Bandon reach the promised land at last

GOLF CUPS & SHIELDS:THE JOURNEY to deliverance can have many twists and turns and, for Bandon Golf Club, and Donie O'Donovan in particular, reaching the final destination proved to be elusive. Until Saturday, that is.

The GPS system that enabled them to reach the promised land and to, as the elder statesman of the team put it, “find the Holy Grail” consisted of team spirit and self-belief as Bandon defeated Ulster kingpins Lurgan 4-1 in the Irish Senior Cup final, the showpiece of the Bulmers Cups and Shields finals.

And while Clontarf captured a second Jimmy Bruen Shield title in three years, defeating Tandragee 3½ to 1½ in a final where players showed fortitude in negotiating a torrential downpour which lasted the better part of two hours, it was Bandon’s historic first success in the Senior Cup which encapsulated the essence of what these national inter-club competitions are all about.

Perhaps there was a touch of fate about Bandon finally getting their hands on a green pennant, for they had only escaped from the qualifying courtesy of Kieran Hurley’s marathon battle where he beat his Muskerry opponent on the 27th before progressing to the Munster finals and a win over Castletroy on their home turf in the provincial semi-final was followed by a win over Limerick.

It got better once they reached Castlebar, defeating a Co Sligo team full of youths and full internationals in the semi-final.

And, then, the job was finished quite brilliantly on Saturday where Bandon – with Hurley and the O’Donovans, father Donie and son Brian, winning their matches and David McCarthy and Dwayne Twomey called in with the title claimed – caused a eruption of The Banks of my own Lovely Lee by the 16th greenside, where Donie had brought them over the line with his 4 and 2 win over James Horan.

All of 32 years ago, Donie had been part of a Bandon team which reached the Barton Shield finals in Galway where they were semi-final losers to Royal Portrush.

Now, the 52-year-old – who has his eyes on moving into the Seniors ranks in three years’ time when he qualifies – achieved the ultimate prize in Irish club golf.

“It’s the Holy Grail for us, unbelievable. At the start of the year, we started (the campaign) never having gotten out of Cork county never mind getting to the All-Irelands. It’s unbelievable,” he said.

With his 23-year-old son Brian – a 4 and 3 winner in the top singles over Francis Tallon – struggling to cope with the emotions, given it was his swansong to amateur golf as he moves on to a life in the Irish PGA as an assistant at Douglas, Donie added: “The team has been tremendous all the way through, all year. It has been a great team effort.”

The self-belief in the team was noted in the fact that the odds of 13/2 – demonstrating their roles as outsiders ahead of the finals – was taken on board by the Bandon players, which added a little extra spice to the win.

For sure, they were deserving champions, with Donie O’Donovan finishing in style with a six-iron over the flag to 20 feet on the 16th.

At that stage, he was three-up on Horan but was never required to use the putter as his opponent’s tee-shot finished in a bunker from which he barely extricated the ball and then hit his third shot 12 feet by the hole.

It was handshake time, and the signal for Cork’s anthem to erupt.