GOLF: Musgrave Challenge final in Cape Town, South Africa One of golf's fascinations is that you can learn a great deal about a person's character over four hours out on the course, writes Joe Culley.
Combine that with eight days of travel confined in close - if quite luxurious - proximity, and four rounds of competitive golf, and a genuine picture will emerge.
Which is why captain Gerry Ryan and the members of Nenagh Golf Club can take particular pride in the three young men who led them to a second consecutive victory in the Musgrave Crumlin Children's Hospital All-Ireland Club Challenge finals in Cape Town, South Africa, last week. For not only did brothers Ger and Denis Slattery along with colleague Paddy Lynch retain the pennant, they did so with great style and grace.
But don't be misled. Clearly, behind the trio's easy manner there beats a strong competitive instinct, for the Musgrave Classic was, remarkably, their second big win within a week; the day before flying out to Cape Town, the lads had helped their team, Kildangan, to capture the Co Tipperary Intermediate hurling title and earn promotion to the senior ranks next season.
As in previous years, the competitors were based at the Erinvale Estate Hotel, some 35 minutes east of Cape Town. The competition format consisted of four rounds. On day one, the best single Stableford score from each three-man team counted; on day two, the best two scores counted, and on day three each team member's card counted. Day four was a team rumble, with one score to count on the first six holes, two to count on the next six and all scores to count on the final six.
Day one was played over the Gary Player-designed Erinvale course, and Nenagh got off to the perfect start when Paddy Lynch, playing off 12, came in with 38 points to grab a one-point lead from Cloughaneely, for whom Philip McGeady (13) registered 37 points. To indicate the challenge of the week, with the competitors off the medal tees, those were two of only three scores to better a handicap.
Mick Dowd (6) kept Galway right in the hunt with 34 points, while Brendan O'Mara (19) was only a shot back for Seafield, who, like Nenagh, were playing in their second consecutive final, albeit represented by different teams.
Among the other notable events of the first day's play surrounded an unfortunate journalist who, unfamiliar with the nature of factor 40 sun block, quickly - but, mercifully, briefly - earned the nickname Casper.
Day two saw the teams travelling to Arabella Golf Club, which is rated by Golf Digest as the sixth best course in the country. Again Nenagh set the pace, this time with Denis Slattery (15) matching their previous day's 38 points, and he was joined by Ger (9) on 31 for a day's total 69 points.
Cloughaneely held on to second place with 34 points from greenkeeper Francie Boyle (11) and 31 from Martin Terry (13) for a 65 total.
Galway matched that with another solid 34 from Mick Dowd and 31 from Michael Corcoran (13), while Seafield slipped slightly to 63 points with a fine 36 from Greg Kelly (4) and 27 from Peter O'Reilly (20).
So, after two rounds, Nenagh led on 107 points, Cloughaneely were five back on 102, Galway had 99 points and Seafield 96.
After a day's rest, the teams headed to Pearl Valley Golf Club, a classic Jack Nicklaus design with wide fairways and big bunkers. A new course, but it was the same story in the competition as Nenagh kept up their relentless pace to total 93 points on the day. Cloughaneely kept in touch with 90 points, Brendan O'Mara fired a best-of-the-day 33 points to leave Seafield on 87, while Pat O'Toole's 31 off a 13 handicap led Galway in for 85 points.
Going into the final day's rumble, Nenagh stood on 200 points, Cloughaneely were eight back on 192, Galway had 184 and Seafield 183. It looked a two-team race.
For the rumble, the players returned to Erinvale for an early start, with the leaders out last. Seafield saved their best performance for last by bringing in the day's top score of 78 points to finish on a total of 261. Galway eased home with 74 points and a 258 total.
But things weren't going as smoothly for the leaders as they might have liked. After the front nine Cloughaneely had cut the lead by a shot to seven points, and Nenagh began to stumble. A couple of four-point holes then led to a real crisis at the par four 17th, where they managed to put three balls out of bounds and racked up a massive two points.
Standing on the 18th tee, the Nenagh lads knew they had to produce the goods. The last is a 492-yard par four, index four, with a long second shot to a green guarded by bunkers left and right and a stream at the rear.
But the brothers Slattery and Paddy Lynch showed the sort of nerve that brought Kildangan their title: each man found the fairway, each was on in two and all three birdie putts had a good look at the hole. Three solid pars for a nine-point haul, a day's total of 77 points, an overall total of 277 and the Musgrave pennant was theirs.
Unbeknownst to Nenagh, Cloughaneely had had their own difficulties down the back, and slipped to 73 points for a final tally of 265 for second place.
At the presentation dinner that evening, Bobby Hawkshaw of Our Lady's Hospital, whose attention to detail ensured the competition had run without a hitch, had the opportunity to remind everyone what lay behind this extraordinary week. He emphasised that the money raised through the competition is ring-fenced for specific projects at the hospital. In particular, recently it contributed significantly towards the new burns unit, and an extension to the hospital.
Finally, mention must be made of the intriguing story of Cloughaneely, a wee, nine-hole, 60-member course outside Falcarragh, and their erudite captain, Brian Cannon. That tale must await another time.
THE TEAMS
LEINSTER: Seafield Golf Club, Mary Cullen (capt), Peter O'Reilly, Greg Kelly, Brendan O'Mara.
ULSTER: Cloughaneely Golf Club, Brian Cannon (capt), Martin Terry, Francie Boyle, Philip McGeady.
CONNACHT: Galway Golf Club, Pat Sheehan (capt), Mick Dowd, Michael Corcoran, Pat O'Toole.
MUNSTER: Nenagh Golf Club, Gerry Ryan (capt), Denis Slattery, Ger Slattery, Paddy Lynch.
SPONSORS: Donal Horgan (Musgrave Group), Norma O'Sullivan (Musgrave Group), Shaun Boyce (Carrigart/Falcarragh), Michael Doran (Graiguenamanagh), John Caulfield (Waterford), Pat McNamara (Bearna), Bobby Hawkshaw (Our Lady's Hospital).
