South of Ireland Championship
It's a good thing that youth knows no fear. Cian McNamara, for one, had no choice other than to exemplify such a trait in out-lasting Greg Bowden to win at the 21st hole of an emotional roller-coaster ride of a final to capture the South of Ireland Amateur Championship here yesterday.
When all the hard questions were asked of the 18-year-old, he had all the right answers.
Of course, we've known for some time of McNamara's promise. A former winner of the World Junior Open, the Limerick clubman, who is due to take up a golfing scholarship to East Tennessee in September, had already captured two titles in junior golf this season, the Munster Youths' and the Leinster Boys'.
For someone reared on a diet of how special the South was, though, this success was particularly poignant. "This is just the biggest thing for me," he said.
As an eight-year-old, he had acted as a caddie for his godfather, Ger Vaughan, in this championship, and could only dream of one day playing in it. At the start of the week, he quipped with his dad, Dermot, who acted as his caddie throughout, of what it would be like to actually win.
With each passing round, however, the quest became ever more serious, and was finally achieved in a marathon encounter with Bowden that had more twists and turns than the River Shannon.
Earlier in the day, McNamara had shown his mettle by coming from three-down to defeat international Richard Kilpatrick at the 20th, while Bowden had seen off another international, Johnny Foster, by one hole.
The presence of McNamara in the final certainly boosted the crowd, with supporters arriving in their droves from Limerick. "I'd say 90 per cent were gunning for me, and that was a really big help," he confessed.
If the quality of golf in the semi-final was high, the final itself, as so often happens, became a tense, nervous affair. Not surprising, really, considering that this was the seventh high-powered match in four days for the pair, and it was McNamara who established the early advantage, securing a two-hole lead by the time he walked off the eighth green.
However, a three-putt bogey on the ninth signalled the start of a seriously rocky patch. McNamara had five bogeys in succession and saw his two-hole lead transformed into a two-hole deficit. On the 14th, it looked as if he was going to drop even further behind.
"I thought I was gone," he admitted.
But McNamara, who was seeking to accomplish the rare feat of being a teenage winner of the South, something first achieved by Fred Ballingall in 1897 and more recently by Mark Campbell in 1999, rolled in a 20-footer for par, while Bowden missed from 10 feet, to reduce the deficit to one.
On the 17th hole in his semi-final, McNamara had produced a stunning four-iron approach of over 190 yards to three feet to set up a birdie that rescued that match; in the final, a par was sufficient to bring the match all-square, after Bowden missed a four-footer for his par.
And on it went. "I felt it was actually an achievement to bring the match to the 18th," said McNamara, who saw his 30-footer for birdie graze the hole, and then watched as Bowden's 12-footer failed to drop.
On the 19th, McNamara, who had already bogeyed, had his cap off and was ready to shake Bowden's hand, only for the Dubliner to three-putt from 18 feet. And on they went for more agony.
At the next, McNamara missed the green right but pitched to 12 feet and sank the birdie putt to halve the hole, after Bowden had played a beautiful three-wood approach to the back of the green, only to run his eagle putt some three feet past the hole.
The tie was decided on the 21st, where McNamara's par was sufficient to secure him a title that, to him, had seemed to be out of his reach for much of the final.
"I'm sure I'll have other opportunities," said Bowden, aged 22, who also lost in the West of Ireland final earlier this season.
Back at Easter, McNamara had been forced to withdraw from the West when his grandfather died. His father, Dermot, had driven up to Rosses Point to inform the player personally.
Yesterday, his duty was a far more pleasant one . . . caddying for his son in the final of the South. A touch of fate, perhaps?
Semi-finals:
C McNamara (Limerick) bt R Kilpatrick (Banbridge) at 20th;
G Bowden (Hermitage) bt J Foster (Ballyclare) 1 hole.
Final:
McNamara bt Bowden at 21st.