Old Conna duo enjoy a winning debut
27/07/2021
Donal Gleeson and Neil O’Briain teamed up for the first time to win the Golfbreaks PGA Fourball Championship Irish qualifying event at Headfort Golf Club.
The Old Conna Golf Club pairing took the honours by just one shot ahead of Patrick Devine (Sutton Golf Club) and James Quinlivan (Mullingar Golf Club) at the Co Meath course.
Gleeson (above) and O’Briain returned a bogey-free seven under par round of 67 to top the leaderboard and join the four other qualifiers from the event who will now head to Carden Park Golf Club, Cheshire, for the £33,250 grand final which takes place next month.
O’Briain explained that he and Gleeson only decided to play as they were keen to get some competition and quality for a PGA final after a year when little golf was played due to the Covid pandemic.
Gleeson has been the head professional at Old Conna since 2008 but O’Briain is a former assistant professional at the Co Dublin club but still teaches there.
“We both played very well but hadn’t played this event as a team before,” said O’Briain.
“There wasn’t much golf going on over the past year and we saw this as a chance to get a competitive round.
“It was steady from both of us and we took opportunities when we could, but we left a few out there.
“But we finished strongly as well which gave us the edge in the end, it was a case of taking advantage of the chances that came along and we did that. For a round of 65, it was stress-free.
“Donal is the head professional at Old Conna but I teach there as well after being an assistant. But the club was very good to me from when I was there and I keep my attachment there.
"But Donal has been there a long time now, he's done well for himself and the members are lovely. It's a great place to be attached to."
O’Briain admits a final appearance will mean a hectic few weeks after his wife had a baby boy just over two months ago.
“I’d love to play in the final but we’ll have to consider that, but it’d be great to come across and take part at Carden Park,” he said.
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