Irish set for senior title hat-trick at Crail

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITEIreland’s quest for a hat-trick of Seniors Home Internationals remained on course with a comfortable victory over Wales while Scotland’s title bid was blown away by England on the second day at a blustery Crail.
Barry Doyle’s Irish side powered past Wales 6½ - 2½ to make it two wins out of two and only a heavy defeat to the hosts tomorrow will prevent their continued dominance of the event.
Despite Maurice Kelly and Adrian Morrow losing the opening foursomes match in the morning, former walker Cup captain Garth McGimpsey and Seamus McParland notched their second successive 2 and 1 win to level the match while Tom Cleary and Michael Quirke put the Irish ahead with a 3 and 2 win over Nigel Evans and Robert Broad.
Kelly bounced back in style in the afternoon singles, storming to five-under par at the turn to race to a six hole lead before sealing his match 6&5, while newcomer McGimpsey continued his impressive Seniors’ debut with a 3 and 2 win over Jeff Thomas. Billy Donlon shared a half in a tight match with Keith Stimpson before Adrian Morrow’s 6 and 5 win over Paul Bloomfield sealed the points,

John Whitcutt grabbed a consolation win for Wales with a well earned 2 and 1 defeat of Tom Cleary but Michael Quirke put the icing on the Irish celebration cake with a one-hole win over Nigel Evans.

A delighted captain Doyle said:”We were very concerned with the wind this morning and thought that play might be in jeopardy. The club pro told me he expected the wind would die down this afternoon which it did and the guys coped extremely well with the conditions.”

“The result looks more comprehensive on paper but it was a tighter match in reality. There was some fantastic golf on show from both teams, none more so than Maurice (Kelly) who played superbly. His opponent was level par for the first nine holes and found himself six down!”

“Garth McGimpsey has also been a fantastic addition to the team and has brought great Walker Cup experience to the side, as well as his fantastic ability. It would be fantastic to get our third win in a row but Scotland will be tough opponents tomorrow." he added.

In the bottom match, European champions England proved just too strong for Scotland with a 5½ - 3½ victory to end the hosts hopes of a home soil victory. Ian Taylor and Colin Christy overcame Doug Arnold and Dave Jessup 2 and 1 to open Scotland’s account this morning, but England took the foursomes 2 – 1.

Tony Stafford notched his second consecutive singles win with a 3 and 2 defeat of Arnold, while Christy enjoyed his second win of the day with a narrow one hole victory over Andrew Carman. David Gardner however fell to Alan Squires in the opening match and national seniors champion Scott Macdonald lost to Roy Smethurst.

The final two matches went to the wire with the outcome in the balance, but Chris Reynolds clinched the match for England with a one-hole win over John McDonald before Edzell’s Jim Watt halved with Philip Slater.

With a hat-trick in their sights, Ireland play Scotland on the final day with England needing to post a huge win over Wales to give them a chance of victory.


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