McBride pitching for All-Ireland success

Stackallen pitch and putt player Patrick McBride will be looking ahead to the forthcoming All-Ireland Strokeplay championships hoping to recature the type of sparkling form he displayed in the National Matchplay competition at Collinstown recently. McBride displayed a high level of consistency at Collinstown on the way to the semi-finals and defeated the top ranking JJ Walsh who has won the title a few times in recent years. McBride defeated Kieran Dunscomb (St Anne's) and then overcame James Cleary (Hillview) and Walsh in the quarter-final at Collinstown to set up a semi-final clash with Damien Fleming (Killarney). The Stackallan clubman put up a strong display against Fleming and ended up narrowly losing out. Fleming went on to clinch the tournament with a comprehensive 10&9 victory in the final. Overcoming a player of Walsh's ability was one of McBride's highlights of his career so far. McBride says that getting to the last four of a competition like the National Matchplay demands a high level of skill as well as mental and physical commitment. "On one of the days, the Sunday, I had three matches which is up to six rounds and you just can't let fatigue set in you have to battle through it," he said. McBride, now 23, has emerged as one of the most talented pitch and putt players in Meath in recent years and was on the juvenile team before graduating onto the senior inter-county side at 16. He was part of the Meath selection that won a Leinster inter-county title along with legendary Stackallen player Sean Downes. This year the All-Ireland Strokeplay Championships will be held in Cork and McBride is expecting a tough challenge - even to secure a qualifying place. "Qualifying is nearly as tough as playing in the competition now, the standard of pitch and putt in Meath is high these days and to qualify from Meath is an achievement in itself. There are only four who will qualify from Meath, there's only a certain amount of places allocated to each county every year and it's competitive," he added.