President’s Prize – 2011

 

President Ena Clinton with the prize winners

Martin Carter defied all odds last weekend to achieve what no Gent has done before in the history of Collinstown Pitch & Putt – he won the President’s Prize for the third successive year. It is quite an astonishing achievement when you look at the standard of scoring not just this year but in each if the last 3 years. Martin’s winning score of 89 this year to follow his 88 of last year and 90 the year before, once again showed the alarmingly high standard that is required to win this prestigious event.

It all began on Friday afternoon as the village church bell struck twice, signalling the start of a feast of Pitch & Putt for the weekend. Right from the start there was a big attendance on the course – a true tribute and testament to a very popular President this year, Mrs Ena Clinton. Ena has been an active member of the club and committee for a long number of years now and has done resounding work down through those years. A quiet and often shy individual, that is liked by all and always brightens up a room. Collinstown Pitch and Putt is very lucky to have such a member and to have her as President this year is just a prefect choice.

So as the competition started to produce its first scores, an early jump to the top of the leader board was made by Larry McGinn with an excellent 47. This was quickly matched by Michael Buckley. As the evening sky closed in, a 48 was recorded by John Browne, Stephen Bray and Peter Dolan. And before close of business on Friday evening John Browne recorded the best round of the day – an 8 under par 46 to take the overnight lead on 14 under from Stephen Bray on 13. At this stage Martin Carter had made no impact on the leader board but his form on the course had quietly improved as the day progressed.

And indeed that form shone through around lunch time on Saturday when Martin recorded his first big score of the weekend – a superb 46. This coupled with an earlier 52 saw him join John Browne at the top of the leader-board on 14 under. Martin was soon to take over the lead on his own though with a solid 50. Then Peter Dolan shot an astonishing 44 to go 1 shot better than Martin on 17 under par. The reason that this round was astonishing was not the score itself but the nature of it. Peter had a dream start, birdying the first 3 holes but was to drop 2 of those birdies by the 9th. He then did what very few have ever done – he completed the final 9 holes in 18 strokes – 9 straight birdies to finish on 10 under for the round. As the familiar evening calm drifted in over the Collinstown course, there were a few more excellent scores recorded, namely Liam Buckley and Niall Cuffe both returning 45′s. The scene was set nicely for a Sunday climax.

Martin Carter receiving the Gents Prize from President Ena Clinton

As the early rounds Sunday brought little reward for the competitors, one started to wonder would Peter Dolan’s 17 under total be enough to hold on. Then the scores started to roll in. Liam Buckley made his move the front of the field with a magnificent 44 to move to a 19 under total. Not many expected that this score could be caught so late into the competition. But Martin Carter hasn’t dominated this competition for the last number of years for no reason. He went into the ‘zone’ and dug out what must be one of his best finishes to a round. He was travelling very nicely on 4 under par for 9 when the wheels came slightly off. A bogie on 10 and 11 would have signalled the end of the round for most – but not ‘MClair’. He holed magnificent birdies on 12, 13, 16, 17 and 18 to finish the round 5 under for the last 7 and record a super 47. It was tied with Liam Buckley on 19 under but by the power of his finish in the 47 round – Martin was ahead on the break of a tie. But there still was another twist in the plot. As Martin was recording this 47, Larry McGinn was sneaking into the picture himself with a 45. Still, he needed to follow it with at least a 44 to join Martin at the top and time was running out as last card drew near. McGinn had one more opportunity and after a poor bogie on the 3rd it looked like the chance was gone. Larry is a seasoned campaigner though and fought the good fight to the end. Suddenly he found himself looking at a twelve footer for 44 on the 18th green and when the little white ball left his putter and disappeared under ground a few seconds later, a clenched fist pumped the air to signify the satisfaction in what he had just achieved.
President Ena Clinton presents her niece, Liz Quinn with the Ladies prize
 
And so another 19 under meant that the back 9′s had to be added up to see who would be champion. It wasn’t a really a surprise when it was announced that there was also a tie on the back 9′s so we had to go to back 6′s and it was at this stage that Martin was declared the winner. It was hard luck on both Larry and Liam to be deprived on a tie-break but I don’t think anyone would deny Martin his little bit of history making. He bore the tag of favourite all weekend and in the end proved the tag was correctly awarded to him. Martin was very gracious and proud in his speech. He praised the President, and commented on how she had been an exemplary member down through the years and how fitting it was that she be made President in this important year for the club as we host the National Matchplay. And in an emotional conclusion to his speech, Martin dedicated the win to his sister-in-law Jackie who is very ill at the moment.

The Ladies game in Collinstown is unfortunately in bad shape at the moment. We have very few Ladies playing competitions and its sad to see as each of the Ladies that are playing have been loyal competitors for the last number of years and would love to see an influx of new Lady members to freshen the competition again. Having said that, the Ladies that are still playing in the club, competed with enthusiasm and vigour over the weekend. Anne Kelly led for most of the weekend with fine rounds of 55 and 56 but we do have the honour of having a top 10 ranked Lady in the club and few doubted that she would as always produce the goods in the end. Fine rounds of 50 and 51 on Sunday afternoon gave the title to Liz Quinn once again. Liz was as always humble in her speech, praising the Ladies that played and also worked in the kitchen all weekend. She also mentioned that it was extra special for her to win the Presidents Prize this year as Ena is her aunt and she is very proud of her.

Full Results of this year President’s Prize can be found in our results area.

Back to 2011 News Items