The hex was finally exorcised, as Royal Dublin - some 47 years on from their last triumph in the competition - captured the Barton Shield with an emphatic 12 holes winning margin over Galway in the AIG Irish Cups and Shields finals over the O’Meara Course at Carton House.
“We buried the curse . . . and proved that a manager from Mayo can really win an All-Ireland,” quipped Mick Chambers, a Mayoman living in Dublin, who was non-playing captain of the Bull Island club.
For sure, Chambers had a strong hand to play with the four players in his team having a combined handicap of plus-10. And that quality was apparent as Jeff Hopkins and Shaun Carter won by seven holes over Joe Lyons and Stephen Brady in the top match, complemented by Barry Anderson and I an O’Rourke’s five holes win over Ronan Mullarney and Colm Hughes. It gave Royal Dublin its fourth win in the competition, and first since 1968.
“They played some savage golf,” admitted Savage of his men. Indeed, Hopkins and Carter were three-under for their 13 holes and were on the 14th green when the point of no return came for Galway. In that top match, Hopkins and Carter were one down after three holes but won five successive holes - from the fourth to the eighth - to take an iron grip. The transformation was truly dramatic.
Further salt was rubbed into Galway wounds after the turn, with Carter chipping in for birdie on the 11th and the Royal Dublin duo won the 12th - after Brady pulled his approach left into a grassy hollow - and 13th, where the Galway pair three-putted on the slick greens, to move seven holes up. It was only a matter of time after that, and Galway were taken out of their misery soon after.
“As good we played and as many chances as we had, what was important was that we weren’t making bogeys and that meant guys couldn’t beat us,” said Carter, a 23-year-old psychology graduate who became well acquainted with the O’Meara course during his time at Maynooth University.
If the Barton Shield was a one-sided affair, the same could not be said for the Junior Cup final which saw 60-year-old John Armstrong - playing in his first match of the campaign after being drafted into the team in recent weeks - defeat his opponent David Scott by one hole to give Greenisland a 3-2 win over Westport. It gave Greenisland, a nine-hole club in Co Antrim, a first ever national pennant.
Armstrong did it the hard way, most dramatically on the 180 yards Par 3 16th where he put his tee shot into the water. Faced with potential golfing disaster, Armstrong’s fortitude proved up to it: from the drop zone, he hit “a wee pitching wedge” to 10 feet to halve the hole. Then, he went one up on the 17th, using a Daddy Long Legs lying on the green as the guide for slick putt, and watched as Scott three-putted from the back of the green;, and then Armstrong sank a tricky, downhill three-footer for bogey on the finishing hole which was sufficient to halve the hole and claim the victory for the Ulster club.
That putt on the last took what seemed an eternity to drop, akin to that Tiger Woods/Nike moment from Augusta in 2005. But it did drop, to signal great scenes of celebrations and champagne corks popping by greenside
