BEREHAVEN Golf Club created a bit of history when they won their first Munster pennant in Killarney.
Mahony’s Point was the venue for the AIG Jimmy Bruen Shield Munster finals. The competition marked the final event on the Munster golf calendar, and the final GUI Munster golf pennant.
Berehaven started in impressive form with a good semi-final win over a strong Tramore team. The second semi-final saw Shannon win over Fota Island, again with a good win over a strong side from Cork.
In the semi-final against Tramore, Berehaven’s Declan Dunne and Luke O’Sullivan beat Neill Cashin and JP O’Brien, 1up; David Kelly and Chris Downey beat Darragh Crowe and David Jackman 3/1; the Brendan O’Driscoll and Seamus Spencer match with Martin Walsh and Jerry Higgins was called in, as was the match involving Craig Murphy and Liam Hanley against Chris Gormley and Thomas Brett. In Match 5, Lorcan Harrington and Dean Hegarty beat Kevin Doyle and Joe Manning 4/3, resulting in Berehaven beating Tramore 4/1.
Berehaven, having never won a blue pennant, were determined to make the most of their opportunity in the final against Shannon. Having won already in Killarney in an earlier round, the West Cork club beat the host club on the final green.
A good semi-final performance meant that team captain Joe O’Neill stuck with the semi-final pairings. And, that paid off as Berehaven got the better of the early exchanges and led through the front nine.
As the matches reached the final few holes Brendan O’Driscoll and Seamus Spencer, in the third match, brought home the first point with a 4 and 3 win, but Shannon quickly levelled it with a win on the 18th by PJ Moroney and James Corry. David Kelly and Chris Downey added a second point for the West Cork side, but again Shannon levelled with Keith Buckley and Adrian Carew winning 2 and 1 on the 17th green.
With the match tied at 2-2, all eyes turned to the 15th where Berehaven were four up. Shannon’s Joe Finlay and Pat McHugh weren’t prepared to roll over and a birdie on the short par four extended the match.
Shannon finally ran out of holes when Lorcan Harrington rolled his eagle putt to less than two feet. That meant a certain birdie for a half and the match was sportingly conceded.
After the unusual sight of waves and elbow bumps replacing the normal celebrations, Berehaven were delighted to take the AIG Jimmy Bruen Shield and the Munster pennant back to Castletownbere for the first time.
