Dingle Dazzles In The Dark
Thursday evening was a historic moment in Castlecomer GC’s storied history. Castlecomer have advanced to the regional semifinals in this extremely prestigious low handicapper tournament. A competition that has been running since 1911, the format is simple, designed for scratch or better golfers, the tie is played over just two foursomes matches, with the aggregate number of holes won in both matches determining the winning side.
That’s the housekeeping out of the way, onto the match itself. The Heritage GC were the opponents and our first pairing of Graham Lawlor and Michael Buggy came up against an incredibly strong duo and the match ebbed and flowed throughout the first 13 holes with both teams never being anymore than one up or down. Now, Comer had chances to put the match beyond The Heritage but golf is about taking your chances and we did not and The Heritage pairing did. As mentioned, the match was on an even keel for most of the match but our opponents took control on the back nine, winning 13,14,15 and 16, but the pairing of Buggy and Lawlor dug in and had a critical win on 17, simply put, had Michael and Graham not won that hole, the tie was over on the aggregate format. A birdie half on the last meant the state of play was Comer were two down overall with Padraig and Stephen having four holes to play. This was where the match detonated. The ‘Comer lads birdied 16 and 18 to send the match to extra holes. So up the 19th we went, as darkness began to descend on the course. An excellent drive from Padraig left Stephen with a 5 iron to the green but an excellent 3 wood left The Heritage with 18 feet for eagle. While Stephen didn’t hit his finest shot a magnificent wedge from Padraig left Stephen with 35 feet for birdie. Then the marksman emerged from the camouflage and Daly sank the raker to put the squeeze on The Heritage. The Heritage were incredibly unlucky to lip out so onto to 20 we went in the twilight. Both tee shots were less than spectacular and with The Heritage playing first and leaving their ball in the greenside bunker, the way was clear for a Curry Cracker and the recently returned exile did not disappoint!! One sublime stroke later and Dingle Jr is putting for the win!! 25 feet with 3 feet of break was a big ask, but Daly did not disappoint, one putt later and cue wild celebrations in the dark for the ‘Comer cohort. The club has never reached this stage of this exalted competition, but all roads now lead to Craddcockstown GC for the semifinal and hopefully the final!! Well done to all involved, not least the four participants and hard luck to a valiant Heritage team who hit some unbelievable shots and were a hair’s breath away from taking the tie.