*Patrick Adler (North Shore USA) winner of the South of Ireland Championship. Photograph: Fran Caffrey / Golffile.ie
LAHINCH was able to lay claim to the winner of the South of Ireland Amateur Championships as one of its overseas members prevailed on the immaculate North-West Clare course.
By Caomh Breen Allen
Patrick Adler came to Lahinch for the first time as a youngster in the early 2010s and dreamed of one day winning a title on the famous Clare course and now at the age of 21 the dream has come true for this year’s Pierse Motors Volkswagen South of Ireland Amateur Open Champion.
Four contenders did battle on championship Sunday in Lahinch with a mixture of youth and experience all vying to become the 122nd South of Ireland Champion. Adler was the first to play in his semi-final match against 53-year-old veteran and 2012 champion Pat Murray (Tramore).
The American using his distance and accuracy to build up an early lead, going four up through six before Murray steadied the ship and brought it back to three on the seventh. Adler though was not to be bested as a four on ten and a five on 12 were enough to see him win 5&4, advancing to his first ever South final.
Adler had some time to wait before he learned who his opponent in the final would be as the match between Brian Doran (Millicent) and Joshua Hill (Galgorm Castle) went down to the wire.
Doran began brightly taking the first and sixth hole in four to go two up. Hill fought back, winning the seventh with a birdie and the ninth with a four, with the pair turning for home all square. The match remained that way until 12 and 13 where the Millicent golfer found his groove winning both holes before Hill mounted a late comeback, taking 15. Doran however held his nerve, halving all the way to the clubhouse, advancing to the final with a 1up win.
At two o’clock on Sunday afternoon Adler and Doran teed off in the final, one more victory away from glory. The momentum swung back and forth in the early going, the pair halving the first before trading wins all the way to the eighth where Adler began to take control, birdieing three in a row across eight, nine and ten. The North Shore USA golfer playing his way to be three up through 12.
Doran did battle back and the finalists traded wins once again with Doran taking 13, Adler winning 14 and Doran responding again on 15. It was on 16 though where the title was decided, a hole which had been a memorable one for the young American the day before when he carded an ace to win his quarter-final in style. Both players though left themselves with work to do, missing the green short right, Doran with a chip from just off the green, Adler with a shot from the bunker.
“I actually wrote something in my book right before it,” said Adler. “I just wrote dig deep; this is what you practiced for, and you have worked for all of this. My last thought before I hit the bunker shot was you’ve hit thousands of these at North Shore”.
The Maquette University student struck his shot from the sand, rolling the ball up to three feet from the hole. Doran also hit an excellent chip but missed his par putt coming back and with Adler sinking his, the 21-year-old from Chicago emotionally embraced his caddie Neil as the new champion.
“I was telling my dad walking up 18 it still hasn’t sunk in yet. I don’t know when it will but it’s very surreal and kind of this whole week has felt surreal. Doing what I love and playing good golf and having fun out there with Neil it’s just been unbelievable,” said Adler. “I was quite nervous but something my college coach back home Steve Bailey always says is whenever you’re in those situations you know you have practiced a three-footer thousands of times so there’s nothing different really you are just hitting the same putt, so I kept reminding myself of that and just locking on my target”
The affectionately known “Paddy’s Army” cheered Adler home as the sun went down on another South of Ireland Championship in Lahinch, and the fans were a key part of Adler’s success this week. “The first year we had probably ten people watching me in the round of 64 and they started calling themselves Paddy’s Army and Paddy’s Army was in full force today,” said Adler.
“It felt unbelievable to have the support. Maybe when I’ve lost a hole, they were always there to egg me on and push me to keep fighting”. This fighting spirit was also demonstrated by his second cousin Ryan Taylor of Clooney/Quin who was part of the Clare senior hurling squad crowned All-Ireland champions.
