Hard luck to our Ladies Junior Cup team who came up agonisingly short in the Leinster South final of the competition today.
Our ladies faced Newlands Golf Club who have a strong pedigree in this competition, having won the All-Ireland only last year and who have a far deeper squad of low ladies to pick from.
Our team manager, Mags Smith was unfortunately away today but had a very able deputy in Via Maume and they put out a team that, while young for the most part, have really come of age this year in terms of their golfing achievements.
First out was Aishling Marmion who has been excellent all year and while Aishling lost her two opening holes she was two up by the tenth tee, her recovery including a run of three wins from the sixth to the eighth. A further win on ten was negated when she missed the tricky par three eleventh on the right and failed to find the green with her bunker shot. Her opponent had hit a fine tee shot to the green and won the hole with a par. Aishling restored her three hole advantage straight away on the twelfth, taking advantage of a fine drive off the tee, however thirteen and fourteen went Newlands’ way. The tight fifteenth was halved but Aishling played the par five sixteenth perfectly, leaving herself an straightforward pitch for her third shot while her opposition missed the green on the right, and faced a tricky chip, made even more difficult with the green running away from her. The Newlands’ player ran through the green and failed to get up and down while Aishling chipped to five feet and held her putt to go dormie two up. The seventeenth is notoriously tricky and there was a stiff enough breeze blowing this afternoon. Aishling put a good swing to her shot but perhaps had selected the wrong club, and she found the bunker short right. Her opponent found the top tier of the green but the pin was on the lower level. It was the Newlands lady to play first and she hit a putt which took more break then she expected and left herself fifteen feet to the tricky pin. Aishling just barely got out of the bunker and her third shot was to eight feet. Newlands got down in two while Aishling’s putt for the half narrowly missed the hole and the pair moved off to the eighteenth tee with Aishling one up.
Second out today for Greystones was another young player, Isabella Stewart, who has impressed this year both in youth tournaments around the country and while playing for Greystones teams. Today however, Isabella came up against an extremely strong and experienced opponent and was struggling from the off, finding herself three down through six holes. As you would expect from Isabella she fought back strongly, winning the seventh, eight and ninth to square the match before loosing the tenth and then the eleventh to a birdie two to be back to two down. From here, her opponent controlled the match and, despite playing well, Isabella lost her match on the fifteenth, 4&3.
Behind Isabella, the experienced Jennifer Moore took to the course for us. Two up after two and it looked like Jennifer might be able to boss this match but after four holes it was back to where they had started at all square. Wins on the sixth and eight had Jennifer back in the driving seat and this time she held her position with a string of halves, including an excellent, long range, two putt for par on the eleventh. The thirteenth is an extremely difficult hole with every shot presenting it’s own challenge and unfortunately for Jennifer it didn’t go her way today but wins on the fourteenth and fifteenth had her match dormie three in her favour. On the par five sixteenth, Jennifer appeared to skull her approach iron to the green off a tricky lie and found the greenside bunker while her Newlands’ opponent had hit her third to ten feet. Jennifer played a good bunker shot but didn’t make the putt and when the Newlands’ player rolled up to the holeside, Jennifer conceded the hole and play moved to the seventeenth. Jennfier’s opponent found the front left bunker off tee shot to the green while Jennifer went long and found herself just off the back of the green and facing a ridiculously difficult shot. Getting down in three from there was enough however to halve the hole and win her match 2&1. An excellent win.
Our final player today was Vice-President, Margueritte Hamill who won the first hole but just didn’t get to grips with the course set up today from then on. Marguerite wasn’t playing particularly badly but still found herself four down at the turn. A win on the eleventh with a par steadied the ship somewhat and, to her credit, Marguerite kept at it but bowed out on the fifteenth 4&3.
Our fourth player today was Sophie Lumley who, like Isabella, has been on the junior circuit around the country this year where she had acquitted herself really well. Also like Isabella, Sophie was up against a very strong player today and, despite winning the first, found herself three down after eight. A half on the ninth was followed by a win for Sophie on the tenth when her opponent found the greenside bunker and failed to get out. On the par three eleventh it was Sophie who found the bunker but she played an excellent shot and made her par to half the hole after her opponent had hit a great tee shot but had missed her birdie putt. Sophie won the twelfth to get back to just one down but, as with Jennifer, the thirteenth wasn’t kind to us and Sophie was back to two down on the fourteenth tee. It’s never over till it’s over and Sophie showed tremendous character to win the fourteenth and halve the fifteenth, before holing an excellent eight footer on the sixteenth for another win to bring the match back to all square once again. On the seventeenth Sophie’s tee shot was well short of the green but, with the pin where it was this was far from a bad leave. The Newland’s tee shot was the best we had seen so far, stopping just eight feet from the hole. Again showing nerves of steel, Sophie chipped to four feet and had this putt to halve the hole after her opponent just missed her birdie putt. It was never in doubt that Sophie would hole her putt and the pair moved to settle the match, and, as it turned out, the tie on the eighteenth.
By this stage a fairly large crowd had gathered and when word reached that, up ahead, Aishling had won the eighteenth, and her match 2up, the atmosphere became electric.
Sophie drove down the left while her opposition was on the right had side of the fairway. Both girls hit excellent second shots, with Sophie just behind and to play her approach shot first. Sophie’s iron shot just missed the green left but crucially stayed out of the greenside bunker. Then came perhaps, the shot of the day from the Newlands’ lady who hit the green and saw her ball roll to six feet. Sophie hit an excellent chip to three feet, leaving a putt which she would be expected to get for par, however she never got to make it as the Newlands’ girl held her nerve to hole out for birdie.
A fitting end to a great match. It wasn’t to be our day but Mags, Via and the whole Greystones team put up a great performance today, and all year and we have a lot to look forward to based on what we have seen, particularly from our young players this year.
