The Portmarnock Golf Club pairing of Geoff Lenehan and Jack Pierse created history in Thailand this morning when they beat Royal Melbourne to become the first Irish club from south of the border to win the World Club Championships.
The prestigious championship is played between 25 clubs from 15 countries in Sports Illustrated’s top 100 courses in the world list.
The club then nominates its club champion who chooses a partner to play alongside – both players must have a handicap of three or less.
After qualifying through the strokeplay stage with a score of -11, the Dublin duo cruised past Los Angeles Country Club in their semi-final clash at Ayodhya Links yesterday.
That set up a final tie with Royal Melbourne which went right down to the wire.
Two down with five to play, the Irish team needed something special. And that was exactly what they got.
A bogey from the Australians at the 15th saw the defecit cut to one before Portmarnock drew level with a birdie at the 16th.
But then came the magic from Pierse. At the par five 17th he holed a crucial eagle putt to beat the birdie of the Australians and send Portmarnock down the last one up.
However, the drama didn’t finish there. After losing a ball the Irish pair were forced to concede the hole and the match went to a playoff.
But coming up the 18th again they managed to hold their nerve to win the match and claim the trophy, becoming the first European club to do so since Sunningdale in 2007.
