Our Fitzgibbon team was due to play Powercourt this morning in the round robin stage of the competition. The teams assembled as planned at 7.30 am in Greystones and Powerscourt but unfortunately, while Greystones was open for play, Powerscourt had to close both courses due to the heavy overnight rain.
Due to time constraints, it was agreed to play the Greystones matches this week and to re-arrange the away leg.
So, in heavy rain and extremely difficult ground conditions our home team set off at 8 am. We had three matches, Diarmaid MacGabhann was paired with Mark A. Byrne, Eddie Davis played with Tom Sheehy and our final pairing was Brian Frawley and Trevor Philips. It was obvious that we were going to see some heavy ball contacts during the course of the matches.
The conditions were really challenging with a combination of very heavy ground and wet “everything” but to all the players credit they knuckled down and gave it their best shot.
After halving the first, Diarmaid and Mark won the second and had to fight hard for a half on the third. A very uncharacteristic shot from Dermot found the gorse on the fourth and this was followed by another loss on the fifth. To rub salt in the wound their opponents chipped in for a third win on the bounce when Diarmaid and Mark were looking favorites to win the sixth hole. A win on the seventh brought the match back to one down. The eighth was halved and when the Powerscourt pair ended up on the 8th fairway while playing the ninth it looked like we might get to turn as we started however they hit a blind, 150 yard shot over the eighth tee box to 10 feet and ended up winning the hole. Two down heading down the lane.
Our second pair of Eddie Davis and Tom Sheehy got off to a decent start with a win on the first which was cancelled out by a loss on the third but this lead was immediately reinstated on the fourth and was doubled with another win on the fifth. Their opposition hit a great putt on the sixth from above the hole to picky up distance and won the hole – back to one up. Eddie and Tom won both the seventh and eighth holes while Powerscourt held a great putt on the ninth to win the hole and to take the match to two up for Greystones at the turn. All seemed to be going to plan when we won the tenth but unfortunately the tide turned from there. On the eleventh Powerscourt hit the pin with their chip shot from just off the green, the ball stopped dead and the putt was conceded. Our ball was on the left hand side of the green just above pin high with the pin towards the right of the green. This is never an easy two putt and we ended up losing the hole. On the twelfth Powerscourt chose to hit an iron off the tee. It went right but clipped a small branch of a tree and ended up on the fairway albeit some distance from the green. Eddie’s drive also went right but found the fifteenth fairway. Tom chipped through the trees back to the twelfth fairway. The Powerscourt player hit a great shot to find the green in regulation whereas it took another two shots for us to find the putting surface. The Powerscourt shot was so good that we were still away after Tom’s chip to five feet. Eddie held the putt for a good bogey under the circumstances but this wasn’t good enough to halve the hole with the Powerscourt man calmly holing his four footer for par and a win. On thirteen, Tom hit a good drive to the middle of the fairway after his opposite number had found the rough behind the tree to the left. Eddie’s iron shot was heavy and landed just short of the water. After chipping back to the fairway Powerscourt hit an approach shot to fifteen feet and Tom chipped to six feet. Both pairs two putted and the hole was halved. Both teams hit the fourteenth but it was very difficult to get the speed of the greens after all the rain and another three putt from the home pair nudged Powerscourt in front for the first time in the match. A par on the fifteenth for the visitors was enough to win the hole after we made a struggling bogey. The match went dormie on the sixteenth after Powerscourt hit the green and Eddie’s tee shot came up well short of the green. A bit of luck went the visitors way on the seventeenth when their over-hit their approach shot found the back bunker but they got a free drop as it was out of play due to water. The hole was halved which was enough for a 2&1 win for the visitors. One nil to Powerscourt.
In contrast to the first two matches, our third pair of Brian Frawley & Trevor Phillips found themselves down in the early stages of their match, losing the second and having to rely on an excellent putt by Trevor from just off the green on the third for a half there. Another half on the forth was followed by a second loss on the fifth. Two down after five for the home pair and their opposition were one over par for five. After a good win on the sixth, Brian hit a fantastic drive up the seventh leaving Trevor around seventy yards from the pin while the Powerscourt pair were a little behind them on the left hand side of the fairway. A pull from their left handed player saw his shot overshoot the green by perhaps sixty yards leaving a tricky third. A slight mishit from Trevor didn’t find the green but it went from bad to worse for the visitors when they left their third short again. In the end the home pair didn’t have to putt and found themselves all square. Holes were shared till the tenth where Brian and Trevor went ahead for the first time in the match. They made a great up and down from the green-side bunker on the eleventh for a half and they pushed on again with a win on the twelfth. Unfortunately, two up with six to play quickly became all square with four to play and with one match already gone to Powerscourt and the other trailing the team managers were hoping that the pair could turn the match around once again. Brian and Trevor took full advantage of their position off a good drive on the fifteenth to win that hole and the sixteenth was halved in pars. One up and two to play.
Diarmaid and Mark were battling away, winning the eleventh and working hard for a half on the twelfth. On thirteen, Diarmaid put the ball in position A off the tee and Mark took full advantage hitting an approach shot to six feet. The hole was won without Diarmaid having to hit a putt. All square with five to go. On the fourteenth Mark hit one club too many and Diarmaid was faced with a tricky chip from over the back of the green. Despite a good chip to six feet, our pair failed to get up and down when Mark’s putt lipped out. Powerscourt made their three to inch ahead once again. Fifteen was halved and an excellent chip by Diarmaid on the sixteenth forced a another half. On seventeen Diarmaid’s drive found the trees on the right and Mark did well to get it out but left Diarmaid in the rough and needing a rescue to try to hit the green. He caught his shot heavy and left Mark 50 yards from the green. Their opponents had hit a cracking drive up the left and had 125 yards left to the pin. They hit the green and unfortunately Mark’s wedge came up shot and found the water. Two nil for Powerscourt.
Meanwhile, at what was now the business end of the match, Brian’s drive on the seventeenth found the right hand rough and Trevor had no option but to lay up. His iron shot left Brian with around sixty five yards to the pin. Their opposition found the green in two after two good shots. Brian’s wedge shot found the back of the green and it took another excellent putt from Trevor to the hole-side to keep the visitors honest. The seventeenth green can be tricky and a three putt from twenty feet meant that the players headed to the eighteenth tee box with Greystones one up. Trevor hit the middle of the fairway as did the Powerscourt man. They played first and left it short left, perhaps four yards from the green. Brian hit a good iron in but could only find the lower tier of the green while the pin was on the left upper tier. The good news was that Trevor’s putting had been excellent all day. In the event an unfortunate mishit by the Powerscourt player followed by a second attempt which ran out to fifteen feet meant that there was no need to call on Trevor as the match was conceded, 2 UP.
Well done to the managers Colm and Eddie and to all the players who really put up a show in very difficult ground conditions.
The second half schedule for this fixture will be announced once confirmed.
Half time scores;
Golf: Powerscourt 4 – Greystones 2
Drainage: Greystones 1 – Powerscourt Nil 🙂
