As Roscommon retained their AIG Women’s Senior Foursomes crown with victory over Mallow, Selfridge put the finishing flourish to Moyola Park’s 10-hole win alongside partner Corey Scullion.
After their quarter-final win over Ballinasloe, the Co Derry club caused the shock of the tournament when they edged out hot favourites Castleknock on the 20th in the semi-finals.
Selfridge and Scullion came back from five down to halve with Paul Coughlan and James Mitten before Luke Lennox and Dean Crawford beat Quentin Carew and Mark Doogue on the 20th.
Nenagh beat Lee Valley in the quarter-finals and Millicent by one hole in the semis, but in the final, it was all one-way traffic.
Having come back from a five-hole deficit to win their match the previous day, Selfridge and Scullion built a three-hole lead against Shane Hogan and Scott O’Brien after nine holes.
Moyola Park won the AIG Barton Shield on Saturday. Photo: Thos Caffrey/Golffile
Crawford and Lennox were also three up against Nenagh’s David Reddan and Tony Scroope through the turn, and neither Moyola Park pair took their foot off the pedal until Selfridge—a former Irish Close, East of Ireland, and two-time North of Ireland champion—holed the winning putt on the 14th green.
“It means a great deal not just for me and the boys but also for Moyola Park,” said team captain Hilary Armstrong.
“This is our first All-Ireland pennant. And it’s a great achievement. Lost for words.
“I didn’t expect that it was actually going to be such a victory, but it’s great. I was dreading it going down tie holes again like yesterday, so it’s great to get it done this way here.
“The guys have all gelled very well from start to finish. Anytime I have asked them to do anything, they have done it for me; they have pulled together, and it’s absolutely brilliant.”
Roscommon, meanwhile, successfully defended their AIG Women’s Senior Foursomes title with a dramatic 18th-hole win over Mallow.
They beat Malone in the quarter-finals and County Louth in the semis as Mallow edged out Limerick and Naas.
Roscommon successfully defended their AIG Women’s Senior Foursomes title
As Mallow’s Lynda Maher and Carmel Kearney beat Maeve Kelly and Carmel Walker 4&3 in match three and Roscommon’s Paula Quinn and Leah Lennon beat Mary Dowling and Susan Coakley 2&1 in match two, it all came down to Roscommon’s Sinéad Benedetti and Anne Quirke versus Jennifer Hickey and Nora O’Connor in the top contest.
Ultimately, Roscommon’s experience helped them over the line, with Benedetti’s ten-foot putt the clincher for a one-up win and 2-1 success overall.
“We are absolutely thrilled and delighted with ourselves to have done it because it is no easy feat and even to get to a final is no easy feat so we got a little bit lucky,” said Roscommon captain Annie Timothy.
“But we played some super golf over the three days and I am absolutely delighted for the girls, they well deserve it and it’s well-earned at this stage.
“It’s a three-day gig and you have to play good golf in order to come out the other side. I’m sure on the other half of the draw Mallow played equally as good golf to get here.
“But on the day it’s a little bit of luck, along with good golf and there was fabulous golf out there today.
“I was feeling fine after the front nine, I said they are doing it to me again, they are kind of down a bit here and up a bit there and I said we are still nowhere near the finish line.
“It was the 17th that gave us a little bit of confidence coming down the 18th, but then we had the little mishap, and we kind of said 19 looks a little bit ominous here.
“But in fairness to Sinéad, she had a superb putt to close out the match, and they did absolutely super. Absolutely delighted.”
