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  Sean Downes - Irish International player

Five times Irish champion Sean Downes was destined to play our sport. “I was brought up on Pitch and Putt. Stackallen course is across the road from my home place. I was eight or nine years old when I first played.” He's been playing, and winning, ever since. “I started playing competitively when I was twelve. I went to Navan for the county Juvenile Strokeplay. That day, I was selected on the Meath Juvenile Team.”

So what's the secret to his longevity as a major champion? “I don't really know. 1991 was the first time I ever entered the National Matchplay. I never really gave myself that much of a chance. I didn't consider myself to be at that level at that stage.”

“Then in 1992, I won a few rounds and I said to myself I might have a chance here. I beat George Beardsley, chipping in at the first tie hole after he should have won. That gave me a new confidence and I went on to take the Matchplay. I won the '93 Strokeplay without knowing I won it. It was straight 36 at the time. I shot 47, 43 early in the field. There were so many players coming behind me that I didn't have a huge gallery. 1994 was just a good day at St. Patrick's. Everything seemed to go right. I was -16 with nine to play and Davy Poole was -16 in the clubhouse. I never really was in trouble in Cloghogue in any match, to be honest. But Cloghogue is unlike a lot of courses pitching is challenging and consequently it's not a putting competition.”

Prior to 2005, did he feel his time of winning Irish titles had gone? “I did. You only get so long at that level before someone else comes along and takes over. Going in last year I felt I had a chance alright but didn't think I was going to win it. When I took a four on the first hole in the final round I thought this was going to be an average round. But it didn't turn out like that.” Understatement or what? Royal Meath 2005 ranks as the favourite of all his successes. Although he grew up at Stackallen, Sean plays “Royal Meath better than I do Stackallen.” The Clonee track is where he holds the unique feat of winning an Irish Matchplay and an Irish Strokeplay at the same course.

Just as the Meathman is humble about his achievements, he refuses to be downbeat about being a member of the first Irish team to lose internationally. “It won't blot my career. Not at all. We were under pressure from the start over there. The Andorrans were effectively at home and standards are just as high in Andorra. The day had to come sometime. If it didn't happen this year, it would have happened soon. The three person format definitely evens things up and reduces Ireland's strength in depth advantage.” Sean names “Andorrans!” as his toughest ever opponents and nominates Kieran Dunscombe and Declan Byrne as young players that might dominate the sport in the future.

Sean Downes is one of many top Irish players regularly contesting a circuit of international events. “Ten or twelve of us are going to Holland shortly. Many people are playing without seeking expenses. Travel abroad is so affordable now. Players who have not made Irish international teams are playing. The more people that go, the more it will attract others to travel.” The new opportunity is an attractive experience. “The international game is different. It's not the same as Irish Pitch and Putt. Twos are by no means as plentiful as they are in Irish championships.”

His remaining ambition within the sport? “I'd like to win one more Irish Matchplay. I remember Tommy Rusk saying after he won (the Irish Matchplay) at Irish Ropes if he won the Inter-County, he'd retire. And when Meath won in 1987, he did. I'm not like that. I'll never give Pitch and Putt up. It doesn't matter whether I'm still winning or not.”

His greatest disappointment? “None really. It was a bit of a shock to lose to Johnny Campbell (in the National Matchplay final) at Waterford Crystal in 1996. Johnny was three down with four to play and he said to me on the 15th tee that it would be a bigger comeback than Elvis if he managed to pull it round! But he came back and won. I didn't hang around that day. I just didn't want everybody coming up and commiserating. That set me back for a while. But it's not really a disappointment. I've enjoyed it all.”

Knowing his prowess at the long game, we wondered why he didn't ever switch to golf (like Meath contemporary, European tour player Damien McGrane). “I enjoy the odd round of golf but it's a game that takes too much time to play. And gripping left below right doesn't help the golf either!”

Quizzed about Leeside dominance at the Inter-County (the week before Meath finished runners-up to the four in a row kings), Sean's analysis is succinct. “Cork have ten or twelve really good players. Meath doesn't have enough strength in depth. If I don't have a good day, Meath can struggle. Patrick McBride has been a useful addition but he needs to move up to the next stage.”
Voted Ireland's male player of the last century, Sean Downes is bullish about Pitch and Putt's future. “EPPA and FIPPA will survive and thrive. The game is growing and progressing everywhere. Standards are high in the overseas territories. They have to be, to make the courses pay. The European championships are going from strength to strength and there's great potential in Australia, which we saw for ourselves ten years ago. The world championships look like they're going to take off too.”
Coming from a player with such pedigree, that's quite an endorsement.

(by John Manning)