Review of 2012

St Andrews in Scotland provided the venue for the recent finale to the NCBI Holmpatrick Cup with the Wicklow pairing of Stephen Dowling (12) and Gabriel O’Donoghue (16) proving far too good for the rest of the field.

Having shot an impressive 42 points on day one around the New Course, the Wicklow pairing held a four-point lead over the other three partnerships, who had made it to Scotland having qualified through in the domestic “Race to St Andrews”.

Then over the Old Course the Wicklow duo really hit form, shooting a superb 47 points to take the spoils by a comfortable margin and bring the Holmpatrick Cup to Wicklow for the first time.

The scoring over the Old Course was impressive for all four pairings, with a combined total of 165 points, with Royal Dublin’s Brendan O’Malley and Lochlainn Garvey shooting 41, Waterford’s Charlie Ahearne and John Hale 39, and James McKay and Graham Johnson of Clover Hill 38, but nobody could match Wicklow club president Dowling and O’Donoghue.

Also present at the final were competition secretaries Niall O’Connor from Blessington Lakes, Michael Murphy (Portarlington), Michael Keville ( Boyle) and Brendan Tuckey (Stackstown), while the players also got to watch play at the Dunhill Links Championship, won by Branden Grace

 Photo (Left to Right): 2012 Holmpatrick Cup Prize Winning Pair of Gabby O'Donoghue and Stephen Dowling