National success for Portumna GC

Date Published: {J}

Declan Tierney

There were scenes of unbridled joy when Portumna Golf Club bridged a 24 year gap by becoming the first Galway team in that period to take home the All-Ireland Junior Cup title in convincing fashion in the end.

While their victory over Naas Golf Club was by a three matches to two margin, none of the of the matches they won passed the 16th hole at Castlebar Golf Club where the All-Ireland Cups and Shields were held.

And when Pat Quinlan rolled in the final putt on the 16th green, it was greeted with loud cheers from the many travelling Portumna fans as they celebrated their first ever All-Ireland victory at this level.

It follows hot on the heels of the All-Ireland mixed title the club won last year and while that was a major achievement in itself, this Junior Cup victory ranks as particularly special.

It was also particularly sweet and deserving for team captain Matt Donohue, who has been a stalwart for the club down through the years, and there were occasions during the closing stages that he could scarcely believe what was happening.

Portumna now become the first Galway club to win the Junior Cup since 1986 when Galway GC were the champions, but the foundation of this victory was probably laid in the semi-finals when they came up against favourites Banbridge from County Down.

The standard of golf that Portumna played was exceptional as all of their three wins were executed in the closing stages with John Cleary, his son Sean, and Shane Ryan winning their matches in what was the closest of contests all through.

“That was a huge victory for us,” remarked Donohue. “The standard of golf in those matches was some of the best I have seen and it came down to the final few holes in each match.”

The team did not have much time to relish this success as their attention soon turned to the All-Ireland final the following day where they came up against Naas, who had an equally hard fought battle with East Cork in their semi-final.

But the omens were good from a Portumna perspective in the early stages when Sean Cleary romped into the lead and incredibly won eight of the first 10 holes and there was no catching him. He was pulled back to six up at the 12th but he went on to win the 13th and that was where the match ended as he won by a convincing 7&5 margin.

First out was Ger Lynch who also got off to a flying start and was four up after six holes before being hauled back to just one up in the early stages of the back nine. But Lynch is a determined player and it was not long before he bounced back to put daylight once again between him and his opponent.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.