Irish Close ChampionshipThe 18th hole at Donegal Golf Club is known as Bogey Hill, a particularly apposite description in respect of the decisive moment of yesterday's Golfsure-sponsored Irish Close Championship final. Brian McElhinney and Michael McGeady, colleagues at North West Golf Club in Lisfannon near Buncrana, stood all square when they walked onto the 18th tee.
McElhinney caught his drive off the heel of the club, costing him distance, but the ball came to rest in the first cut of rough. His opponent pulled his drive way left into a lateral hazard. McGeady had to take a penalty drop, and his third shot came up about a dozen yards short of the putting surface.
A two-iron got McElhinney to within a couple of paces of the green, and by the time both players had a putter in their hands, the scenario was simple.
McGeady had to hole from eight feet and hope his club-mate and fellow international missed from seven. Neither was successful, and so McElhinney's conceded bogey sufficed to claim the Irish Close Championship.
The 21-year-old from Burnfoot added a national title to the North of Ireland championship he won last July and the European Individual Strokeplay championship he captured last August at Nairn. The latter accolade earned him a chance to tee it up in next month's British Open at Troon.
The last time club-mates contested an Irish Close final was in 1907 - it is the seventh occasion in total - when H M Cairns beat H A Boyd, both of Portmarnock, 7 and 6 at Royal Portrush. They possibly didn't have to contend with the conditions that assailed yesterday's protagonists.
While the majority of Ireland was bathed in sunshine, the Murvagh links was buffeted by strong winds and squalls, a far cry from the blue skies of the morning semi-finals.
It was nevertheless a tremendous contest, a tribute to both players as they tried to tame the monstrous, 7,300-yard course as much as each other.
McGeady turned two up, and it could have been three had he been able to hole a six-foot putt on the ninth. McElhinney admitted: "I just set myself a target of trying to play the back nine in level par," and he almost achieved that goal, finishing one shot wide of the mark.
He responded immediately on the journey home by winning the 10th with a par, then managed an outrageous escape on 11. His second shot ploughed into a steep bank behind the green, half-way up and buried. He played an amazing recovery pitch to six inches.
"It was a case of hit and hope, pure luck. It came out perfect. I didn't think I had a shot. I don't think I'd do that again if I stayed there all day trying."
He maximised his good fortune at the next when McGeady drove into trouble initially and then found a drain to eventually concede the hole, though not before McElhinney found a wayward second shot just before the five-minute cut-off.
With the match beautifully poised, both players demonstrated great character and ability. McGeady produced a four-wood third shot to the 14th and a tremendous 15-foot putt for a half on the 17th, while McElhinney almost holed a bunker shot on 14 and showed his mettle from six feet to follow his opponent in on the 17th.
It was fitting that two players who practice together, had driven to the course together and stayed in the same house, Michael Neary's, for the duration of the championship should be enjoined in such a tight tussle.
Their semi-finals offered mini-cameos of their progress through the championship: McElhinney won with a modicum of fuss over leading qualifier Gareth Maybin, winning on the 16th green, while McGeady had to travel to the home green to see off a spirited fightback from Shandon Park's Alastair McKinley.
An excellent championship, a superb venue and a worthy winner.
IRISH CLOSE CHAMPIONSHIP - Semi-finals: B McElhinney (North West) bt G Maybin (Ballyclare) 3 and 2; M McGeady (North West) bt A McKinley (Shandon Park) 1 hole.
Final: McElhinney bt McGeady 1 hole.
