David Penrose wins the Westmeath Junior Strokeplay

 
David Penrose (Collinstown) receives the Westmeath Junior Strokeplay Championship Cup from Westmeath Chairman James Corcoran

David Penrose (Collinstown) receives the Westmeath Junior Strokeplay Championship Cup from Westmeath Chairman James Corcoran

The 2014 Westmeath Strokeplay Championship kicked off at 9am last Sunday morning in the beautifully manicured Collinstown course.  Relentless time and effort was put in over the last week by course manager Des Carter and his crew of helpers to produce the course in the fine championship condition that was widely complimented on Sunday.

The Junior Championship was the first out on a cloudy and dull morning. The overnight rain made the greens soft and couple that with no wind – a feast of birdies was expected on the day. David “Duckeen” Penrose has been in superb early season form going into this championship and in many’s eyes was the favourite for the title. The Collinstown man did not disappoint by opening with an incredible 49 to lead by 2 shots after the opening round. When I say that David’s round was incredible – I need to define that further. The Collinstown man started with a shank on the first out of bounds and had a 5. He then proceeded to birdie 2 and 3 before making a oner on the fourth!! – how many people have ever been 2 under for 4 holes with a 5 on the card?? Only 4 other players managed to break par in the opening round, namely Kilbeggan’s Martin Loran and Rochfortbridge’s Mark Kelly – both with 52s, also Mark Power (Rochfortbridge) and John Green (Lough Owel) on 53s.

Allan Foxe from Lough Owel receives his runners-up prize from James Corcoran

Allan Foxe from Lough Owel receives his runners-up prize from James Corcoran

Duckeen was relentless though as he added an excellent 50 second round to total 99 and lead the championship by 5 shots going out in the play-off. Lough Owel’s Allan Foxe, a known lover of the Collinstown course, matched Duckeen’s second round to sit in second place on 104. Mark Kelly lay third at this stage on 106, with John Greene, Martin Loran and Kilbeggan’s Darren Whelan the only others under par on 107.

The final 10 players who made the play-off lined up as follows:

David Penrose (Collinstown) 99
Allan Foxe (Lough Owel) 104
Mark Kelly (Rochfortbridge) 106
Darren Whelan (Kilbeggan) 107
John Greene (Lough Owel) 107
Martin Loran (Kilbeggan) 107
Mark Power (Rochfortbridge) 108
Michael Flynn (Collinstown) 109
Dean Dinnegan (Lough Owel) 110
Mick Scally (Collinstown) 111

With Mark Kelly unable to make any ground on the leaders after a level par 54 final round, it was down to the final 2 ball between our own David Penrose and Lough Owel’s Allan Foxe. Make no mistake, this was not a foregone conclusion as Allan is a very solid player with a great appetite for the game. David however settled his early nerves by pitching the opening hole to literally 3 inches – he had improved his lead to 6. Allan never gave up though and shot a fine 52 in the end for a very respectable total for the day of 6 under par – it was a total that could have easily won the championship. Duckeen wasn’t giving it away though and he stayed solid throughout on the final round, once again breaking par with a 53 to win by 4 clear shots on 10 under par.

David thanked the committee of Collinstown and the Ladies for their hospitality. He was clearly chuffed to win and I doubt the smile has left his face even yet! Well done “Duckeen”!!

Westmeath Junior Strokeplay Scoreboard

Westmeath Junior Strokeplay Scoreboard

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