McCormack and Stouffer seal victory at Irish Senior Amateur Championships
McCormack, who finished runner-up at Lough Erne last year, went one better this time around, with a composed final one under par round of 71 that featured superb putting and a decisive eagle on the final hole.
Once more, testing conditions made scoring difficult on the West Cork course, but McCormack's experience and excellent short game proved crucial. A tightly fought contest saw little margin between the leaders all day, but the Galway native held his nerve to edge clear and secure the title.
'Delighted to be honest with you. It was a great putt. Putted it well all week, putted it well all day and it's great to win,' said McCormack.
'I finished second last year up in Lough Erne, that was sort of revenge for Lough Erne last year so delighted.'
Trailing Bandon golfer Dave McCarthy and local member Kieran McCarthy heading into the final round, McCormack battled back early, with birdies on the 3rd, 5th, and 9th helping push the Irish Senior International into contention.
The balance swung back and forth between the trio all afternoon. As the group headed down the 18th, McCormack and Dave McCarthy remained level until the eventual champion produced a fantastic second shot from the left rough, flighting his ball over the trees, landing it on the green, and making the resulting eagle putt to seal victory.
'It was a great battle all day, there was no inch or quarter given or taken so it was a good battle all day with the boys, it was tough,' said McCormack.
'Conditions were very tough and a lot of wind up. You don't mind the wind if there's no trees, but there's lots of trees around here, but it was good fun all day.' The Galway native now adds this title to his long list of achievements in the amateur ranks and despite his delight at claiming silverware is planning some muted celebrations on his journey home.
'Stop for Supermacs in Mallow on the way home, that'll be about the height of it,' said McCormack.
Canada's Shelly Stouffer produced a stunning turnaround of her own after a slow start to her tournament as she claimed the Irish Senior Women's Amateur Open on her debut appearance in Ireland.
A pair of impressive two under par rounds of 72, following an opening 78, pushed her up the leaderboard and ultimately to the title, taking a three shot victory over 2022 champion Laura Webb (Royal Portrush).
'It was awesome to be here, and I didn't have a great start on the first day so I was behind the eight ball but had a couple of good rounds to follow it so it was nice,' said Stouffer.
'It's awesome I can't even tell you. Coming over here for the first time and winning and it's just great. Kinsale is great and the people here were awesome, and it was awesome. Everything was really great.'
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