Pitch & Putt players often say that they have great records on different courses. Larry Maher Jnr of Erry is certainly one of this players. Riverdale has been very kind to him in recent years when he won the Riverdale Scr Cup in 2007 and yesterday he captured the very prestigious John Shoer Memorial in emphatic style.
72 players graced the indifferent conditions at Riverdale yesterday. Sean Minogue set the early pace when he returned a tremendous -13 but it didn't take long until this was overtaken but young starlet Stephen Shoer, when he blasted home a massive -16. This score was to remain in the lead for sometime until former Irish International Liam O'Donovan returned an excellent -16 to equal young Shoer. It looked as though they would battle it would between themselves until Larry Maher made a mockery of the course in shooting -19 to take a 3 shot lead hitting the final round.
Conditions in the final round were poor at first but turned out to be dry for when the leaders hit the first. Shoer birdied 2 & 4 to reduce the arrears to 1. Both birdied the small 8th hole and both birdied the 10th also. Maher held a great putt across the slope on 12 to increase the lead to 2. Shoer had opportunity to reduce the lead on 13 but his putt just slid by the hole. The big turning point came on 14, where Shoer missed a very bad putt for par and Maher saw his lead increase to 3 with only 4 to play. Both players birdied 15, both missed easy opportunities on 16. Both players once again birdied 17 and Shoer got a good putt on 18 but it was all in vain as he came up 2 shots short. Maher to his credit was very steady in the final round and took his chances when he got them. He is a great talent and is definately improving every year and is one that could capture a big title in 2009.
Winners
1st Larry Maher Erry 138
2nd Stephen Shoer Riverdale 140
3rd Sean Minogue Riverdale 143
Final 18 Paul Shoer Riverdale 47
Inter Paul Shoer Jnr Riverdale 100
Junior Joe King Riverdale 107
Ladies Tracey Mcgrath Erry 112
