What a pairing to begin the National Senior Strokeplay Championship! The odd couple tee-off this thrilling Championship, and in Junior Smith and Eoin Mithen it offers Leinster supporters the perfect opener to set down a marker for the day. The last time the Strokeplay was in this neck of the woods, “Ju” put himself right into contention, before he, like the other Dublin guys, just fell short with the finishing straight in sight. His partner this Sunday is a guy he knows well from Inter-County duty and someone who will compliment him well.

Smith has performed well in the Dublin trials and is well on the team, therefore free of distraction for Sunday (a fate not avoided by some of the others). I expect his simple pitching style will be suited to Rocklodge, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him close to the mid-90 mark for 36 holes, as the putting will be suited to his game too. Mithen will more than likely be around the 100 mark, perhaps a couple either side - unlikely to be enough to make the playoff for the Loughlinstown clubman.

(One thing we can be thankful for the change in weather is that it saves us all the mortification of seeing Junior in THOSE shorts again. The RGSC man is one of the sharpest, proudest attired performer, but the offending item he adorned in the run-up to St Patricks last autumn were the sporting equivalent of Bertie’s lemon ensemble. As Ranier Wolfcastle has been known to say “The goggles, they do nothing!”)

Next up are two players well-regarded in their respective areas, but just beneath the top tier too, in John O’Sullivan of St Anne’s and Darren Thornberry of CPM. O’Sullivan is very well regarded in St. Anne’s and I know Dineen believes he is capable of an Inter-county spot in any other county, so that’s high praise indeed. (In saying that Dineen believes it’s possible for him to walk on water, so all things in moderation and all that.)
Thornberry is a very solid player, probably lacks the explosive glut of birdies that you need to really throw your hat into the ring, and as I’ve referred to before, I think he is a better match-player. O’Sullivan probably has the better chance of making the playoff, but it won’t be easy.

Tom Hanley from Bruff is a guy I firmly believe will win big sooner or later. From what I’ve seen he has all the tools required to start turning near misses into success. The consensus seems to be that things don’t fall his way often enough. Sometimes you have to make your own luck, though, and he has got form in both this venue and this competition. One thing I feel people up the country don’t appreciate is some of the scoring this guy reaches. It is at a level the best would be proud of. I really believe he could make a push this weekend.
The same could be said to an extent about his playing partner Eoin Walsh. He was expected to make a real impact in Lucan for the National Matchplay when the draw appeared to fall kindly for him, but it turned into a disaster as Jimmy Scanlon mugged him. Sport is sport though and Pitch and Putt isn’t the be-all and end-all, as this guy only too well knows. He has another opportunity this weekend to build on his reputation and there is no reason why he shouldn’t be in with a good shout on a course he knows well surely? How quickly he comes out of the blocks will determine how low he can go, but he’ll be in the playoff for sure.

Jim Foley makes a welcome return to top-class Pitch and Putt. The family name that resonates with a generation and one synonymous with the St Patricks club in Enniscorthy, Jim did tremendously well to qualify from a region that is tougher to escape from than Soviet Berlin. I would anticipate that Jim might struggle to live with the scoring, but he’ll be in good form nonetheless.
Ian Farrelly’s immediate prospects don’t look too hectic either, but he is the type of player who can surprise you when you least expect it. Like Monaghan the other week in the Ulster football final, as I was saying to Pauric Buggy. Remember that Farrelly is the European Strokeplay Champion, a fact often forgotten in this sport, but he is up against it to qualify on Sunday.

Liam O’Donovan is a curious case. I’ve heard people say that he’s slipped, (I’ll save everyone the embarrassment), but the guy still consistently qualifies for finals, will be playing for Limerick, and still notches up the victories. He plays early, in best of the conditions too, with no pressure and a good partner in John McGrath. It’s not inconceivable that Liam could go to the low 90’s but the worry would be putting consecutive hot rounds together.

(Something worth remembering too: When the Munster strokeplay was there last year, the 10 man cut was 93, with a few 93’s missing out too. That’s phenomenal shooting, and of the 10 that made the playoff, 7 shot 6 or better in the final round. So it’s going to be blistering on Sunday)

Now for the pièce de résistance: presenting the World Strokeplay Champion and runner-up in the “forward-roll-and-celebrate”™ competition (you-tube it!), John Walsh. He begins his latest attempt to put all the recent near misses behind him just before 9o’clock, and really he will be the one so many will keep an eye out for. He’s added the World Cup and Strokeplay to his portfolio, but surely what he wants is another National title? He plays with Clare Road’s Dec Sheedy, a player who if afforded the opportunity to hone his craft can eke out a score with little fuss. Hard to see Dec feature at the business end, but hard to see Walsh not feature, and certainly he could provide the early target for all the others to try and reach.

250km is a long way to travel to play a two-ball with someone you know like the back of your hand, but that is the fate that has befallen Niall Cuffe and John Browne. Cuffe, in case you’d forgotten, was the incredible champion of 1999 in Fermoy, and I believe the mere whisper of his name still gives Derry McCarthy the sweats. Not as involved as he was in his pomp, the real challenge here could be the bragging rights between the two after 36 holes. Both will need to perform heroics to qualify, and I reckon that neither will be partying like it is 1999. (Had to be done)

Erry’s William Kennedy is back playing decent P&P, and the short tight pitches will be to his liking. The scoring will be too hot for the man affectionately known as “Snowball” and he could melt in the heat of battle. His partner, the popular Darren Collins, is one that asks as many questions as he answers, his form is that hard to gauge. Leading after 36 holes here last year, he fell away, so all that confirms is what everyone already knows: he has the class, but what about the consistency, the hard edge?

David White from Hillview and the return of Johnny Campbell Jnr is a nice pairing. White is a regular qualifier for the PPUI finals, while Campbell is only just getting back into the habit. Both did extremely well to qualify (that might be hard to hear), in particular Campbell when you see that Redmond and Goggin both missed out. It is hard to see either player having an impact on proceedings unfortunately.

The final pairing of this preview is the guy who had the Dublin Strokeplay at his mercy earlier in the summer, Old County’s Karl Murphy. That’s not an idle statement either, he really did have a great opportunity, but he has bounced back tremendously well to qualify for both the Strokeplay’s in July, as well as being the backbone of the victorious Senior League winning team from Old County. You may not expect anything from the self-confident Crumlin man, but I do, and a sub 100 total is very possible (please don’t make me look a fool Karl).
He could do well to pay attention to the tidy Garrett O’Mahony who he plays with. This excellent ciotog will be a little more under the radar given his former association with Bishopstown, but he could push hard for a place in the final round. Nearly every time in this event there is a local, or near local (everything is local I’ve found if you’re from Cork!), that over-achieves: O’Mahony is one who falls into that category. One good round could do wonders on Sunday.