Offaly golfer bows out of West of Ireland Championship after great semi-final fightback comes up short

STUART Grehan's dreams of making a sensational return to amateur ranks by winning one of Ireland's big golfing “majors” ended when he was beaten in the semi-finals of the West of Ireland Championship at Rosses Point on Tuesday morning.

The Tullamore man gave it a great go, playing superbly consistent golf to make the semi-finals but his hopes of reaching the final ended when he and Warrenpoint's Colin Campbell halved the 17th and the northerner won 2 and 1 – he will meet Dylan Hughes of Greystones in the final on Tuesday afternoon.

Five down early on and again after 11, Grehan staged a rousing recovery to bring it down to the wire but ultimately left himself too much to do and bowed out with his head held high.

Grehan was in serious bother when he found himself a whopping five down after seven holes. He didn't do a whole lot wrong but Campbell was on fire as he won the 2^nd, 3^rd, 5^th, 6^th and 7^th holes. Crucially, the Offaly man managed to halt the slide when a three won him the eight as he turned four down.

The odds were stacked against him when Campbell won the 11^th to go back five up and with the holes running out, Grehan was looking at an early visit to the club house. However, he displayed terrific character to go on a rampage, winning 12, 14 and 15 to get right back in it as he trailed by two with three to play. A half on the 16^th meant that he had to win 17 and 18 to bring it down the 19^th but he left himself too much to do and when both players had a 4 on the 17^th, it was all over.

Played on one of the country's most cherish courses, Rosses Point, a few miles outside Sligo town and nestling up against the Atlantic Ocean, Grehan will take many positives from this, one of Ireland's most cherished amateur championships.

It has been a great tournament for Grehan who made the huge decision to return to amateur golf this year after almost ten years in professional ranks. A former member of Tullamore Golf Club and now playing for County Louth GC in Baltray – he lives in nearby Termofeckin -, Grehan gave professional golf his best shot and had some great days but was stuck on the subsidiary tours and a big breakthrough eluded him.

One of the best amateur golfers in the country before joining the paid ranks, Grehan has hit the ground running back in the amateur game, winning the Rosslare Senior Scratch Cup - he won the South and East of Ireland Championships as well as the Irish Youths Championship in his previous spell in amateur ranks.

His successes in those resulted in him taking the decision to give professional golf a go but he decided to call it a day after getting married and becoming a father – he is working as a financial advisor with an investment and pensions company in Dundalk.

Grehan came through the two strokeplay qualifying rounds last week on +12, hitting a 78 in round 1 and improving to a 76 in round 2. He has been excellent in the match play stages and has managed his game very effectively on the Rosses Point course, a difficult test of golf with wind nearly always blowing in from the Atlantic.

Grehan has set his sights on making the British and Irish Walker Cup team in the coming years and his performances here are a step in the right direction. He was in complete control in his quarter-final on Monday afternoon as he beat James Fox of Portmarnock with holes to spare, 6 and 5.

He just got through his last 64 first round matchplay showdown, beating Eddie McCormack of Galway Bay on the 19^th hole. He continued his good form in his next outing, beating Jordan Boles of Charleville, 3 and 2 and he went down the 19^th again in his last 16 match before beating his strength and conditioning coach, Robbie Channon of Balbriggan on Monday morning.

The tournament will also have done a lot of good for the confidence of a very promising emerging young golfer. Rahan teenager Evan Monaghan, still a second level student in nearby Killina Presentation Secondary School, actually came through the strokeplay qualifiers ahead of Stuart Grehan in 37^th place on +11: Grehan was a shot back on +12.

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Tullamore Golf Club member Monaghan did very well to qualify for the matchplay stages with rounds of 81 and 72. After finding the going difficult on Thursday, he played some super golf when he needed to in round 2 on Friday, marking down three birdies and four bogeys in a one over par round to qualify comfortably.

He battled with everything he had in his first match play outing before losing 3 and 2 to Ross Latimer of Knock. It will, however, be a great learning experience for Monaghan who has really developed his game in recent years, competing internationally and has a busy summer schedule lined up.