All-Ireland Cups and Shields: He is known as "The Lob Wedge", if only for the fact his father is known as "The Wedge". Jason Arthur, to give him his proper name, doesn't mind what he is called; for all that matters is when the hard question was asked, he answered it. And it was the 17-year-old's birdie putt on the last green in the last match that determined Killarney Golf Club won the Irish Junior Cup for the first time amid jubilant scenes in the Bulmers All-Ireland Cups and Shields at Galway yesterday.
"I knew I was right to blood the young fellows," remarked his father, James, the caddie master at Killarney and also the captain of the winning team. It may have been a hard call to make, opting for youth ahead of older bodies, but it proved to be the right one.
Another teenager, Rory O'Sullivan, came up with another crucial point while, indicating experience is required, Brendan O'Toole maintained his 100 per cent record through the campaign and gave Killarney the other vital win for a 3-2 final success over Co Louth.
If not quite clasping the trophy at one stage in the final, Co Louth did appear to have at least their fingertips on it. O'Toole, though, came from two holes down with four to play to eke out a one-hole win over Ronan Branigan in the top singles, while O'Sullivan, once overcoming the hiccup of losing the opening hole in his match with Shane Gannon, assumed control and was two up at the turn before going on to a 4 and 2 win. David Doggett and Pat McCaffrey were Baltray's two winners.
O'Toole's win over Branigan provided the impetus for what was to follow half an hour later from Arthur. All through this Junior Cup, at sectional, then provincial and finally national level, O'Toole has been the strong man of this Killarney team but things looked ominous for the 34-year-old as he headed back across the Salthill road for the final stretch of holes.
At that stage, he was two down to Branigan but he won the 15th where he drilled a two-iron approach into the wind and found the green. Two putts for a par were enough to win hole and, on the 16th, he maintained his momentum when, using his two-iron to finish short of the green, he hit his gap wedge approach to four feet and holed the birdie putt to go level.
On the 17th, his opponent was in trouble off the tee and, again, a par was sufficient to give him a win and put him one-up as he walked to the 18th tee. The final hole was halved in bogeys and, suddenly, the door that seemed to be slamming shut on Killarney was reopened.
O'Sullivan, meanwhile, made no mistake in winning his match over Gannon and finished off in style with a birdie on the 16th.
And, so, it all came down to the match between Arthur and Michael Kierans. Having lost the first two holes, Arthur was two up with four holes to play before stumbling coming in. Kierans won the 15th, when Arthur put his third shot into a greenside bunker, and then went all square when winning the 16th, after the Killarney player's sand wedge approach overshot the green.
It all came down to the final hole, a par three of 203 yards into a stiff wind coming in off Galway Bay. Kierans, hitting first, found the front of the green with a fairway wood. Undeterred, Arthur, known as a long hitter, reached for a four-iron only to change his mind after a brief discussion with his experienced caddie Mick Whelan. Instead, he opted to use a three-iron, and played a quite majestic shot in to eight feet below the hole. He sank the putt - "the most important of my life," he said - and bedlam ensued as Killarney's supporters responded to his classy finish.
There was to be more raucous celebrations from Munstermen later, when Woodstock - less than a decade since it was formed - claimed a first green pennant in emphatic manner when they beat Moyola Park by 4-1 in the Pierce Purcell Shield Final.
"We've never been this far on our holidays," said captain Luke Coote of his side's run. "To get out of Clare was a bonus; to win Munster an added bonus, but to win an All-Ireland title . . . I can't describe what it means to us."
The win was all the more remarkable for Woodstock in that their pool of players in this category is a small one. Darragh Lynch and Michael Kelly won the top match by 3 and 2; Liam McInerney and Michael O'Brien made it eight wins out of eight throughout the competition when winning their match 6 and 5, while Jimmie Kelly and Martin Nugent wrapped up the historic win when claiming their match 6 and 4.
Tim Rice started the day by attending the casualty ward of the local hospital to be treated for a bee sting on his neck.
