Home advantage once again proved crucial as Caolan Rafferty won the Dundalk Scratch Cup sponsored by One Finance for the fifth time on Saturday at Dundalk Golf Club.
The 32-year-old, who won the East of Ireland Championship in August as well as the scratch cups at Laytown & Bettystown and Ardee, was the only player below par at the end of the 36 hole tournament on a day when a strong wind coupled with lightning fast greens proved extremely difficult for the field.
Rafferty won by four shots from Warrenpoint’s Harry McArdle with last year’s winner, Dundalk’s Eoin Murphy, another two shots further back.
Rafferty, who was a member of the Great Britain & Ireland team at this year’s St Andrew’s Trophy against Continental Europe, opened with a one under par 71. He birdied the third and seventh going out but bogeyed the sixth. A birdie at 14 got him back to two under but he bogeyed the last to finish on one under.
But that was enough to leave him three shots ahead at the halfway stage from McArdle and Banbridge’s Jim Carvill on two over with Athenry’s David Kitt a shot further back.
As the challenging conditions on Dundalk’s testing championship course continued to ask serious questions in the second round, Rafferty remained steady. A birdie at the first was cancelled by a bogey at the second but he remained at one under for the tournament at the turn after seven successive pars.
He opened the back nine with a birdie at the par five 10th but handed it back at the short par four 14th before bouncing back with a birdie at the next hole. That moved him to two under for the tournament as he signed for his second 71 of the day.
Behind, nobody was able to mount a challenge. McArdle had five birdies in his second round but they were cancelled out by three bogeys and a double bogey as he could only manage a level par 72 to remain at two over.
Carvill was four over for his second round by the time he found his first birdie of the day on the par three 17th and finished on five over while a quadruple bogey eight at the second ended Kitt’s challenge early in his final round.
Defending champion Murphy got off to the worst possible start, dropping four shots over the opening four shots and was seven over after 13 before eventually signing for a six over par 78. His second round was a right roller coaster with six birdies and an eagle alongside six bogeys as he shot a 70 for the lowest round of the day. With most people going backwards during the final round he ended up taking third place.
The Carroll Cup, which had been won over the years by the likes of Padraig Harrington and JB Carr, was presented to Rafferty by Dundalk Golf Club President Gerry Campbell and Martin McDonell, Managing Director of One Finance.
Saturday, August 14 – Dundalk Senior Scratch Cup sponsored by One Finance – Overall: 142 – Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) 71, 71. 146 – Harry Mc Ardle (Warrenpoint) 74, 72. 148 – Eoin Murphy (Dundalk) 78, 70. 149 – Jim Carvill (Banbridge) 74, 75. 151- Charlie Mc Donnell (Concra Wood) 78, 73. 152 – David Joyce (Powerscourt) 78, 74. Round 1 Gross: David Kitt (Athenry) 75. Round 1 Gross: Conor O’Hare (Greenore) 73. Overall Nett: Paul Murphy (Dundalk) 150 (75, 75).