MOSTLY, GOLFERS will baulk at having to don weatherproofs, unfurl umbrellas and keep the head down as the wind wreaks havoc. Yesterday, though, the hardy men of Woodstock Golf Club took the arrival of a weather front as an omen of sorts. For them, rather than being a hindrance, it presented ideal conditions for the battle at hand with north Dublin club Corrstown in the final of the Pierce Purcell Shield at Castlerock yesterday.

So it proved to be, as the Co Clare club added a second green pennant to their collection with a comprehensive 3½ to 1½ win over Corrstown in the Chartis All-Ireland finals on this wonderfully-testing links hard by the north Atlantic.

On a day which brought low clouds, rain and wind for the early part, before clearing to present more pleasant conditions in the late afternoon, Woodstock – winners of this shield in 2002 – proved that their meticulous planning, which involved playing a plethora of links courses in Clare in recent weeks to fine-hone the different demands of seaside golf compared to parkland, was worth all the care and attention.

Although Woodstock’s top pairing of Frank Doherty and Mike Kelly, both members of the winning 2002 team, were outplayed by Garry Beagan and Andrew Holohon with the match finishing on the 12th green, it was an entirely different story behind as the pairings of Jason Considine and Brian Mulcahy, both newcomers to foursomes golf; Tom Hehir and Martin Dormer, and Shane Fitzgerald and Michael O’Brien all ran up big wins.

The match involving former Clare hurlers Declan Coote and Jimmy Kelly with Gerry Burns and Tom Brady was called in, with the overall result beyond doubt.

An indication of the planning involved with Woodstock’s run to a national title is that all of the practice in recent weeks took place on links course at Doonbeg, Spanish Point, Lahinch and, indeed, on a reconnaissance visit here to Castlerock.

The cost of the bid for glory came to an estimated €20,000 with the money raised through various fundraising endeavours.

“Did we think this was possible?” asked Eoghan O’Connell, the team’s joint-manager with Robert Dormer. “Certainly.

“We started out last February with a squad of youth and experience. We had 31 names and ended up with 16 on the panel.

“The thing that was huge for us was that we had three very tough semi-finals, and it just showed the pure battle and resolve that they won’t ever give up. They never die.”

Indeed, all along, Woodstock – from Ennis – had shown resolve. In the Clare semi-final, they needed extra holes to beat Shannon; and, in the Munster semi-final, extra holes were again required to defeat Kanturk. Then, here in the All-Irelands, Woodstock needed extra holes to fend off Athenry.

Woodstock’s win in the Pierce Purcell was the only final decided yesterday, but Warrenpoint and Portmarnock were impressive in progressing to the Irish Senior Cup final.

Warrenpoint – winners of the Barton Shield on Thursday – were surprisingly comprehensive 3½ to 1½ winners over Co Sligo, while Portmarnock – winners of this competition on 18 previous occasions – had too much firepower for Muskerry.

The addition of last year’s South of Ireland champion John Greene, who was a 3 and 2 winner over David O’Donovan, has strengthened the Portmarnock team. Although he learned and played most of his golf with Carlow, Greene – a graduate of UCD with a degree in civil engineering, a masters in business management and a masters in banking and finance – availed of student membership at the famed north Dublin links and has since taken out full membership.

This marked Greene’s debut appearance for the club, with previous rounds of the Senior Cup clashing with the Brabazon Trophy in England and the World Student Games in China.

“It was comfortable on paper, but the reality was quite different,” said Greene of his tussle with O’Donovan which required two birdies on the 15th and 16th to close out the match. Michael Brett and Niall Goulding contributed the other winning points to send Portmarnock into the final.

Forrest Little’s advancement into the final of the Jimmy Bruen encapsulated the allure of these national finals.

Although Warrenpoint’s Brendan McKiernan, an All-Ireland footballer winner with Down in 1991, had a hole-in-one, he was to finish on the losing team.

The critical point was won by Tom Bent and Mick Timmons for Forrest Little who were three-up standing on the 16th tee but needed a sudden-death win at the first tie hole over Hudson McGuffin and Jason Pepper to set up a final showdown with Claremorris.