Vince in full throttle to Portugal after tense finish

Massereene Golf Club amateur Vince McCaffrey reached the Portugal final of the Lombard Trophy by the skin of his teeth after a tense finish to the Irish qualifying event.

Antrim-based McCaffrey, a managing director of an auto parts company, partnered PGA professional David Hughes for the competition at Carton House Golf Club.

And they carded a seven under par round of 66 after a strong finish at the Co Kildare course.

That gave them a share of the lead by one shot with the Kileen Golf Club pairing of Brian Cosgrove and Tom O’Brien - who also completed the back nine in 34 along with Hughes and nine-handicapper McCaffrey.

But the countback went to the last six holes and that put the Northern Ireland duo through with a birdie at the 18th hole proving crucial.

Hughes and McCaffrey now travel to Portugal for the £41,450, Coca-Cola and Pestana Resorts supported, National Pro-Am grand final which will be played at the Vila Sol resort in the Algarve between September 20-21.

“As an amateur, I’m not really used to playing in events like this and it was quite nervous at the end,” said 53-year-old McCaffrey who has been a member at Masserene for around 10 years.

“We had a flying start before a couple of bogeys set us back. But we settled down again and it worked out at the end. We certainly weren’t expecting to be going to Portugal at the start of the day.”

Hughes will be returning to the final after a for a second time.

But he admitted he was a late entrant at Carton House.

“I went out to the event when it was held in the Bahamas, and we finished sixth in the final,” said Hughes.

“The captain at Masserene approached me late on and he wondered why we weren’t in it this year. We’d been exceptionally busy at the club with the better weather.

“But getting there promotes the club so it’s a great thing for us and the Lombard Trophy is something that we wouldn’t want to miss. But it was something that had floated away from my mind.

“My playing partner did extremely well. But it was quite tense at the end, we finished three under par for the last six holes.

“I think they triple checked - and maybe quadruple checked the scores!”


THE LOMBARD TROPHY

PGA Regional Final at Carton House Golf Club
 
Friday, June 15, 2018
 
Pos     Score       Professional/Amateur                  Representing
1         66 (-7)     David Hughes/Vincent McCaffrey      Masserene Golf Club
2                        Brian Cosgrove/Tom O’Brien             Kileen Golf Club
3         67 (-6)     Enda Maguire/Ian McDonnell            Co Louth Golf Club
                          Don McFarlane/Tom Lynch               East Cork
                          Gary Chambers/Nathan Magee         Killymoon Golf Club
                          Mark O’Boyle/Colin Delaney             Heath Golf Club