Ireland finish in the red in South Africa

Harry Diamond’s closing 67 was the best Irish score of the week on the final day but it was Moyla Park’s Chris Selfridge (above) who was Ireland’s most consistent player in the Ten Nations Cup Australia held off a final day challenge from New Zealand to win the inaugural Ten Nations Cup as Ireland finished eighth at Kingswood Golf Estate in South Africa.

Brady Watt, Lucas Herbert, Ryan Ruffles and Geoff Drakeford combined to win the international team competition with a 38-under-par total of 826, finishing just a single shot clear of the Kiwis.

England took third on 31 under, Argentina finished six shots back in fourth on 839 and Scotland took fifth on 22 under par 842.

Ireland finished in eighth place on three under 861 as France brought up the rear with a total of 13 over 877.

World No 5 Brady, who was only selected for his side last week, won the individual title by three shots on 18 under from New Zealand’s Tyler Hodge with Chris Selfridge the best of the Irish in joint 21st on two under as he followed three straight 71’s with a closing 73.

“Not the final round I was looking for, but hung in there well for a 73, plenty of positives!” Selfridge tweeted. “Nice to be consistent anyway after a few months with no tournaments.”

Harry Diamond was 23rd on one under after a superb final round 67 featuring an eagle, four birdies and a closing bogey at the 18th.

Reeve Whitson finished two shots further back in joint 24th on one over after a 74 while Lucan’s Richard O’Donovan has had better weeks, closing with a 77 to finished 33rd on 12 over.

O’Donovan made an eagle and 10 birdies in the four rounds but also had three triple bogeys and three doubles.

TEAM FINAL

826 Australia 216-202-203-205

827 New Zealand 209-215-200-203

833 England 212-208-207-206

839 Argentina 212-212-202-213

842 Scotland 211-207-218-206

847 Colombia 214-217-203-213

851 South Africa 217-223-206-205

861 Ireland 214-222-211-214

877 France 215-221-217-224

Individual (Click here for full scores)

270 Brady Watt AUS 69-62-69-70

273 Tyler Hodge NZ 70-68-67-68

274 Carlos Ernesto Rodriguez COL 70-68-67-69

Irish

286 Chris Selfridge 71 71 71 73

287 Harry Diamond 73 75 72 67

289 Reeve Whitson 70 76 69 74

300 Richard O’Donovan 74 78 71 77