(01 Jul 2010)
Lady Captain Sheena McElroy was crowned Irish Seniors Champion after a crushing defeat of debutante Niamh Giblin (Dun Laoghaire) at Tullamore Golf Club, Thursday 30th June.
Sheena got off to a flying start with a birdie at the first and stood 3 up through 4 holes when Niamh struggled to repeat the form that saw her record impressive victories in previous rounds. The turning point transpired at the long seventh where Sheena found water on her approach. Niamh, who looked like reducing the deficit, cleared the green with her approach only to finish out of bounds and the gap widened to 5 holes.
Sheena went on to increase the gap to 6 with a solid par on the short ninth and when Niamh failed to make inroads on the deficit, Sheena comfortably ended the affair on the twelfth green.
Earlier in the day, Sheena holed from ten feet for birdie on the ninth to turn 3 up on her way to victory over a luckless Marilyn Henderson (Castlerock) in the second semi-final. Niamh had earlier put an end to Valerie Hassett's (Ennis) excellent run this week hitting almost every fairway on the outward nine and holing out solidly on the greens to close out her match on fourteen.
On Wednesday, Sheena had a great win over Helen Jones (Strabane) who she beat 3/2 in the quarter-final. In the second round she beat Mairead McNamara (Woodbrook) and in the first round she dispensed with Val Shannon (Lahinch).
Sheena will now lead the Irish Seniors team at the European Senior Team Championships in Berlin in August having captured her second Irish Seniors Close title in three years.