - UCD.

Irish Junior Cup - Ballyclare.

Jimmy Bruen Shield - Thurles.

Pierce Purcell Shield - Kanturk.