National Cups and Shields finalsNoel Fox may or may not be nearing the end of his amateur days. In two weeks' time, he competes in the first stage of the PGA European Tour qualifying school and, depending on what happens there, a career as a professional could well be around the corner.
Still, for the 29-year-old Portmarnock golfer, life as an amateur hardly gets much better than what's happened this past week. On Saturday, six days after playing his part in Britain and Ireland's historic third successive win in the Walker Cup, Fox again savoured team success as part of the Portmarnock team that won the Senior Cup in the Bulmers Irish Cups and Shields finals at Lisburn Golf Club.
After winning out of Leinster for the previous two years, but failing on the national stage, it was a case of third time lucky for team captain Eddie Butler and his men. "We've got the set now - gold, silver and bronze," said Butler, after Portmarnock's experience proved too much for a young Malone team in the final. Portmarnock eventually claimed a 4½-1½ success to take the trophy for the 18th time.
While the oldest player on the Malone team was 25, Portmarnock were bulked up with experience that saw Adrian Morrow, at 50, leading from the top with a 4 and 3 win over Jamie McCracken. Michael Brett, at 26, the youngest of the team, was a 4 and 2 winner over Andrew Boyle; Fox was a 4 and 2 winner over 16-year-old Karl Gilbert, while Dermot Snow, 49, was a 4 and 3 winner over Patrick Dean. The other match was called in, with Niall Goulding trailing teenager Gareth Shaw.
"I'm enjoying this team stuff," remarked Fox, who this week leads the Irish team in the quest for the Home Internationals at Ballybunion. "I'm just trying to roll from one to the other and, to be honest, I see it as quite a good way to prepare for the Tour School. It keeps you sharp and you simply can't beat match practice."
Although it was always going to be difficult to follow on from the Walker Cup success, the pinnacle of an amateur's career, Fox was delighted that Portmarnock, after their near successes of the previous years, finally secured the Senior Cup. "I'm really thrilled for the guys because they are career amateurs who have put a lot into this game," he said.
Portmarnock were largely always in control of the destination of the title. Fox did trail Gilbert by one hole playing the ninth, where an unusual incident occurred as his opponent was playing his tee-shot. The ball fell off the peg but Gilbert continued his downstroke, hit the ball, and could only watch as it scuttled up the right half of the fairway towards the trees. A rules official deemed that Gilbert was in the act of making a positive stroke, so no penalty applied - but it did seem to unsettle the young Malone player. However, Fox unleashed a massive drive of 350 yards over the dogleg to just 20 yards short of the green, won the hole, and went on to win four of the next seven holes.
Morrow effectively closed out his match with a 15-footer for eagle on the 14th where Brett was also to hole a 20-footer for eagle, while Snow - unbeaten in this competition for almost five years - was three up after four holes and cruised to his win.
Castle took the Jimmy Bruen Shield with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Ulster champions Greenisland. Remarkably, the Dublin club became the fourth club in the finals to win a green pennant for the first time. Ross Kinsella and Karl Swaine, who won all of their matches during the matchplay phases at provincial and national level, won the top match by 5 and 4 over Geoff Pearson and Johnny Logan, while Gary Moran and Brian Gleeson were 6 and 5 winners over John Armstrong and Jim Warke.
The pennant was secured in spectacular fashion when Martin Wilson, the chief executive of Ulster Bank, and 14-year-old Anthony Slaughter were 9 and 7 winners over Tim Taggart and Jim Davis, with the other two matches called in. In many ways, such a pairing epitomises the unique appeal of the GUI Cups and Shields.
"We'd a fantastic blend of youth and experience and to win a national pennant means so much to the club," insisted Wilson. "This win could set Castle off on a whole new dimension and, with these young players, hopefully we can challenge for Seniors Cups and Barton Shields in the future."
Irish Senior Cup Final: Portmarnock 4½ Malone ½ (Portmarnock names first) - A Morrow bt J McCracken 4 and 3; M Brett bt A Boyle 4 and 2; N Goulding halved with G Shaw; N Fox bt K Gilbert 4 and 2; D Snow bt P Dean 4 and 3.
Jimmy Bruen Shield Final: Castle 4 Greenisland 1 (Castle names first) - R Kinsella/K Swaine bt G Pearson/J Logan 5 and 4; B Gleeson/G Moran bt J Armstrong/J Warke 5 and 4; J Whooley/B Kane halved with M Nixon/B McRoberts; M Wilson/A Slaughter bt T Taggart/J Davis 9 and 7; J Bourke/T O'Connor halved with J Greer/I Knox.
Roll of Honour: Barton Shield - Banbridge; Irish Junior Cup - Skerries; Pierce Purcell Shield - Gort; Irish Senior Cup - Portmarnock; Jimmy Bruen Shield - Castle.
