Taxi driver Colm McGuinness is the latest name to be added to the Carlsberg-sponsored Sir John Lumsden Cup, and he had a real grandstand finish to his quest for the prize.
The Beaverstown seven handicapper beat Hermitage's Tony Sheridan on the third card after both players had tied on 203 at the Castle over the weekend. However, McGuinness - a self-declared "regular face" on the junior scratch cup circuit who had never previously cracked a big win - owed his fine success to a chip-in birdie on the 54th hole. "I had never played the course prior to my arrival on Saturday," said McGuinness. "I suppose everyone needs bit of luck," he added. His previous best win was the 1985 captain's prize at Beaverstown.
McGuinness had rounds of 69, 67 and 67 to pip Sheridan who shot 68 67 68, while Jody Gilhooley of Edmondstown took third place on a countback from Malahide's D Lenihan. The Gold Medal was won by local two handicapper Jim Mulready, who had rounds 66 69 and 71. The best round of the competition was a 64 from Forrest Little's Eoin Arthurs, who also led after 36 holes but a disappointing 75 in the final round pushed him back to sixth place.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)