They are the champions! Ireland's team at the conclusion of the Senior Men's Amateur Internationals at Crail. Image couresty of Scottish Golf Union.

Ireland Power to Senior Homes Hat-trick at Crail

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A rampant Ireland Seniors team made it a record three Home Internationals titles in a row with an emphatic 7.5 – 1.5 win over Scotland today on the Craighead course at Crail.
The Irish maintained their 100% record for the week to record a ‘triple crown’ and with it clinched their third successive title as the host nation Scotland were eft to pick up the wooden spoon.
Victory was all but confirmed by Barry Doyle’s side – runners up to England at the recent European Senior Team Championship – as they powered to a three nil morning foursomes lead, before wins in the top three games for Maurice Kelly, Garth McGimpsey and Adrian Morrow sealed a glorious week in the East Neuk for the Irish.
Tom Cleary added to the margin of victory with a 2 and 1 win over Colin Christy, while John McDonald bagged Scotland’s only point of the day with a hard fought one hole win over Billy Donlon. In the final match, Ireland’s Michael Quirke missed out on his own 100% record with a half against Ian Taylor.
McGimpsey shone on his Seniors Home Internationals debut with six points out of six and the former Walker Cup player and captain was delighted with his team’s performance:
“I’m absolutely thrilled. It’s been a great week for me and the team. We’ve performed really well from start to finish and to make it three in a row is fantastic. The team spirit has been excellent and the captain mixed it up well. I hadn’t been playing much competitive golf in recent years so it’s nice to make such a big impact on the seniors’ scene.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the course and the more we played it the better it became. The wind obviously played a huge part in the challenge but its set up great for match play and a good test of golf. I put myself under a bit of pressure to win the last match and David (Gardner) gave me a great game, so it was nice to finish with six points and the trophy for the team.” added the 55-year-old.
European champions England finished in second spot with a 5.5 – 3.5 victory over Wales, with comprehensive wins for Alan Squires, Doug Arnold and the veteran Roy Smethurst in the singles seeing them edge past the Welsh after the morning foursomes finished all square.
Ian Dickson, Club Captain of the host club Crail Golfing Society, said:
“We are delighted that our investment in the club over the past few years has played its part in the success of the tournament. We have forged close bonds with the SGU and look forward to working with them again in the future.
“Tribute must go to course architect Gil Hanse who designed the Craighead course, which has presented a wonderful challenge to the teams this week. Gil has gone on to co-design Castle Stuart to great acclaim and we are delighted with our association with him.”

Click here for day three results and final standings.