Tommy Gillespie and Shane Rooney win President’s Prize

The final of the President’s Prize was played last Saturday. This is a fourball matchplay competition, which started away back in the month of May.

The final pitted Tommy Gillespie and Shane Rooney against Andrew Quinn and Barry Casey.

The final, as expected, was a very close affair and the standard of golf was exceptional. The better-ball score was nett 8 under par.

This is how the match unfolded:

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1st- Barry won it with a par; 2nd- Andrew birdied. Tommy had a nett birdie. Hole halved.

3rd- Halved in par; 4th- Barry and Tommy both had nett 3. Hole halved.

5th- Shane won it with a 4, nett 3. The match was level; 6th- Great birdie from Andrew to put him and Barry 1 up.

7th- Halved in pars; 8th- Andrew and Shane halved the hole with par 3’s; 9th- Shane got the only par and he won the hole to level the match again.

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10th- Andrew’s par 3 was matched by Tommy’s 4 nett 3; 11th- A drive, wedge and a single putt gave Shane a win in birdie. Himself and Tommy were ahead for the first time.

12th- Tommy hit the shot of the match. He splashed out of the front bunker straight into the hole for a winning birdie. Tommy and Shane were now 2 up; 13th- Barry reduced the deficit with a winning par. Only one hole in it.

14th- Shane won it with a 5, nett 4. Back to 2 up.

15th- Halved in pars.

16th- What brilliant golf! Shane hit into one foot from the hole and Andrew hit his approach into 6 inches. Hole was halved with birdies.

17th- Tommy and Shane went into the trees. Barry won with a par 4. There was one hole in it with one to play.

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18th- Shane made a par 3 and that was good enough to retain the 1 up lead.

The match was over. Shane and Tommy had won by one hole up. The match was a credit to all four players.

Shane Rooney has a wonderful record in the President’s Prize in recent years. He got to the final with Colin Kennedy and won it with Patsy Tumilty. Now he has guided his good friend, Tommy Gillespie, to victory. Who will he play with next season?

The club President, John Parkes, presented all four finalists with beautiful prizes and everyone was delighted.

Well done, one and all!