IF THE common strand for all those who have participated in the Musgrave Crumlin Children's Hospital Interclub Challenge down the years has been the aim to elicit money for a worthy cause, with some €1.5 million raised in the 12 years of the competition, the icing on the cake for participants is to claim the national title., reports PHILIP REID

Last week, in the All-Ireland finals held in the Algarve in Portugal, Castleblayney Golf Club – who play out of the magnificent Concra Wood Golf and Country Club by the banks of Lough Muckno in Co Monaghan – achieved a notable first in the competition: they became the first club to win back-to-back titles, albeit in nail-biting fashion when they edged out Connacht champions Portumna.

The hilly terrain and fairways lined by fig trees at the courses of Vale da Pinta, where the first day’s action took place, and Morgado do Reguengo, which played host to a rumble on the second day, provided perfect settings for the many twists and turns of the competition.

The outcome was decided with Castleblayney retaining the title with a two-day total of 148 points to Portumna’s 146. Munster champions Blarney finished third on 143, with Leinster’s Grange fourth on 138.

In this national competition, editorially supported by The Irish Times, the four three-man teams who had all emerged from their respective provincial finals were required to play a first round at the Nick Price-designed Pinta course (with two out of three cards counting in the Stableford format), and then to complete the event with a rumble (one score on the first six holes, two scores to count on the next six holes and all three to count on the final six holes) that allowed no room for anyone to hide.

On another day, the Castleblayney team’s sporting endeavours may have focused on performances with a larger ball, as all three – Kieran Tavey, Patrick Tavey and Keith Hill – are accomplished Gaelic footballers who have represented Monaghan.

At Pinta, however, the trio demonstrated their ability to manage a course through the fig trees to claim the initiative. Kieran Tavey (39 points) and Hill (34 points) provided the counting cards for 74 points, leaving them six points clear of Blarney and 10 ahead of Portumna.

It was a fine first-day’s effort from the ’Blayney boys, a young team hardened by exploits on the football field.

At 31, Kieran, an electrician, was the strong man with experience, but brother Patrick, a 20-year-old student in Dundalk Institute of Technology, and Hill, a 21-year-old student at Letterkenny Institute of Technology, also showed the ability to get the job done.

Still, for much of the second day’s action at Morgado it was a team of hurlers who seemed destined to stage a great fightback. Portumna’s three players started out 10 points behind, but the team of Seán McEntee, Philip Harte and Trevor Moran dovetailed brilliantly on the front nine to produce 36 points (to Castleblayney’s 28) that propelled the men from the West into contention.

Things were to get even more interesting on the homeward run. The 13th hole at Morgado is a 531-yard par five, and, although rated Index 16, it has danger in play down the left (out of bounds) and right (trees) before reaching an elevated green.

Here Castleblayney’s march hit a wall as, with three scores counting, they could amass only a single point (a bogey from Hill), while Portumna notched up four (par from Harte, bogey from Moran) that moved Portumna into the on-course lead.

As it transpired, the title’s destination came all the way down to the final hole. Standing on the tee on the downhill, 460-yard par four 18th, Castleblayney found themselves in arrears, but unaware that Portumna, playing ahead of them, had managed only three points on the last.

Holding their nerves, the Tavey brothers and Hill combined for six points with 10-handicapper Kieran Tavey’s play of the hole – a drive, eight-iron short and pitch to three feet before holing the putt for a par and three points – backed up by a bogey from Hill (15) and a six from Patrick Tavey (14) sufficient to retain the trophy for Castleblayney.