Sport

Changes will bring Mullingar well up to Scratch

Amateur Scene: Back in 1963 Joe Carr, the "king" of Irish amateur golf, gave his seal of approval to the inaugural Mullingar…

Shay Keenan
Tue Jul 27 2004 - 01:00

Amateur Scene: Back in 1963 Joe Carr, the "king" of Irish amateur golf, gave his seal of approval to the inaugural Mullingar Scratch Cup, which he won in an exciting finish from Finlay Morris, a 17-year-old Scot, and another great of Irish golf, Tom Craddock from Malahide.

Carr, who died earlier this year, and Craddock will be remembered next weekend when the cream of the amateur game will again test their skills in this year's event, which is sponsored by Owens Concrete Ltd.

Since 1963 when Carr won, to be followed by Craddock the next year, the top players in Ireland and Britain have made the annual trip to the Westmeath venue for the 72-hole event. The first overseas winner was Peter Townsend, who won in 1965 and again in 1966, when most of the Walker Cup panel played at Mullingar.

The list of winners reads like a who's who of Irish golf with Darren Clarke (1989), Paul McGinley (1991), Padraig Harrington (1994), Gary Murphy (1995) and Peter Lawrie (1996) among the most recent winners who have gone on to make a name for themselves on the professional circuit.

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Mullingar is undergoing some changes at present and the first change for the players in this year's Scratch Cup is the new water hazard at the 18th, which should add excitement in the closing stages of the competition.

Besides the new stream at the 18th there are new greens at the eighth and 10th holes, which are almost ready for use. Work will begin on the rest of the back nine in the coming weeks, including a major change on the 16th with a small lake to be introduced in front of a new green complex incorporating the first hole.

This year's field includes the course-record holder, Noel Fox (Portmarnock), Irish Close champion Brian McElhinney (North West), West of Ireland champion Paul McDonald (Woodbrook) and East of Ireland champion Michael McGeady, while Des Morgan and John Morris will bid to provide a first home win.

Meanwhile, Mark Campbell, Mark O'Sullivan and Darren Crowe will be Ireland's representatives at the 10th World University Golf Championship, in Korat, Thailand from August 1st to 8th.

Elsewhere, the holder, Claire Coughlan, will start a strong favourite to add the Irish Women's Strokeplay title to her impressive CV when the event gets under way on her home course at Cork Golf Club on Saturday.

Coughlan won comfortably at Rathsallagh last year, her 54-hole total of 215 seven shots ahead of runner-up Maura Morrin (Curragh). A former Lancome Irish Close champion (1999), Coughlan was the only unbeaten home player of the British and Irish team that lost narrowly to America in the Curtis Cup at Formby in June.

All eight players from last September's victory in the Home International Championship are in the 80-strong draw; Tara Delaney, Maria Dunne, Helen Jones, Sinead Keane, Tricia Mangan, Maura Morrin and Heather Nolan also tee off.

Newly crowned Lancome Irish Close champion Deirdre Smith will aim to become only the second player to win the Close and the Open Strokeplay in the same year. Rebecca Coakley achieved the double in 2002.

This year's championship will have a strong international flavour with players from Austria, Belgium, England, Germany, Honk Kong, New Zealand and Scotland attempting to take the title out of Ireland for only the second time in the championship's 12-year history.

The Intermediate (under-23) Championship will be played in conjunction with the Open. The tournament runs over 54 holes, 36 on Saturday and 18 on Sunday.

The Irish Boys team for the Home Internationals at Portmarnock GC on August 3rd to 5th will have a familiar look. The six who represented Ireland in the European Team Championship in Finland last month are selected. Séamus Power (Tramore), the Island pair of Ronan O'Connor and Andrew Pitcher and Royal Dublin's Niall Kearney complete the 10-man team.

IRISH TEAM: David Daly (Muskerry), Karl Gilbert (Malone), Nicholas Grant (Clandeboye), Christopher Hughes (Royal Portrush), Niall Kearney (Royal Dublin), Rory McIlroy (Holywood), Cian McNamara (Limerick), Aaron O'Callaghan (Douglas), Ronan O'Connor (The Island), A Pitcher (The Island), Séamus Power (Tramore). Captain: Ciarán Burke (City of Derry)