Golf

Foley claims South of Ireland Amateur title to complete notable double

Royal Dublin man follows up his North of Ireland win by pipping Douglas’s Peter O’Keefe 3&1 in final

Hugh Foley of Royal Dublin celebrates his victory in the South of Ireland Amateur Open at Lahinch. Photograph: Natasha Barton/Golffile
Hugh Foley of Royal Dublin celebrates his victory in the South of Ireland Amateur Open at Lahinch. Photograph: Natasha Barton/Golffile
Brian Keogh
Sun Jul 24 2022 - 20:53

Royal Dublin’s Hugh Foley became the first man since Darren Clarke in 1990 to do the double when he followed his North of Ireland win with a memorable 3&1 victory over Douglas’s Peter O’Keeffe in the 120th South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship at Lahinch.

The 25-year-old Dubliner won the Irish Close in 2020 and the West of Ireland in 2021 before picking up his third “Major” at Royal Portrush 10 days ago.

“It feels great, feels amazing, so many boxes ticked,” said Foley, who beat Naas’s Robert Brazill 5&4 in horrific wind and rain in the morning as O’Keeffe came back from four-down after eight holes to defeat Galway’s Liam Nolan with a conceded birdie three at the 19th.

“It’s one of my favourite championships because of the golf course, the people, the town. I’ve done well in strokeplay and always felt I ran out of steam [in matchplay]. Somehow I didn’t run out of steam this week.”

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The final took just two hours and 52 minutes in a stiff but dry southwesterly wind and just three holes were halved on the front nine as Foley birdied the first but bogeyed the second and third and lost the fourth to a birdie to find himself two down.

He got back to level with pars at the sixth and seventh but after losing the 10th to a par to go one down, he recalled how he played the back nine in 31 to win at Portrush and moved up a gear.

With his reliable fade back in the groove after some remedial work with coach Geoff Loughrey, Foley halved the 12th in birdie, then won the 13th with a two-putt three from the apron to level the match before taking the 14th in par, almost holing from 100 feet, to go one-up as O’Keeffe missed the green long left and failed to get up and down.

The 15th was halved in bogey before Foley drilled a 202-yard seven-iron to 20 feet at the 16th and rolled in the putt to go two-up after O’Keeffe again missed long left and faced a tough putt for par.

“I said it to [caddie] Marcus [Nolan] that this guy is someone who chips it on to ten feet and holes it when he has to so just try and roll it in,” Foley said.

The tall, slim Dubliner split the 17th fairway and with O’Keeffe’s drive up against the boundary wall on the left, he mercilessly rifled a six-iron to the heart of the green and didn’t have to putt as the Corkman was forced to chip out sideways and was still not down in four.

“I’m no Darren Clarke but it’s a nice thing to share with him,” said the champion, who may try Q-School in September but plans to chase the “pinnacle” of the amateur game and a Walker Cup cap next year.

“I’ve seen his name on a couple of those trophies so yeah those are nice things to hear. But I’ve a long way to go if I’m to catch him.”

South of Ireland Amateur Open, sponsored by Pierse Motors Volkswagen, Lahinch GC

Semi-finals: Hugh Foley (Royal Dublin) bt Robert Brazill (Naas) 5&4; Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas) bt Liam Nolan (Galway) 19th.

Final: Foley bt O’Keeffe 3&1.