Delaney steers Heath to Spanish showpiece

Liam Delaney admitted he had to ‘wake up’ before sending Heath Golf Club to Spain for the SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge final.

The Portlaoise club’s captain partnered PGA professional Mark O’Boyle for the event held at Seapoint Golf Links in Co Louth.

And it was Delaney who ended up holing the day’s key putt at the 18th hole.

But it was a close run thing with the Heath duo topping the leaderboard with Damien McGrane and Gary Hughes from Carlow Golf Club.

Both pairs tied on 45 points but it was Heath who edged out neighbours Carlow on countback after an impressive back nine which included a nett eagle at the 13th hole.

Now Delaney and O’Boyle will play in the £22,000 final, in association with Golfplan, which takes place between November 6-7 at Arabella Golf Mallorca.

“We put a bit of a sprint on, I finally woke up on the back nine,” said 10-handicapper Delaney.

“I’d seen Mark play some brilliant golf beforehand. He must have inspired me. I was thrilled with the putt at the 18th, we needed that.

“Carlow are our neighbours, they’re only 20 miles away from us. It was close, but we’re the ones who’re off to Spain now. That’s something I wasn’t thinking about before the event, but it’s a good feeling now.

“I hadn’t been playing that well recently but I enjoy the links courses so I got a bit of a lift from that. That helped me a lot on the back nine, I had concentrate more with the wind blowing. But the greens were just beautiful at Seapoint.”

Delaney has been a member at Heath for 30 years - but admitted 2018 is becoming a memorable one.

“I’m enjoying the captain’s year but after today I’m really on a high about it. It’s a great feeling to be captain when you win something like this,” added the 63-year-old retired police officer.

O’Boyle admitted the pair were slow to get going but timed their round to perfection.

“The captain produced the goods, we had a good run of birdies,” he said.

“We stood at the 18th and said we needed a birdie and then someone would have to make 10 under par to beat us. And we delivered.”

The Heath professional has not reached this final before but has played in the National Pro-Am championship showpiece.

“I reached that final in 2012 in Mexico, so it’s nice to get to another foreign PGA final, we’re looking forward to this one big time,” he added.

For a full set of results from the SkyCaddie PGA Pro-Captain Challenge at Seapoint click here.