Amateur Scene/ Mullingar Scratch Cup: Paul O'Hanlon of The Curragh joined an elite list yesterday when he claimed the Mullingar Scratch Cup in dramatic fashion.
A spectacular round of 67 after an opening 69 left him four shots clear of his nearest rival, Seamus Power of West Waterford, and an incredible final shot wrapped up a memorable day for the 22-year-old.
Holding a three-shot lead on the 18th tee, O'Hanlon had sliced his drive, and he chopped out before laying up. But there was to be no sign of a Carnoustie-like finish.
His fourth shot on the 503-yard par five will be remembered for a long time in these parts, just like Ronan Rafferty's implosion was on the 17th in this competition in 1979, resulting in the offending bush being named "Rafferty's bush". A "smooth lob wedge", as O'Hanlon described it, from 74 yards, dropped inches to the right of the pin, flew six yards past and then spun back beautifully to drop slowly into the hole as if it intended to go nowhere else.
"When I hit it I thought it was close alright," said the former Youth International, "but when it went in I couldn't believe it, I was absolutely delighted."
His nerves of steel throughout the back nine, after he learnt on the 10th tee that he had taken the lead, were summed up by his spectacular birdie on 18.
"When I found out I was ahead, I just wanted to hammer it home," he explained, "I didn't want to get any negative thoughts in my head and give away any silly bogeys."
O'Hanlon, a finance graduate of Maynooth, was a talented Youth golfer and represented Ireland as a boy but after breaking his ankle in two places in a freak accident, his career stalled.
Now he has joined the likes of Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley as a Mullingar Scratch Cup champion and he knows it is something to cherish for the rest of life.
"I looked at that list a few days ago and it really is a who's who of Irish golf," he said. "Even if I never get any further in my career I'll always be proud of this win."
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