Sunday last saw the staging of the perennial season opening Scratch Cup at St. Patricks' in Enniscorthy which heralds the beginning of the pitch and putt year in Ireland. Over the years there have been many close finishes with holder Martin O'Neill of the host club winning  the 2013 event after a three hole play off with Eddie Hennessy needing to birdie all three to win by a shot.

After two rounds on this occasion on a beautifully prepared course with lightning fast greens it was Cement's Sean Goggin who held a  four shot lead with two brilliant ten unders from that man again Ashgrove's Eddie Hennessy on sixteen under. Eddie in turn was a further four shots ahead of locals Dean Grannell and Willie Hudson with Martin O'Neill and St. Pats' Paul Tobin on nine under.

General opinion was that Goggin was a racing certainty to win entering the third round but that's not how it turned out and some brilliant play by Hennessy brought the scores level after seventeen holes. With the prospect of another play off looming large and the light fading Goggin went for broke on the difficult eighteenth when Hennessey left his pitch short on the fringe with the pin at the back, the Drogheda man left a great ball four feet above the hole. Eddie missed the difficult putt and Sean slotted his to win by a shot on 24 under in spite of a great seven under final round in difficult enough conditions by the Waterford man. Paul Tobin came out of the pack to take third and the prize for the back eighteen went to local player Derek Ryan. The Ladies prize was won by Chrissie Byrne with Tramore's Brian Farrell winning the Inter and St. Pat's Richard Grannell coming out on top in the Junior category.

The club wishes to thank the almost 90 players who turned up and everyone who helped to make the day a success with many complimenting the club on the lovely condition of the course for the time of year. This is entirely due to the ground staff led by Nigel Baxter and their efforts have led to the course receiving a recent Gold Award from the P.P.U.I. Afterwards the Tommy Foley Memorial Cup was presented to Sean Goggin by Tommy's son Bobby.               

(Aidan Whelan - P.R.O.)