National Matchplay Finals
Mick Buckley knocking in another birdie against Damien Fleming in his second round match.
Unfortunately our representatives, although having played well, had no luck at the National Matchplay finals last weekend in Parteen. The Buckley brothers and John Browne were flying the flag for Collinstown in Limerick and indeed they all fought well despite leaving empty-handed.
First out of the three Collinstown men was John Browne and his first round opponent was multi-national champion Chris Scannell from the Collins club in Cork city. Browne was in good form coming into this championship and an upset was perhaps on the cards here. But Scannell stamped his authority on the match from the start by birdying the opening three holes to go 3 up after 3. Browne rallied though and made multiple birdies over the next number of holes to turn the match right around and he found himself 1 up after 13. Scannell won 15 with birdie and both men birdied 16 to leave the match at all square. Scannell however won the remaining 2 holes of the first round to turn 2 up. This soon became 3 but Browne once again birdied 4 & 5 to get it back to 1 down. Scannell responded like a true champion and won the next 2 holes to restore his 3 hole lead. He still had this lead going to 14 where he again birdied to leave the match at dormie 4. A fine birdie putt by Browne on 15 lipped out and Scannell was the victor by 4&3.
Next out was Liam Buckley and his opponent was Martin Keohane from Bruff. This was always going to be a tough assignment for the Glenidan man as Keohane would have a good knowledge of the difficult Parteen course. Liam though played superbly on the day and led for most of the match but could never quite get away from the Limerick man. At 1 up with 3 to play, Keohane won the 16th to square the match up. Not in the least rattled, Liam birdied 17 to go back in front but once again Keohane won the 18th and so, sudden-death tie-holes were called for. Both men made par on the first and Liam made an excellent par from out the back of the second – unfortunately it was not enough though as the Bruff man rolled in his 5 footer for birdie to win the match on the 38th hole.
Our final representative, Michael buckley fared better though. His first round opponent was Colum O’Connor from Lakewood. As always, a qualifier from Cork is to be feared but Mick played some excellent Pitch & Putt in the opening round round of this match to turn 7 up after 18. Colum made a decent effort at a comeback in the second round but eventually Mick closed out the match 4&3.
This took Mick through to the second round and a match with the 2012 winner (which was in Collinstown), Damien Fleming from Deerpark. I think its no exaggeration to say that this was one of the matches of he weekend. Superb Pitch & Putt was played by both men in this encounter. Mick got off to a great start and found himself 3 up half way through the first round. Damien hung in well though and never let the game out of sight. Mick still led by 1 hole with 3 remaining but a very poor lie on 16 made it difficult for him and resulted in a bogie to leave the match at all square. Mick made a superb par on 17 after catching the tree and so we went up the last all-square. Mick hit the ball down the throat of the flag but unfortunately about 6 inches too short and it came back off the front of the green. Damien pitched to 6 foot!! Mick hit a superb chip that somehow rested on the lip of the hole and would not fall. Damien took his opportunity by holing he 6 footer to win the match. When you consider that Damien eventually went on the be runner-up in the championship – this shows how close Mick was to achieving something special.
Westmeath’s other representative deserves a mention also, as former Collinstown member (now with Rochfortbridge), Gerry Keenan had a superb weekend reaching the last 16 of the championship. Gerry defeated Eamon Kidney from Erry in the opening round on the first tie-hole and also won his second round match against Roy Burke from Granard by a margin of 4&3. Gerry met the two-time National champion, Darren Collins from St. Annes in the last 16 and was very unlucky to lose on the first tie-hole.
JJ Walsh from Collins eventually won the championship beating Damien Fleming from Deerpark in the final. And Breda Lonegan from Tipperary Hills won the Ladies when she defeated Tara Dillon from St Bridgets.