South of IrelandChampionship:Finally, his quest yielded a victory. In the past two finals of the South of Ireland Amateur Championship, Darren Crowe was the recipient of commiserations. Yesterday, though, on the Old Course here, the 26-year-old rid himself of the losing habit and, after a rare battle with Joe Lyons that went to the 18th green, the handshakes were ultimately of the congratulatory kind.
"I was nervous before I went out, I didn't want the label of losing three in a row," said Crowe, who has set himself the goal of winning all five domestic majors - the North, South, East and West and the Irish Close - in his career. With the South, the oldest championship of them all, now added to the North title he won last year, he is two-fifths of the way there.
Crowe had booked his place in the final with a comprehensive semi-final win over Royal Dublin's Niall Kearney, going five up after seven holes and eventually signing for a 3 and 2 win, while Lyons had got the better of Castletroy's Stephen Moloney by 2 and 1.
The final was a far tighter affair than either of those morning matches that were played in a persistent and, at times, heavy drizzle.
By the afternoon, however, the skies had cleared and the two finalists were asked to conquer a links in quite splendid condition and with a fresh wind coming in off the Atlantic to test their shot-making. And, from an early stage, it seemed that Crowe would finally get his name engraved on the old trophy.
Although Lyons rolled in a 12-foot downhill putt for birdie on the first, Crowe brought matters level with a birdie on the fourth, and the momentum was with the Dunmurry clubman when he reeled off three holes in succession from the sixth, with a couple of loose shots from Lyons giving his opponent the initiative.
On the sixth, from the middle of the fairway, Lyons overshot the green and, despite a fine chip to 10 feet, failed to save par. Then, on the seventh, Lyons missed the green left and had a horrible socket which flew across the green into thick bushes and he conceded the hole.
But it was Crowe's good play that completed the hat-trick of winning holes. On the eighth, 166 yards across a valley to an elevated green, Crowe hit a six-iron to 20 feet and sank the putt. He was three-up and, it seemed, very much in control. But he knew Lyons, winner of the West this season, was not the type to let things go easily.
So it proved. On the short 11th, Crowe's tee-shot missed the green right and, with his ball nestled beside a chunky plant, he failed to find the green at the first attempt. A double-bogey five gave Lyons his first win since the first hole.
Crowe did win the 12th to regain his three-hole advantage, only for the wheels to fall off.
Lyons won the 14th, 15th and 17th holes with par. And, with the large gallery taking some time to clear before the players could hit their tee-shots on the 18th, Lyons quipped, "I think we have time for a Hamlet."
When they did get to hit their drives, both were long and on the fairway. First to go, Crowe hit his three-iron approach "a little thin" and it finished over the back. But it settled on the bank behind the green and, crucially, didn't run down to the wall.
Next to go, Lyons changed clubs - taking a similar outcome as Crowe's out of the equation - but his approach kicked left into a bunker. The Offalyman had a dreadful lie and left the ball in the trap with his first attempt, and left his next some 20 feet short of the pin. Crowe chipped to three feet and, when Lyons failed with his par putt, there was no need for his opponent to hole out.