Double delight for Arthurs at ISPS Handa Irish Close
Cian Arthurs (Roganstown) celebrates winning two medals at the ISPS Handa Irish Close for Golfers with Disabilities at County Meath Photo: Inpho | Laszlo
Cian Arthurs claimed both the Sports Class Standing 2 title and the Gross Stroke Play prize after a strong final-round performance at the inaugural ISPS Handa Irish Close for Golfers with Disabilities at County Meath Golf Club.
Thirty-three players competed in glorious conditions at the Trim venue for the 36-hole championship, marking another significant milestone for disability golf in Ireland.
View the final scores here
Arthurs found himself tied for the ST2 lead after an opening round of 85 alongside Paul O’Kelly (Portmarnock) and County Meath men’s captain Brendan Swan.
The Roganstown golfer teed it up on Wednesday morning determined to improve on the previous day’s performance. He got off to the ideal start with a birdie on the par five third, helping him take a one-shot lead from O’Kelly as they teed up on the 10th.
The lead threatened to slip away from Arthurs’ grasp after a triple bogey on 13 and a double on 16 but composed golf throughout the rest of the back nine proved decisive, with seven pars across the closing stretch helping secure victory by a single shot.
“Yesterday I came out and I don’t know whether my mind was just fog but I couldn’t get anything going,” said Arthurs.
“Today I came out with the mentality, let’s go and get it and try and go low enough. I took a few shots off my score, played five better than yesterday. Made a couple of errors on the back nine but I made 12 or 13 pars today. Overall played a lot better and really enjoyed it.”
L-R) Tom Doherty, Adam Lockhart, Cathy Fitzgerald, Cian Arthurs, Caolan Munnelly, President of Golf Ireland, Fiona Delargy, County Meath Men's Captain, Brendan Swan, Patrick Morgan, County Meath Ladies Captain, Teresa Meila, Peter Hawthorne, County Meath Club President, Frank Holden. Photo: Inpho | Laszlo Geczo
“If you went two years ago you probably would have got 22 or 25 people and now it’s over 30. A couple of years’ time you’ve got 40 or 50 playing then. It’s great to have everyone involved and getting new people involved as well because it’s great for exercise, great for mental health and it’s great to show that you can still do what you might think you can’t do after an accident or an injury.”
With the ISPS Handa Irish Open for Golfers with Disabilities taking place at Arthurs’ home club of Roganstown in two weeks’ time, the Irish international’s performance at County Meath could provide a spark as he prepares to take on another strong field when the championship begins on June 9.
“There’ll be a couple of lads from overseas coming and Brendan (Lawlor) is playing as well so I need to sharpen up a little bit of my game,” said Arthurs
“Overall, I’m striking it well, putting quite well without holing stuff. Just need to get a bit better on the greens and a bit tighter off the tee and why not? We’ll give it a go.”
Players competed across a range of sport classifications during the championship with Tom Doherty (Killarney) winning the Sport Class ST1 title and Adam Lockhart (Kirkistown Castle) claimed the Sports Class ST3 prize.
Caolan Munnelly (Tullamore) claimed both the Sport Class IN prize and Net Stroke Play crown while Patrick Morgan (Elmgreen) won the Sport Class V1 2.
Peter Hawthorne (Edenmore) won the Net Stableford, while Cathy Fitzgerald (St Patrick’s) was the champion in the Women’s Division after carding a net seven under par over the two days.
