Liam O’Shea and Pat Barry lead their Super Seniors to the final this afternoon with a great win against Beech Park in the semis.
First out at home were Ray Hogan & Julian Pollard in this scotch foursomes competition and they started solidly halving the first three holes before wins on four & five had their noses in front. Their opposition fought back winning the seventh & eight holes to bring the match back to all square. Ray & Julian were giving two shots and halved the ninth and also the tenth while giving a shot. This must have felt like a win and they quickly followed up with wins on the eleventh & twelfth to go back to two up.
Alan O’Sullivan & Jim F. Ryan teed it up in the second home match and they started strongly winning the first , fourth and sixth holes to be three up. The Beech Park players were holding some great putts however and this was the difference on the seventh & eighth holes which they won. It looked like all the world that Alan & Jim were going to restore their lead to two up on the ninth but Beech Park made an amazing up and down from nowhere to half the hole and we turned one up. Alan & Jim were up against a canny pair and although they were getting five shots, lost the tenth while getting a shot to go all square and also lost twelve to find themselves one down for the first time in the match.
Our final pair at home were Eddie Joynt & Denis Cromie and like Alan & Jim they won the first. Eddie & Denis were giving three shots and lost the third while giving one of these. This loss on three was followed by wins on the fourth and the fifth and a loss on the sixth where they gave their second shot. Two shots gone and still one up after six holes was a good return. Beech Park won eight but Eddie & Denis playing some very steady golf won the ninth to turn one up. They gave their last shot on ten and lost the hole giving Beech Park the honour on the eleventh. The second Beech Park player stood up and hit a fantastic three wood straight at the pin, two hops and it rolled up to the hole before dropping in for a hole in one. Nothing that could be done on this hole and Eddie & Denis, much like Alan & Jim found themselves one down for the first time in the match.
Away from home both Greystones pairs were also giving shots. Cathal Cooney & Jerry Teehan were giving two while our final pairing of Sean Hynes and ( back from team golf retirement – “for one day only” – no chance ) Jimmy Hackman had to give five shots away from home. Reports from the course were that the greens were very fast and very tricky and early signs were not good. Cathal & Jerry were two down through five and Jimmy & Sean were two down after four. Cathal & Jerry have been excellent for this whole campaign and wins on seven and eight brought the match back to all square before a Beech Park win on the tenth. The Greystones pair were not phased by this and won the eleventh and twelfth holes to go back to one up. Holes thirteen and fourteen were halved and Cathal & Jerry won fifteen before loosing sixteen to be one up with three to play. An excellent half on seventeen had them dormie and they held their nerve to win the final hole and get Greystones our first point on the board.
Jimmy & Sean steadied their particular ship after their tricky start with halves on the fifth, sixth and seventh before winning eight and nine to go back to all square. This match looked like to was going to be very tight with all the holes from ten to thirteen halved.
Meanwhile back at home, Ray & Julien were battling hard and halved both the thirteenth & fourteenth before claiming the fifteenth to go three up with three to play. Ray hot a great shot to the back of the sixteenth and Julien rolled the ball past the hole to leave Ray a testy three footer for the match. Ray obliged and Greystones had two matches in the bag.
Alan & Jim had got their match back to all square with a win on fourteen but losses on the fifteenth and sixteenth saw them dormie two down and a loss on the seventeenth which included a visit to the water gave Beech Park their first point of the day by a margin of 3&1.
All eyes turned to the final home game where Eddie & Denis were hoping to recover from the Beech Park hole in one on the eleventh. They halved the twelfth and gave no quarter on thirteen and fourteen both of which they won. Another half on the fifteenth kept them one up with three to play. On the sixteenth Eddie hit the green while both Beech Park players found themselves in bunkers. They failed to get up and down and Eddie & Denis made a strong two putt to get to dormie two up.
While all this was happening Jimmy & Sean were turning on the style away from home. Knowing that they would be giving a shot on the 18th they needed to try to finish their match before then. A string on wins from the fourteenth to the sixteenth closed their match out 3&2 and sealed the tie for Greystones.
This was a fantastic result for the team. It’s not usual to get two away wins while giving shots ….
Congratulations to all involved. Next up is the final which will be held in a neutral venue ( Elm Park ) – date TBC
