BEST OF THE WEST
Galway’s youth policy pays off handsomely with AIG Senior Cup triumph. By Brian Keogh
OLD warhorse Joe Lyons hailed the AIG Senior Cup as the purest form of amateur team golf after he collected his third winner’s medal with a youthful Galway at Carton House last weekend.
The Offaly native (45) suffered in last Thursday’s AIG Barton Shield final when he tasted bitter defeat for the third year running against Warrenpoint.
But with captain Kieran O’Mahony leading the way, ably assisted by Gerry Cox, Galway’s youthful quintet steamrollered Limerick to claim their third AIG Senior Cup since 2006.
“It’s a lifetime memory,” Lyons said. “In 20 years’ time, you will look back and say you won a Senior Cup with these guys, even though they are 20 years younger than me.
“All the guys you win Senior Cup with, there’s a bond. It’s a lovely thing to win. It’s a national title and in my mind, it’s the purest form of club golf.
“There are no handicaps involved. There is nobody building handicaps to play in Senior Cup and Barton Shield. The teams and the golfers are genuine, and it’s straight matches. It’s the blue riband of club golf.”
Galway’s win is a testament to the club’s youth policy.
Take Lyons, a former West of Ireland champion, out of the team and the average age of the remaining four Galway players was just over 18.
“I won a Senior Cup in Enniscrone in 2006 and myself and Dave Scully and Eddie McCormack were the youngest on the team,” Lyons said as he let the sense of achievement sink in at the back of the 17th green, where Ronan Mullarney had just clinched the decisive point.
“We were all 34 or 35 and Tom Nolan and Stephen Keenan were in their 40s at the time. So to win with this squad now, they really are babies.
“Luke O’Neill is 16, Liam Power is just 18, Liam Nolan is 17 and Ronan is the elder statesman at 22. I am 45. Ancient, over the hill! These lads look at me like I am their granddad.”
Lyons wondered aloud earlier in the week what effect Galway’s third successive Barton Shield defeat might have on the team but it turned out to be a positive one.
“In Tullamore, we lost the Barton Shield as well in 2009 and went on to win the Senior Cup, so it can work both ways,” he said.
“The momentum can motivate you, or deflate you too. We had a lot of strength in depth. A lot has gone into our Juniors in the club and Luke O’Neill, to be fair, was an import from Connemara who along with his dad Hughie, deserve all the credit for his development. The work that has gone into the Juniors has paid off.”
The men from the west were worthy winners in blustery conditions at the O’Meara Course when Mullarney got up and down from 60 yards for a half in par at the 17th to clinch the winning point with a 2 and 1 win over Michael Reddan.
Power (17) sent a youthful Galway side on their way with a 3 and 1 win over Owen O’Brien and after Lyons beat Sean Poucher 4 and 3 and Nolan (17) halved with Ciaran Vaughan, Mullarney sealed Galway’s win in style as O’Neill (16) was called in when two up with two to play against Limerick’s Justin Kehoe.
Limerick crushed Carton House’s hopes of a home win with a 3-2 victory in their semi-final, Galway beat Royal Portrush 3.5-1.5 for whom former Walker Cup player and Amateur champion Garth McGimpsey was making his first appearance in the event for 28 years.
It was an unhappy return for the 14-time championship winner as he lost 3 and 2 to an impressive and composed Nolan.
Galway were given a pep talk by All Ireland winning hurler Joe Canning the weekend before the finals and reminded that it was the strength of the Tribesmen’s bench that won them the Liam McCarthy Cup in the end.
“It’s the depth of the squad,” Cox said. “We had eight players up with us this week and every one of them could have played in any of the matches.
“But what the squad did was they pushed the players to get their spot so they were playing very, very good golf. So it was fantastic to have such a wide squad. There was a great depth of talent there. It’s fantastic.”
Team captain O’Mahony added: “The key was that they came in playing very good golf.
“They had a Scratch Cup in Galway a few weeks ago and Ronan Mullarney couldn’t play, four of the lads finished in the top six and Joe won it with 137. Young Nolan shot a 66, Power shot 70-72, Luke shot 70-73. He’s been a huge asset to the team.
“To have Ronan Mullarney playing Senior Cup for Galway this year was huge. He’s been tied to Maynooth for a few years. He’s a bit special.”
Mullarney, who said he feels old now at 22, singled out the sterling work put into the Juniors at Galway by club stalwart Jimmy Duggan.
“It’s brilliant,” Mullarney said. “The lads, Kieran O’Mahony and Gerry Cox, put in a trojan amount of work. The things they do. All we have to do is show up.
“It is a young team. And it is great to have Joe there as well because Joe’s been there and done it two or three times.
“The club has put in huge work. The short game facility was put in five or six years ago and that’s improved the number of juniors playing in Galway as well.
“I remember when I started, I was number one in the Fred Daly playing off nine. You wouldn’t make the second panel in Galway now playing off nine.
“It all started with Jimmy Duggan. When I was starting out (at 13) as a junior, he was the junior convenor. He’s brilliant with young lads.”