Barry Massey and Karl Holmes had their team out again this morning when they faced a decent Druids Heath team which included an old friend of Greystones, Adam Packman. Barry and Karl had made one change to the team that would have played against Old Conna two weeks ago had that match not been postponed due to bad weather. Shane O’Connor came in to partner Brian Frawley, replacing Harry Kirk.
The full team line up was:
Singles:
David Byrne
Daniel O’Byrne
Dylan Holmes
Foursomes:
Chris Boylan & Darren McCormack
Brian Frawley & Shane O’Connor
The lads teed off practically in the dark at 07.00 but while it was extremely cold it was dry and the wind of Saturday had abated somewhat. By the turn, David Byrne had a good hold of his match and when his opponent (Adam Packman) hit a ball out of bounds on the tenth David took full advantage and pushed on, winning ten, eleven and holing a twenty footer for par on the twelfth to go five up. Both David and Adam hit great drives to thirteen but David’s third birdie of the day was enough to close the match and get the first points of the day on the board for the home team.
Dylan Holmes was out third and found himself two down after eight but then played excellent golf to win the next four holes on the trot to get to two up playing the thirteenth. No change by the seventeenth despite a couple of holes being traded. Dylan drove past the bunker up the left side of the fairway and when his opposition could only find the trees on the left it looked ominous for the visitor. Dylan made par to close the match out 3&1
Second out was Dan O’Byrne who was involved in an altogether tighter affair than either of the first two matches. His match was nip and tuck the whole way to seventeen and when Dan’s drive found the fairway bunker after his opponent found the fairway just behind him, it looked like Dan could be in a bit of trouble. The Druid’s man hit a good shot to 20 feet. Dan’s ball was towards the front of the bunker making his shot all the more difficult but he hit a great shot to the front edge of the green and his up and down earned him an excellent half. All square heading to the eighteenth tee. Both players split the fairway, Daniel being slightly behind and playing first. His excellent approach shot hit the green and left him with fifteen feet for birdie while his opposition missed the green left by a yard and left himself with a very tricky shot. He didn’t manage to get up and down and Dan’s par was enough for another point for Greystones.
First out in the foursomes were Chris Boylan and a new member Darren McCormack who joined from Arklow this year. Two up at the turn Chris’s drive on ten ran out of fairway on the right and left Darren a difficult second from behind a tree. Despite a good recovery shot the hole was lost and the match was back to one up for Greystones. By the thirteenth nothing had changed and both teams hit good drives beyond the trees. Their approach shots to a rear pin were very different with Druids coming in high while Chris hit a lovely low flighted ball which checked just at the back of the green. Neither pair made the putts however and the match remained one up. By the seventeenth we had doubled the lead and Darren hit a great drive up the left. Druids ended up in the trees on the right and in a terrible spot. The Druids player hit what can only be described as an unbelievable shot from where he was to fifteen feet but Chris held his nerve to hit a good approach to the green and the hole was halved in par – four nil to Greystones.
Our last pair of Shane O’Connor & Brian Frawley looked well in control of their match from the start and found themselves three up playing the thirteenth but out of position off the tee down the left hand side. A good recovery shot to just off the left of the green saw them half the hole and they remained three up teeing it up on the fifteenth. The Druids pair were in trouble off the tee and had to play up the thirteenth fairway and Shane & Brian found themselves in the greenside bunker in three. Druids third shot was badly pulled and found the seeded WJM wild garden area behind the twelfth green but they still managed a good half to stay in the match. It was back to two up after the sixteenth but an excellent drive from Shane on seventeen had us on pole position when the Druids drive found the trees on the right. This pairing were unable to replicate the earlier shot of the Druids pair who played Chris & Darren and could only manage to move the ball ten yards ahead. To be fair they then hit a great shot to twelve feet to set up an unlikely par putt. The adrenaline was obviously flowing when Brian’s wedge shot flew the green leaving a tricky chip back and the hole ended up as a loss to a five. On to eighteen, one up to Greystones. Both Brian and his opposite number hit excellent tee shots leaving around a hundred yards to the green. Shane was first to play and he hit a great wedge to ten feet while the Druids man pulled his shot left and into the greenside bunker, not the place to miss with the pin on the upper tier. Despite a decent bunker shot Druids failed to make par and Shane & Brian closed out the match two up making it a clean sweep for Greystones.
Congratulations to all involved today – a great result.
