A week to remember for Kilclief’s Cormac

A week to remember for Kilclief’s Cormac

19 June 2013

A WEEK after winning one of the most prestigious titles in Irish amateur golf, Kilclief sensation Cormac Sharvin was last night on the verge of qualifying for the match play stages of the British Amateur Championship.

The 20 year-old Ardglass Golf Club member shot a level par 72 to be two shots off the lead after Monday’s opening qualifying round at Prince’s Golf Club on the Kent coast.

And he was still looking good as he completed the second round late yesterday afternoon after which the top 64 qualifiers will go into the match play stages.

It’s been a remarkable seven days for Sharvin, who celebrated his finest triumph on a golf course to date when he secured the Irish Close Championship at Connemara last Wednesday.

Just five years after taking up the game, he displayed nerves of steel as he holed a ten foot putt on the last green to beat East of Ireland champion Paul Dunne by one hole in the final.

Hours later, he was back at Ardglass for a celebration party surrounded by family, friends and club members, who were all eager to congratulate him.

Sharvin, who won the silver medal as leading qualifier in the AIG-sponsored event, was in control for much of the final against Dunne.

With his uncle, Brian Martin, carrying his bag, he showed no signs of nerves in what was his first ever major championship.

“It was really weird. At the start of my matches, I don’t feel I am in a match,” he said. “Then when I get through a few holes I just feel as I am getting better and better as the round goes on. I felt comfortable with my swing the whole way round.”

Having lost the first hole to a par, Sharvin composed himself and won the next two holes to edge ahead. Having won the eighth hole with a par, the pair stood on the tenth tee just 95 minutes after starting in a display of how highly competitive golf can be played at a reasonable pace.

Sharvin pressed Dunne even further, and a birdie two at the par three eleventh saw him take a three-hole lead. But a misjudged putt on the par three 13th that didn’t allow for the heavy rain came up ten feet short and when Sharvin missed the par putt, the door was opened for Dunne.

Sharvin demonstrated his composure by making a stunning par at the 16th to stay two in front, but when Sharvin missed a ten-footer on the penultimate hole and Dunne rolled in a short putt for birdie, the deficit was just one heading for the last.

Both players laid up at the last having found rough off the tee. Dunne knocked his third from 160 yards in to 15 feet, but Sharvin played his third to ten feet, putting the pressure right back on Dunne.

The East of Ireland champion knew what he had to do, and in holing a right-to-left putt down the hill, made Sharvin putt for the title. There was never any doubt and Sharvin hit the back of the hole to win.

“I just stood over the putt and thought if you hole this you’ll remember it for the rest of your life,” he said afterwards.

“I’m speechless, absolutely speechless. It’s mad. I was just pumping going up the last. I’m still shaking. It’s mental.”

Equally emotional was his uncle Brian, a professional caddie from the European Tour who has carried for Gary Murphy, Peter Lawrie and, currently, Johan Edfors.

Sharvin becomes only the third Silver Medal winner to go on to win, following in the footsteps of Padraig Harrington (1995) and Garth McGimpsey (1988).