"I tend to react badly to stings," he admitted, and so took up their offer of anti-histamines although warned that they could make him drowsy. In the event, Rice more than stayed awake. Two down with six holes to play, he fought back to beat Niall Goulding by one hole for the match-winning point - Mike O'Kelly and Gerard Vaughan also winning - and set up a final today with Clandeboye, who comprehensively dispatched Galway and now seek to become the 10th club to achieve the Senior Cup-Barton Shield double.
On a rare day of drama, The Island brought their Jimmy Bruen Shield semi-final down to the wire. In a tense duel with Warrenpoint, which swung one way and then the other, the Dublin duo of Noel Rogers and Brendan Walton won the 18th hole for a one-hole win. It was decisive, and gave The Island a 3-2 overall win over Warrenpoint. Claremorris, seeking their first green pennant, were 3-2 winners over Harbour Point in the other semi-final encounter.
IRISH JUNIOR CUP - FINAL: Killarney 3, Co Louth 2 (Killarney names first): B O'Toole bt R Branigan 1 hole; R O'Sullivan bt S Gannon 4 and 2; D O'Donoghue lost to D Doggett 3 and 2; J Arthur bt M Kierans 1 hole; G McKenzie Vass lost to P McCaffrey 3 and 2.
PIERCE PURCELL SHIELD - FINAL: Woodstock 4 Moyola Park 1 (Woodstock names first): D Lynch/M Kelly bt A Corr/F Archer 3 and 2; L McInerney/M O'Brien bt K Beatty/G Caskey 6 and 5; J Condon/M Meehan halved with D Caskey/L Peoples; T Coote/R Dormer halved with A Kearney/R O'Kane; J Kelly/M Nugent bt M Gormley/J McCloskey 6 and 4.
JIMMY BRUEN SHIELD - SEMI-FINALS: Claremorris 3, Harbour Point 2 (Claremorris names first): S Gallagher/J McDonnell lost to G Tobin/C Kelly; K Brett/B McDonald bt M O'Flynn/I O'Flynn 4 and 3; S Finnegan/J Prendergast lost to T O'Flynn/J O'Flynn 3 and 2; TJ Farragher/S Connolly bt F Wright/D Mulcahy 6 and 4; M Higgins/N McDonnell bt J Murphy/D O'Connor 5 and 4. The Island 3, Warrenpoint 2 (Island names first): N Tobin/A Pitcher bt G Durkin/C Campbell Jnr 4 and 3; D Gaffney/P Cullen lost to K Gallagher/K Murphy at the 19th; T Boland/C Ryan lost to B Powell/F Quinn 5 and 3; E Meaney/G Dowdall bt T Keenan/J Murray 1 hole; N Rogers/B Walton bt D McGreevey/G Moan 1 hole.
IRISH SENIOR CUP - SEMI-FINALS: Limerick 3 ½, Portmarnock 1 ½ (Limerick names first): M O'Kelly bt A Morrow 4 and 3; T Rice bt N Goulding 1 hole; C McNamara lost to N Fox 2 and 1; G Vaughan bt D Kelleher 3 and 2; M Poucher halved with D Snow.
Clandeboye 4, Galway 1 (Clandeboye names first): A McCormick bt McGranaghan 4 and 3; C Moriarty halved with T Nolan; C Murphy halved with S Keenan; T Spence bt M O'Sullivan 4 and 3; J Caldwell bt D Cunningham 4 and 3.
TODAY'S DRAW
IRISH SENIOR CUP - FINAL: Limerick v Clandeboye (Limerick names first): 9.30: McNamara v McCormick. 9.40: Rice v Moriarty. 9.50: O'Kelly v Murphy. 10.00: M Kemmy v Spence. 10.10: Vaughan v Caldwell.
JIMMY BRUEN SHIELD - FINAL: Claremorris v The Island (Claremorris names first): 10.30: Gallagher/McDonnell v Tobin/Pitcher. 10.40: Brett/McDonald v Cullen/Gaffney. 10.50: Finnegan/Prendergast v Boland/Cuffe. 11.00: Farragher/Connolly v Dowdall/Meaney. 11.10: Higgins/McDonnell v Walton/Rogers.
