Roscommon win club duel in the sun

You can't beat experience, or so the old adage goes, and it is certainly one to which Roscommon Golf Club would subscribe. Last year, they qualified as the Connacht provincial champions and representatives in the Musgrave's Club Challenge National Finals in the Algarve, a tournament run in aid of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, in Crumlin.

They finished just five points behind the winners, Limerick County, albeit last of the four provincial winners. That experience, however, galvanised them to once again emerge as Connacht champions and last week in Portugal produce enough savoir-faire to win the national finals, edging out Ulster champions Dunfanaghy by three points.

The tournament, in its fourth year, is open to all clubs in Ireland and is sponsored by the Musgrave Group. All the money raised by the clubs goes directly to the research wing of Our Lady's Hospital: this year's figure raised was £79,000 and over the four years since the inception of the tournament, a little in excess of £250,000 has been donated.

The three-person teams representing the participating clubs compete at provincial level for the honour of being one of the elite four who depart for Portugal and play four rounds over some of the top courses in the Algarve.

Roscommon and Dunfanaghy were joined by the Leinster winners, the ladies of Kilternan, and Munster kingpins, Beaufort.

The serious competitive instincts remained virtually untainted by late nights and a very large amount of socialising. Obviously, some were more indulgent than others but suffice to say, there was no skulking off for the full eight hours sleep.

Despite the social constraints the quality of golf was excellent and the outcome of the tournament remained in doubt until the home green on the final day.

The format for the competition required that the clubs compete over four courses, Vila Sol, Salgados, Penina and Pinta. There was an ancillary competition for the four club captains, who could offer nothing but vocal and moral support to the three-person teams.

The bonding process between the competitors began early, at Dublin Airport to be precise. A seven-hour delay on the flight meant there was plenty of time for the teams to socialise.

For Beaufort's Peter O'Brien there was a more pressing engagement as he had opted out of the scheduled flight to play in the Kerry county football final for Dr Croke's against Austin Stacks. The former Kerry goalkeeper and seven-handicap golfer could not prevent his side from losing, 0-12 to 1-8, but did boast the honour of leaving his goal to take a penalty kick - and score. The added bonus was he had backed himself to score the game's first goal with a local bookmaker and at odds of 25 to 1 it provided some solace.

He headed for the airport immediately after the game to catch the flight to Portugal.

It was Beaufort who started the tournament best on the Monday at Vila Sol. The fourballs comprised of a club and an opposing team's captain with the best score from the three to count at every hole. The Kerry club amassed 47 points to lead by six from Roscommon and Dunfanaghy.

For Beaufort's 20-handicapper, Stephen Loughnane, there was a double celebration as he holed out in one at the par-three fourth (his 13th hole on the day) with a five iron. "Peter (O'Brien) said to me, 'that's like a rash, all over the flag'. It bounced twice and went in."

The third member, Gerry Collins, also contributed handsomely.

Beaufort's joy was to be short lived. On the next day at Salgados, a course that boasts water hazards at 14 holes - there is also the odd pool of casual water around bushes - they slipped from first to last. If it was a bad day for the Kingdom, it was even worse for Dunfanaghy's John McGinley. Having returned a brilliant 40 points - two cards to count from the three person teams - it came to light that he had signed for a wrong score.

He recorded back-to-back birdies but signed for two, three on the holes in question rather than three, two. The points tally would have been the same but his card had to be disqualified in accordance with the rules of golf. It was a heartbreaking oversight and one that would ultimately prove decisive: all the more so because McGinley was the outstanding golfer over the week. The eight handicapper produced a staggering level par round on the final day (44 points) over Pinta to drag his team within a whisker of outright victory.

It was typical of the man that he accepted his oversight without rancour. It meant Dunfanaghy had to use the previously discarded score of Bernard Hanlon (30 points). Instead of trailing Roscommon by a single point, the Ulster club did so by 11. Kilternan, represented by the lady captains of 1998, 1999 and 2000, Francis Mahon, Sheila Mulligan and Mary Courtney, were second (111), followed by Dunfanaghy and Beaufort.

After a rest day, the teams headed for Penina, home to the Portuguese Open, and despite a course sodden by the thunderstorms of the previous night the competitors once again produced fine golf. On the culmination of play it looked a straight dispute between Dunfanaghy and Roscommon.

The Connacht champions would go to Pinta on the final day aware that their team of Eddie Keane, Gerry Kelly and Jackie Dempsey had not only played the course before but had done so with some success. As it transpired, Roscommon's 82 points in the rumble format was just enough.

Not even the heroics of McGinley and Dunfanaghy's wee man, the five-handicap legend - he has won 10 captains' prizes at the club - James Brogan was enough to overturn the six-point deficit at the start of play. Dunfanaghy did produce the best score on the day - 85 points - but lost out overall by three. Kilternan pipped Beaufort for third place.

There was some consolation for the Kerry club when Gear≤id O'Sullivan won the captain's competition with a superb 109 points over three rounds.

Musgrave Group chief executive Seamus Scally (the leading money winner over the week's golf) pointed out: "The tournament has grown each year and this was no exception. We would hope that even more clubs will get involved next year and make this one of the premier competitions for clubs."

Those who wish to get involved in next year's tournament can contact tournament organiser Pat Cashman through Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin at 4096300.