Campbell to face O'Keeffe for South of Ireland title
Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) tees off during the quarter-finals of the Pierse Motors South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch Golf Club. Picture: Niall O'Shea
Warrenpoint’s Colm Campbell produced some sensational golf to beat Castleknock’s Paul Coughlan 6&5 and set up a clash with Douglas’ Peter O’Keeffe for the 121st South of Ireland Amateur Open at Lahinch.
Played in near constant rain with winds gusting to 45kmph at times, the two-time Irish Amateur Open and former East of Ireland champion (36) was an estimated seven-under par for the holes played.
He was two-under after four holes and three up and while he lost the fifth to a birdie, he birdied the sixth, seventh and eighth and parred the ninth to turn six-up.
A par three at the 11th put him seven-up and while he lost the 12th to a birdie, he got up and down for birdie at the 13th, matching Coughlan’s birdie to win 6&5 and reach his first South of Ireland final.
It went right to the wire in the other semi-final, where O’Keeffe (41) lost to the first two holes to fours to go two down to Tramore’s Jack Hearn.
But he turned the match around with a mid-round purple patch, winning the sixth and ninth with birdies and the 11th with a par-three to go one up.
He three putted the 12th for bogey to be pegged back to all square but got up and down from rough right of the 13th for a winning birdie and ground out five pars to win one-up.
Both men had birdie chances coming home, but O’Keeffe missed a chance to close out the match at the 17th, where Hearn two-putted from nearly 60 feet.
A poor second at the 18th by O’Keeffe opened the door to Hearn, but after the Douglas’ man lagged up close in four, the Carrick-and-Suir native could not get up and down from short left of the green, missing from around eight feet to force extra holes.
Both O’Keeffe and Campbell have suffered close calls at Lahinch over the years.
The Cork native lost toe Hugh Foley in last year’s final while Campbell was beaten in the semi-finals by eventual champion Conor Purcell in 2016.
121st South of Ireland Amateur Open, Lahinch
Sponsored by Pierse Motors Volkswagen
30 July - Final
Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) v Peter O'Keeffe (Douglas)
30 July - Semi-Finals
Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) bt Paul Coughlan (Castleknock) 6&5
Peter O'Keeffe (Douglas) bt Jack Hearn (Tramore) 1 up