GOLF IRISH STROKEPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP:IRISH GOLF witnessed a changing of the guard at a windswept Royal Dublin yesterday when 17-year-old Gavin Moynihan of The Island closed with rounds of 76 and 75 to win the Irish Amateur Open by a stroke.
Moynihan hit a 198-yard three-wood to five feet at the 17th to set up a title-winning birdie three.
The Irish boys international, formerly of Donabate, went into the final round tied for the lead with Stackstown left-hander Richard Bridges on four over par, with 20-year old Dutchman Robin Kind a shot further back.
As Bridges was blown away on a cruel south-west wind that gusted over 40 mph at times, shooting 84, Kind and Moynihan emerged as the title contenders on a day of high winds and high drama.
Moynihan eventually clinched victory by the narrowest of margins on seven over par 295, aided by his wonder shot on 17.
Playing in the group in front of Moynihan, Kind bogeyed the 18th for a closing 75 to set the clubhouse target at eight over par 296.
Moynihan found the 18th fairway with a three wood but it was not until he nudged a four-iron well left of the green – and the out of bounds – that he learned he could afford to bogey and win Irish amateur golf’s most prestigious title. It mattered little to him that his 10-foot par putt horseshoed out and he is looking forward to taking up one of the US golf scholarships he has been offered after his Leaving Certificate next year.
He came into the championship with form having joined Lee Westwood and Justin Rose on the list of winners of the prestigious Peter McEvoy Trophy for under-18s at Copt Heath last month.
“That’s probably the best two rounds of putting I have had for a while,” said Moynihan. “I’ve hit drives 350 yards and 220 yards today. It was just one of those days where you had to grind it out.”
Conditions were so tough that the CSS in round three was 79 with European Amateur Open champion Manuel Trappel of Austria signing for an 87.
But Stackstown left-hander Bridges shot a 73 to set the 54-hole target at four over 220 before being joined at the top by Moynihan, who holed a 25-footer for par at the 18th for a 76.
The leading duo were a stroke clear of Kind. But with the wind howling Bridges turned in six over 41 and eventually signed for an 84 to finish on 16 over.
Headfort’s Brian Casey closed with rounds of 74 and 72 to set the clubhouse target at 10 over par.
That got him third place as Moynihan held firm to join major winners Pádraig Harrington and Louis Oosthuizen on the list of Irish Amateur Open champions.
