The luck of the Irish smiled upon 18th annual Texas Irish American Cup and the tournament began with no delays.
The tournament Shootout began with ten Irish and eight American teams starting on hole #14 each playing for their respective countries. After 3 hours and 20 minutes, the Irish team of Alan Kairns and Ronnie O’Brien made a bogey 5 on hole #17 to win the right to represent the Irish on hole #18. Clay Houser and Clark Mitzner also made a bogey 5 on hole #17 to be the American representative on #18.
The twosomes played hole #18 with over 200 interested spectators from both sides of the Atlantic. This year both teams made par 4’s with Irish having a tap in and the Americans making a three footer for the half. All four played participated in the chip off for the right to be champions for 2015. Clay Houser of the American team hit a great chip to 2 feet. Ronnie O’Brien also hit a great chip that hit the pin and stopped about 3 feet away, so the American team won making the 7th year in a row. The Americans now hold the edge 12 to 6.
The duo of Thomas Mish and Mark Livingston made par on #16, bogey on #17 and another par on #18 to win The Celtic shootout.
Congratulations to Charlie Martin Sr.’s team consisting of Charlie Martin, Jr. Clark Mitzner, Clay Houser, and Scott Maurer for their hard fought victory.
Later, a highlight of the Texas Irish American Cup Challenge dinner was Brian Casey’s presentation of a check to Camilla Ballard, winner of the first Corboy Anam Cara award and Director of Youth, at First Presbyterian Church, Dallas. This will help their joint partnership with Integrated Education in Northern Ireland to establish an American-style Camp at Lagan College, Belfast. Thanks to The American Ireland Fund grant made possible by Susan Morrice, President of Belize National Resources, the camp will now be open to children of all Integrated Schools throughout Ireland.
