Harte, Ward, Casey and Kenny win IJM Matchplay cups

One of the highlights of the year at Dundalk Golf is the IJM Scratch Matchplay Semi-Finals and Finals which players qualify for through their positions in the respective categories in the IJM Golfer of the Year competition.
On Saturday, 16 players teed it up in the semi-finals of each of the four categories with the winners returning on Sunday for the finals.
The Senior competition semis saw Aidan Thornton beat Golfer of the Year runner-up Conall Murdock 3&1 while Fergal Harte beat Peter Rogers 2&1. The final was a closely fought affair and was all square after four holes. Harte won the par three fifth to go one up and a par at the seventh saw him extend that lead to two holes. He lost the eight to a par but a birdie at the 10th restored his two hole advantage. However, Thornton hung in and reduced the deficit to one hole by winning the 15th in par. That set up a nail-biting finish but Harte managed to keep his opponent at bay and halved the remaining three hoes to win one up. In the Junior category Terry Conlon beat Niall Martin 5&4 while Shaun Ward defeated Gregory McCaughey 6&4 in the Saturday semi-finals. In the final, the lead fluctuated over first nine and the match was level at the turn. Ward then won the next two holes to open up a two hole lead but Conlon struck back and won the 12th and 13th to level the match once again. He almost went ahead on the 14th when going very close with a birdie putt and Ward took full advantage of that let-off by birdieing the 15th to go one up with three to play.  A mistake by Conlon on the 16th opened the door for Ward to go two up with two to play and he closed out the match with a par for a half on the 17th and a 2&1 win.
Cormac Malone and John Paul Casey had to fight hard on the Saturday to earn their places in the Intermediate final.  Malone came from behind to force a sudden death play-off against Brendan Rogers and eventually prevailed on the 19th while Casey won the 18th to beat last year’s Golfer of the Year, Frank Byrne, by two holes.  The final saw Casey burst out of the traps to win the first seven holes and take firm control of the match. He won the ninth to turn eight up and a half on the 10th left him dormie with eight holes to go. However, he struggled to get across the line as Malone won the next three holes to reduce the deficit to five holes with five to play. Casey finally got the half he needed on the 14th to record a 5&4 victory.
The semi-final draw in the Minor category paired Golfer of the Year Brian Crombie and Gold Medal winner Adrian Kenny together and their battle went all the way to the final green where Kenny got the half he needed to win one up. The other semi-final pitted the evergreen Sean Ward against Oisin Cairns and the wily veteran prevailed winning 2&1 after Cairns tee-shot on the 17th got plugged under the lip of a greenside bunker. Kenny took control early in the final by winning the second, third and fourth to go three up. Ward pulled a hole back by winning the fifth but Kenny restored his three hole lead by winning the seventh and went four up on the eighth. They swapped the next four holes to leave Kenny four up after 12 before halving the next three as Kenny completed a matchplay double by winning 4&3.        
Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21 - IJM Scratch Matchplay Semi-Finals and Finals - Senior: Aidan Thornton bt Conall Murodck 3&1, Fergal Harte bt Peter Rogers 2&1; Harte bt Thornton 1up. Junior: Terry Conlon bt Niall Martin 5&4, Shaun Ward bt Gregory McCaughey 6&4; Ward bt Conlon 2&1. Intermediate: Cormac Malone bt Brendan Rogers 19th, John Paul Casey bt Frank Byrne 2up. Minor: Adrian Kenny bt Brian Crombie 18th; Sean Ward bt Oisin Cairns 2&1; Kenny bt Ward 4&3.