CARLOW GOLF Club, 111 years on the go, finally has its first home-grown male adult championship winner. UCD masters student John Greene caused local celebrations when he captured the South of Ireland title at Lahinch on Wednesday and was feted by members at his homecoming on Friday.

The 24 years old former juvenile prodigy breaks the female exclusivity on major triumph in his club with his memorable 2/1 win over long-time rival Kelan McDonagh (Athlone/NUIM) to lift him to a new level in golf and now under the scrutiny of Irish selectors for the 2011 season.

The civil engineering graduate, embarking on a second master's degree come September, finally joins the elite of the amateur game; promise of what was to come when he won the Waterford Scratch Cup in May.

Amateur course record holder in Carlow last year with a 66, the McIlroy hair-do look-a-like admitted being totally exhausted by his seven match odyssey at Lahinch; his victory adding the Carlow name, for the first time, to the GUI adult championship honours-list.

Sports goods retailer Jason Farrell (2) won both the Leinster and Irish Junior Boys titles in the early '80s and was runner up twice in the national senior boy's championship; Darren Clarke, and two years later Padraig Harrington following him as runnersup also.

Frank Webster, who came to Carlow as a petrol company representative, was capped twice in 1940, won the North of Ireland title nine years later and the Carlow Captain's Prize in '45.

The new Carlow new flag-bearer is no newcomer to high-flying, he a former flying student of his late recreational pilot father Dublin-born John, then an AIB bank manager in Carlow. Mother nurse Bernie has dual reason for celebration this year with her native Roscommon landing the Connacht football title.

Winning one of amateur golf's five majors was not even a notion for young John when he opted for the challenge of the game; he having trawled through every sport on the local scene and seeking yet a further challenge.

"It had tried them all and golf seemed a challenge and then there were a few good teams in the club," said he who, in concert with Joe Coakley, Daniel O'Boyle and Eoin Carbery won the all-Ireland junior foursomes, and not long later John brought home the Roscrea Junior Scratch Cup. "It was the first time I really won something myself," he recalls, adding that the following years brought a 'few bits and pieces.'

Four years ago he enrolled in the UCD engineering faculty and his prowess on the course earned him a golf scholarship - granted to only three to five per annum - and John then in company of several luminaries including Shane Lowry. "He is an exceptional talent. You could see he was just that step ahead…the improvement he's made in the last six months has been massive."

The new South champion, "I'll just soak up the feeling for the moment," is out to impress the Leinster selectors and ultimately the national assessors, and will work towards graduating to the national senior panel to 2011.

Playing off 18 when 14 years old, the handicap reduction came rapidly and after his first year in college he dropped from 4 to one. "I stayed around 2 for a few years, but then in the last two years I played a lot of golf in college."

He was only on scholarship for two of his four UCD years and he is currently on his second master's course and still able to maintain the strict academic levels to meet golf scholarship requirements.

He dropped to scratch with a 66 in Carlow last year; the last reduction from 14 which took something over six years, but the first 'notch' on his golfing CV was victory in the Waterford Scratch Cup in May (four under for four rounds). "But it was in Waterford fours before that I realised I could play a bit. I was lucky to be drawn with Paul McDonald who was UCD captain the previous year and he put me in contact with a couple of people in UCD and from there I got onto the elite panel."

John was off 2 at that time, but was encouraged by his reduction from 4 that summer, and when he won entry to the UCD elite group he played in the company of Darragh Lerehan, Shane Lowry and a couple of other internationals – "the college team with a combined handicap of plus 5. What you have to do to improve in that company was a real eye-opener. It was a case that if you didn't improve you wouldn't get a game."

Juggling academics and sport can be a acceptable for most of the year, "but it get's a bit tough when comes exam time, but at other times it's a case of attending the high-performance gym two or three times a week and we have access to nutritionists and coaching," which per-times is Neal Manchip but John reverts to his own tutor and former Carlow professional Eddie Doyle and the excellent facilities at The Heritage. "He has everything you need, the camera, the range, the full setup – the camera is fantastic for there you seen everything you're doing, with print outs of what you're doing wrong, small things checkable in a mirror."

The pressure of keeping academics and golf on track is trying, "but if you want to joke around and just play golf then you'll fail exams and you'll be back repeating… it's a case of trying to get the balance right."

John (third in the inter-varsity championship in Templepatrick – one under after two rounds) considers the pressure of studies limited his initial golfing progress. "That's why I did not make considerable improvements I in he first two years… I just stayed where I was. I improved in small amounts but not in massive leaps," explaining that others in the elite group could put excessive time into their golf because of less academic demands. "I feel it's only now that I'm catching up on some of those boys now, and now going from being a relative unknown to winning one of the major championships."

His ambition is driven and he feels he can make a serious stab at the Leinster panel and hopefully come under the scrutiny of the Irish selectors. "Until now I felt my goal was to put a few good performances in Waterford and hopefully get onto a Leinster panel for next year, which would open doors to group coaching, fitness programmes, yoga and what they do, and generally playing with better players. Now having won the South perhaps I might break into an Irish panel."

Unfortunately for John the Irish team for the home internationals has already been named but he hopes that if maintaining current form he could make the panel for '11.

He has never contemplated golf as a living, "but the way things are now, if I keep improving at my current rate you'd have to think about it, but for the foreseeable future, no."

Now holder of a trophy shared by so many eminent golfers, John faces the future with renewed confidence; a regional triumph which has launched so many careers – the litany of greats, testimony to where the Carlow player has come; and who he has joined.

Immediate goals include the Mullingar and Rossapena Scratch Cups "and then back to UCD and see what happens for next year."

Beaten by leading international Paul Cutler in the first round of the North, he finished 'middle of the field' at the East and missed the cut at the Irish Close, but the Carlow member proved his resilience in Lahinch where he jettisoned doubts about his ability to trade in the higher orders.

His seven match odyssey in Lahinch was a demanding trek. He was two up with two to play on 17 against David Keating (Fota), John besting his 12 footer with one from eight to win the match.

Michael McGinley holed a 25 footer on 16 to keep their second round match alive, with the ultimate winner going through on 19 with par.

He had to withstand Liam Hartnett chipping and putting for all of 15 holes "but he got found out eventually," grinned John who disposed of Sam Devey (Skerries) by one hole. "I was three down with three to play and had to go par, birdie, par to beat him."

He feels all the pressure was all on his semi-final opponent, international and Close winner Pat Murray (Limerick). "There was no pressure on me, as he had lost six semi-finals and eventually I squeezed him and kept up the pressure."

The urge for John to win the final oozed at the photo-shoot with the finalists and the club captain. "I realised then that I did not want be just the finalist, but rather the winner, and have that picture up on their wall. Last year he (McDonagh) beat me in the second round… it was blowing a hurricane with balls blowing off greens and I had putts blow away from holes… none of the bad luck happened to Kelan."

John's short game outed, but then he'll say, "you have to have a good short game if you are to win, and the difference between me then at 2 and now at plus 1 is that I have tidied myself up around the greens… I don't waste shots any more. If you are in front of the green you have to turn fives into fours… and that's a massive difference."

Victory has come at a price others may not be willing to pay… six hours a week in a gym in winter and three hours daily on the course/range in more favourable climate. And not forgetting a cardinal 'must' of the game – flexibility.

John was man-of-the-moment in his club on Friday but while the remainder of us contemplate or next big assignment and probably with 18 or more shots in the bag, admire what now Carlow's most-celebrated male member has achieved.

- PAUL DONAGHY