SOUTH OF IRELAND: Nothing is ever certain on the Old Course at Lahinch.
Although the end product of each South of Ireland amateur championship is that a quality winner is invariably furnished, along the way the links has a tendency to throw up some surprises and, traditionally, none more so than on the Sunday when the elite players, who have been spared the nuisance of performing in Saturday's first round of qualifying, are pitted against those who have already sharpened their teeth.
Yesterday was no exception, and Eddie Power - a three-time Irish close champion who these days has a limited playing schedule due to business and family commitments - turned giant-killer in a fashion when defeating Mervyn Owens, the winner here two years ago, at the 19th hole. "I got into the zone with the putter," remarked Power, who in fact was exacting some revenge for a defeat at the same stage of the competition a year ago.
Power, who won the national title in 1987, '93 and '98, demonstrated that his competitive instinct was still very much alive when finally overcoming Owens at the first tie hole. In fact, Power only went ahead for the first time with a birdie on the par three 13th but then lost the 14th and 15th to be one down coming down the closing stretch where his putter was to prove the strongest club in his bag. On the 17th he holed an eight-footer to keep the match alive and then levelled the match when rolling in a 10-footer for birdie on the 18th.
On the 19th, Owens' approach found a greenside bunker and he failed to get up and down while Power, in customary manner, rolled in a 10-footer for a winning par. "He managed to hole three putts coming in and I didn't. That was the difference," remarked Owens, whose only major championship win came here in 2003.
Owens wasn't alone in bowing out in yesterday's second round, when an unusual north-eastern wind assailed the course. Greg Bowden, a finalist last year, was dispatched by Donegal's John Neary, while current international Connor Doran lost to Westport's Noel Kavanagh on the 18th and Mark O'Sullivan, who won the Irish close two years ago, lost out to Gary Stubbs by one hole.
And other second round casualties included former international and past champion Mark Campbell - "I just never got going," explained the Stackstown player, who lost a ball on the 18th to compound his defeat to Waterford's Ian Murphy - and Andrew McCormick, who lost to Alan Dowling at the 20th, also exited before they ever had a chance to really get into the swing of things.
Then, in the very last match of the day, Michael McGinley - brother of tour player Paul, and playing in the championship for the first time in three years - produced a major upset when defeating current international Michael McGeady, one of the pre-championship favourites, by a 2 and 1 margin.
Still, it wasn't all a case of all the fancied players failing to perform, though. Cian McNamara, the defending champion, continued his fine form of a year ago when achieving a 4 and 3 win over Moate's Louis Cunningham, while East of Ireland champion Jim Carvill was an emphatic 7 and 6 winner over Laytown's Gary Wade.
But the most unusual progression of all was that of Niall Gorey, the Killeen golfer, who queried the legitimacy of his opponent Michael Turley's driver in mid-round. Gorey was five-down after nine holes of his second round match with Turley, of Elm Park, when he asked for officials to rule on his opponent's driver and had succeeded in prolonging the match to the 16th hole, where he was one down, when a ruling was eventually delivered that the driver in question was non-conforming and Turley was disqualified.
It's not as if the issue has been kept a secret.
Notices to the effect of non-conforming clubs are much in evidence here at Lahinch, including one no more than 10 yards from the first tee where competitors are advised, "if in doubt to the status of your driving club please check at the GUI Mobile Office on site".
