5 years after he misplaced the South of Eire remaining, Kildare man Keith Egan buried his demons to disclaim native hero David Brady and declare the Connolly Motor Group-sponsored West of Eire Novice Open Championship at Rosses Level.
“Lastly,” the 31-year-strength and conditioning coach mentioned after he adopted a 3&2 semi-final win over Clandeboye’s Ross Latimer with one other 3&2 win over County Sligo’s David Brady within the remaining.
The decider, which started in sensible sunshine and ended below a forbidding sky, proved a bridge too far for Brady, who was bidding to develop into the primary pre-qualifier to elevate the trophy.
The 27-year-old Financial institution of America worker may need been taking part in out of Straffan, however he left every part on the Rosses Level hyperlinks over the course of six days, taking part in 186 holes between pre-qualifying, apply and eight rounds of championship golf.
He needed to go six additional holes to beat Castleknock’s Paul Coughlan with a birdie in his marathon semi-final. However he couldn’t muster a birdie within the remaining and Egan proved too sturdy ultimately.
“My objective over the previous couple of years is simply profitable championships,” mentioned an emotional Egan, whose mom hails from close by Strandhill. “I received shut in 2019, shedding within the remaining of the South and the way I dealt with that scenario has haunted me ever since.
“I used to be very decided this week. I knew I used to be taking part in nicely, I knew the course and I knew I had the grit to come back out on prime.”
Egan needed to wait practically two hours after his semi-final win to get going as Brady and Coughlan delivered an exciting semi-final duel that went to the sixth additional gap and compelled the ultimate to be put again by 45 minutes.
The native hero was three-up with 5 holes to play however made 4 fives in a row — bogeys on the 14th and fifteenth, a double bogey on the sixteenth, and one other bogey on the seventeenth —to be one down taking part in the 18th.
He dug deep and hit a stellar wedge stone lifeless there and was conceded a birdie three that pressured additional holes, and he would finally win with a birdie on the twenty fourth after Coughlan did not make a birdie all day, crucially three-putting from simply off the again of the twenty first for par.
That birdie on the twenty fourth turned out to be Brady’s final birdie of the day, and that proved deadly in opposition to a relentless Egan in a remaining watched by 400 spectators, most of them locals.
“The climate right here is depressing yearly, and when we have now good climate, the folks end up,” mentioned Excessive-Efficiency squad member Egan after taking part in 16 holes in an estimated degree par to win his first championship.
