ALTHOUGH he admits that it was a slow start to the year, Ray Murphy agrees that it’s hard to have expected 2013 to have gone any better for him in his own, his club’s and indeed his county colours. Murphy matched his outstanding individual feats of 2006 and 2007 in winning the National Matchplay and Strokeplay double and while he claimed Inter-County success in the Cork colours as well both years, this year he added a new honour in being a member of the St Annes Scratch Gents team that won the inaugural National Inter-Club competition.
This year saw the former Templebreedy player with a different club after his name in the form of St Annes, a move that had mixed emotions with it. “We all knew the year would come when Templebreedy wouldn’t affiliate but having been an associate member with St Annes for a number of years, it was a pretty easy switch because the club have always made me feel welcome since I first started playing there,” Murphy said of his new home. It wasn’t until June that the year got going in earnest in an event that he has made pretty much his own over the last decade, the National Matchplay. “I had only played one practice round in Lucan on the Wednesday before the competition started so I was a bit unsure of where I stood starting off. It came together for me the more I advanced however and I made it to Monday where every Pitch & Putt player wants to be,” he said of his start to the competition.
Monday would the same as it had been in 1998 and all the way through 2006 to 2009 for Ray although he did have some nervous moments in his final two matches. “Derek Courtney was definitely my toughest match overall, having to come back from four down with 12 holes left to win is tough for any player but I managed to pull it out of the fire. A lot of people might not have fancied Sean (Goggin) in the Final but I remember playing him in Stackallen the year it was held there and he played well that day so I knew what he was capable of if he got going. While I played well Sean stuck with me to the end and it was definitely one I had to earn,” he said of his sixth Day Cup success. Less than two months later would see him complete his third double in the two Premier Singles events, but the weather more than the players nearly proved to be his biggest enemy. “Rocklodge is one of my favourite courses but its two different places in dry and wet weather and while the first 36 had gone very well for me in the dry, when the rain came down at 5pm it took a bit of adjusting before play resumed. I started the Final Round well and I think it relaxed me and took my mind off about what everyone else was doing,” Murphy said.
Even with a fifth Donnelly Cup on a personal level, Murphy was happy with who his runner-up turned out to be on the day. “Donal Duggan is a good friend of mine and was probably unlucky not to have had a performance on the big day in the past. He did very well to finish second given the field that was there and I hope he takes encouragement from it moving forward,” he said. Putting on the county colours once more, Cork entered the National Inter-County in Hillview for the first time since 2003 not as defending champions. Despite a slow start, they eventually made up for the pain of Enniscorthy a year earlier. “I think we were disappointed initially not to have done 10-in-a-row in 2012 but Wexford were fully deserving of that win. There was a lot of excitement and uncertainty with the new format and Foursomes is one of the hardest formats that you can start with. We recovered well in the Scotch and the fact most of the players had played in the old 36 hole Singles format of the past helped us on the Sunday,” he said of a strong Cork win.
While Murphy did not feature in the Semi-Finals and Finals of the Inter-Club competition, his presence undoubtedly lifted St Annes during a tough road to the deciding day in Bruff. “It was a very difficult competition from the point of view of logistics and at one stage it looked like we would struggle to come out of the Group but we pulled it together to get where we needed to be. Overall it was a great achievement by the club to win both of the Gents competitions. We play with the Inter/Junior team members in Club Fourballs during the summer and they are a wonderful group of people. They had to come from behind to win their Final which always makes a win that more appreciated,” he said of St Annes’ magnificent double.
Thoughts will now turn to 2014 and one big event is already on the horizon with the Irish Open in May at Glenville. One of the only honours Murphy does not have to his name, he admits a win would be most welcome. “I’m often reminded by a certain player in Kerry that he has won two while I have won none! I think we’re all delighted to see the event back of the calendar after three years and Glenville is one of the best places that it can be held. I don’t necessarily think it’s a foregone conclusion that there will be an Irish winner because I think Glenville is a course that suits the International game.”
Now that he is back on his throne again in the rankings, the expectation and desire in the ‘big ones’ will be there by all to see him succeed or else usurped. That’s what will keep us all interested again over the coming campaign!