Golf Ireland and the Metropolitan Golf Association finished deadlocked at 10 points apiece this past Wednesday in the 16th playing of the Carey Cup on the Montgomerie Course at Carton House Golf Club in Maynooth, Ireland.
This was the third time since 2007 the top amateurs from both associations played to a tie in the biennial, Walker Cup-style match that alternates host venues between the greater New York City area and Ireland. Because the MGA had won the Carey Cup in 2019, they officially retained the trophy until the 2023 edition back in the U.S.
The 2021 matches were the first to include women, which was a welcome development to an MGA squad that had to rely heavily on those newcomers. Ina Kim-Schaad and Megha Ganne teamed to win two matches on the first day, before both earned singles victories on Day 2 for 3-0 records. Adding to those efforts, Noelle Maertz went 1-1-1.
Those performances were critical to retaining the cup given the MGA men were just 3-7-2 in their 12 matches as the Irish men took advantage of playing a familiar course. Hugh Foley and Richard Knightley each went 2-0-1 for the Irish, while Rob Moran and Jake Whelan picked up two wins of their own.
It was almost enough for victory, but the MGA’s best player saved the day.
Mark Costanza, the 2020 Met Player of the Year and recent runner-up in the U.S. Mid-Amateur, trailed David Kitt, 2 down, with two holes to play. With the other singles matches decided, it was evident that Kitt winning the match would give Golf Ireland a 10½ -9½ victory. Costanza would have to win both holes to tie his match and the overall score in the Carey Cup.
Costanza hit a tight approach on the par-3 17th and didn’t even need to putt as Kitt failed to get up and down for par. That meant it would come down to the par-5 18th with all other players and spectators watching on the hill beside the green.
Both players were greenside in two shots. Costanza went first, pitching to about 8 feet with a difficult putt remaining. Little did he know, that would be good enough. Kitt botched his pitch and couldn’t get down in two from there, conceding Costanza’s birdie putt and allowing the MGA to retain the Carey Cup.
Golf Ireland holds an 8-5-3 advantage since the Carey Cup’s inception in 1990. However, the MGA is now 3-1-2 in the past six meetings.
O’Keeffe Wins Irish Men’s Amateur Open
Ireland’s Peter O’Keeffe beat Nicola Gerhardsen of Switzerland by one stroke in a three-hole aggregate playoff at The European Club in Wicklow to win his second Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship on Sunday.
Cork’s O’Keeffe, the 2017 champion at Royal County Down, trailed 36-hole co-leaders Gerhardsen and Allan Hill by one shot heading into the final round. The final threesome on the course quickly turned into a two-man match when Hill made a quadruple bogey 8 on the fourth hole.
Gerhardsen was even par for the day holding a two-shot lead when he reached the 15th hole. But the Swissman walked off the 425-yard par-4 with his third bogey in three rounds there while O’Keeffe made birdie to pull into a tie with three holes to play.
O’Keeffe three-putted No. 16 for bogey to give the lead back while Gerhardsen three-putted 17 to send them to the 18th tee tied again at 4-over. O’Keeffe sank a 20-footer to save par on the last while Gerhardsen missed a 12-foot birdie chance to trigger a three-hole playoff.
O’Keeffe made three pars in the playoff while Gerhardsen bogeyed the first playoff hole (No. 18) and missed an 10-foot birdie chance on No. 9 to extend the playoff.
Gerhardsen was trying to become the first winner from outside Great Britain and Ireland since Portugal’s Pedro Figueiredo in 2008 and only the fourth all-time since 1892. South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen was the first in 2002 and Finland’s Antti Ahokas beat Rory McIlroy in 2006.
In the Irish Women’s and Girls’ Amateur Open Championship, Charlotte Back of Germany shot 2-under 72 at County Lough Golf Club on Sunday to pull out of a three-way tie and win by two strokes over Ireland’s Beth Coulter and Sweden’s Moa Svedenskiöld.
Staff and Wire Reports