Tramore’s brave All-Ireland golfing dream just comes up short in Athlone

Despite a spirited comeback, Tramore Golf Club ultimately came up agonisingly short in their quest for All-Ireland honours in the AIG Pierce Purcell Shield at Athlone Golf Club.

It was a battling performance where all four teams found themselves behind to Connacht champions Claremorris at the halfway stage, but three dug deep to ensure that the coveted place in the final was not decided until the final green of the final match.

The management team of Eddie Jackman, Pat McDermott and John Hayden made one change to the lineup with Tony Eiffe and John Breen coming in for James Dunphy and James Twomey. And they also tweaked the order with Eiffe and Breen going out in the final match and Michael Crowley and Tony Whelan moving back to match 3.

It was Richard Kearney and Michael Ryan who, once again, led out the Tramore challenge, but they faced formidable opposition in Enda Curran and Brian Burke, who opened up a solid lead, winning three holes in a row to the fourth before Tramore got one back. However, the Claremorris duo then won the next two as well as the 9th and 10th to create an unassailable lead, and they secured the first point on the 14th for a 5 & 4 win.

Donnacha O Kane and Noel Burns found themselves two down after four holes to Michael Lohan and Martin Murphy, but won the fifth to reduce the deficit to a minimum. They kept it that way until the 11th, where a win levelled the match, and with three holes won in the next four, Tramore levelled the overall match with a 3 & 2 win.

Crowley and Whelan were behind from the outset, going three down by the sixth to Damien Connolly and Tom Fanning. They match each other hole for hole until the 13th, where Tramore won the hole. Another win on thirteen again brought the match back to one hole, and it was all level with a win on sixteen for Tramore. However, a half on seventeen sent the match to the final hole, where Claremorris got the better of Tramore and secured another point.

In the final match, it was Eiffe and Breen who lost the opening hole to Rossa Higgins and John Finn but levelled immediately at the next. It was a tight affair through the turn with Claremorris one up, but a win on eleven levelled the match for the third time. Tramore edged ahead with a win on the 13th, but Claremorris fought back to take the match to the final green and needing only a halve to secure their place in the final, they duly delivered to send the Mayo outfit to the final on a score of 2 ½ to 1 ½ points.