Donal Duggan - Top Senior at Strand Horst
Understandably, Cork Inter-County player Donal Duggan had issues other than Pitch and Putt on his mind in recent times. Three family bereavements over the past twelve months are tough to deal with and we express deep condolences to Donal and his family.
He recently travelled to Strand Horst in the Nethrerlands with a number of his St. Anne's club colleagues to contest the International Gelders Open.
"What did I expect from myself?" reflects Donal in the week follwing his victory in the Senior Open on 167 (59+53+55). "Not very much, as I am getting shanks every round, totally down to my head not being in the right place." .
"But I surprised myself a bit in the first round, finishing five over in the wind, so, I said to myself after the 1st round, if I could shoot a 51 or 52, I could have a chance of a place. Shooting a 53 (second round), I thought I would be out of contention."
Donal likes the Strand Horst course but, "the trees are a disaster! Some holes, you have to putt off the tee boxes to try and get to the holes. Other holes, you have to pitch away from the greens as the trees are overhanging the green."
The 2013 Irish Strokeplay runner-up enjoyed his trip to this surfing mecca on the shores of Dutch lake Wolverwijd. "The competition was exceptionally well-run by Ed Jansen and his team. Now the weather did not help - cold, wind with gusts up to 70 km an hour, hailstone and rain on Saturday..Sunday was a bit better, but still cold and breezy." .
Duggan's overnight situation was better than he anticipated. "To my surprise, I was two ahead of Jimmy (O'Neill) after 36 holes . After the first 36, when I looked back at it that night, I made six bad bad fours and, only for that, I think I would have had the tournament won so my plan was to try and shoot a 54 in the final round I knew I would have a good chance starting the final 18. I started okay, had a big chance on the 2nd and pulled the putt. Jimmy birdied the 2nd, so back to one."
One of those 'tree' holes presented a setback for the 2006 Cork Intermediate Matchplay kingpin. "I had a stupid four on the 3rd, so all square. By the time we got to the 9th, I was one down - fair play to Jimmy he was two under for nine. At at the 10th, I said to myself 'level par from here in and I would still have chance,' as it is definitely the most difficult nine."
"I started with a birdie on the 10th and with a great par on the 11th, a birdie on 12 and Jimmy taking a four on the 13th I went two up. We parred the next few till we got to the 16th, where there was a massive hold up - 30 minutes or more."
Too much time to reflect, maybe. "Then I started over thinking everything. Eventually we got back to pitching and I got half a shank. Luckily, I holed a super putt for a bogey, leaving me one up with two to play So I said to myself ' two pars and I have a great chance of winning, as they are two very difficult holes.' I pitched a good ball to the 17th and 18th and two pars were good enough to win."
"I was really thrilled with the win. I know my game is not where I want it to be but hopefully I will get some of my old game back"
In time-honoured Pitch and Putt fashion, Donal is generous in his assesement of the other two main protagonists for the Over-55s trophy, fellow Irishmen Jimmy O'Neill and Ger Forde. "Jimmy and Ger are two gentleman who do a lot of work behind the scenes for their clubs, Jimmy in Larkspur Park and Ger in E.S.B., two great players in the own right. Ger was too far back to get into contention but he did finish with three birdies in the last four holes with super pitches."
Asked about his ambitions for 2024, internationally and domestically, Donal is unequivocally focused on the Irish scene. "My goal for the rest of season is to try and qualify for the nationals." We wish him well.
