Collinstown father and son pair triumph in Leinster Scotch Foursomes

On Saturday May 14, Collinstown Pitch and Putt Club hosted the Leinster Scotch Foursomes finals.

With a large number of entries from the host club, as well as Westmeath entries in general, hopes were high that some silverware might be achieved over the course of the day. But it was the top prize in the Non-Mixed section that the pairing of Raymond and Benny Fay had their eyes on.

Raymond had the honour of hitting the very first pitch of the competition at 9am sharp. His father Benny hit the next pitch and their adventure had begun. A birdie attempt on the opening hole narrowly missed but it would not deter the Collinstown pair as they went on to steadily build a 45 points total after 18 holes in this stableford competition.

It was a good opening round but both men knew that better was needed if they were to lift the coveted cup at the end of the day. So better, they did produce with a tremendous second round of 49 points. Their 94 total was the first card returned on the day and thus immediately held the clubhouse lead.

It was a lead that eventually stood throughout the day with only one pairing matching them, but Ray and Benny still were ahead on the back 18.

As the final card of the day was finally recorded – the long wait was over Benny and Ray were Leinster Champions. Both these men are stalwarts of the game with Benny playing the sport for over 40 years now and his son Raymond doing fantastic work on the Colllinstown committee as competition Secretary, so needless to say this was a very popular win – I would imagine all in Westmeath and beyond are delighted for the two men and a big congratulations to them.

In the Mixed section Westmeath also so took the spoils with John and Kathleen Carton lifting the cup with an incredible total of 97 points. Indeed, the Kilbeggan husband and wife pairing blew away the competition in their section by winning with a clear five points margin. A superb achievement for John and Kathleen, and all in Collinstown would like to offer our congratulations to them.

But the prize wining did not stop there. Liz Quinn and Rene Bloem from our own Collinstown club shot a superb 10 under par second round to scoop the best Gross prize in the mixed section with an 86 points total. Our own Gary Middleton and Lough Owel’s Dessie Baker took the gross prize in the non-mixed section with an excellent 89 points. Mention must go to Gary Middleton and his team for the superb condition the course was presented in on the day.

Finally, Westmeath had one other prize winning pairing on the day with Mark Newman and Fergal O’Connor from the Rochfortbridge club taking the best second 18 prize in the non-mixed section with a 45 point total.

But from a Collinstown point of view the day belonged to the Fays from Granard. Well done again to Benny and Raymond – Leinster champions 2022.