Regina Barry and her Minor Cup team were back in action today (Sunday 2nd July), playing a strong Stackstown team. Regina had three matches in Greystones today with two in Stackstown.
First out today for Greystones was Helen Creedon. Helen played really great and was six up after nine holes, not having lost a single hole at this stage. Ten also went to Helen and she was unlucky to lose the eleventh but she bounced back with a win on the twelfth to close her match out 7&6. A great win for Helen and a point on the board early for the Greystones team.
Joyce Kirwan wasn’t having it so easy in the second match at home today. Despite a great start, winning the opening two holes, Joyce found herself one down after losses on the third, fourth and fifth holes. She levelled the match with an excellent win on the seventh but was one down again at the halfway point after losing the par five ninth.
Aine O’Rourke was out number three at home and, like Joyce got off to a fine start. Wins on the first, the fourth and the fifth followed by a loss on the sixth had the match at two up for Aine and she was playing some great golf. As she has shown us so often, Aine, once in front is always difficult to beat and so it was today for her opponent. A win on seven was followed by two halves before the pro button was pressed with Aine reeling off four consecutive wins from the tenth to close her match on the thirteenth, 7&5.
Two nil early on to Greystones but where might the vital third point come from?
In Stackstown, Regina had selected Janet Devin to play number one. Stackstown can be very tricky for visitors and Janet needed her top game to be able to compete there today. The first three holes were halved before Stackstown took the lead with a win on the fourth. It was back and forth with alternate wins on each hole, for the remainder of the front nine with Janet’s win on the ninth getting the match back to all square once again. On the back nine, the pair halved the opening two holes but a win for Stacktown on the twelfth edged them ahead once more.
The final match of the day had Anne Clarke in action. Ann’s opponent came out all guns blazing and won the opening three holes but Ann stuck with it and steadied the ship, halving four and five. Great wins for Ann on the sixth, seventh and the difficult ninth squared the game at the half way point on the course. The back nine was Stackstown’s unfortunately, with their player taking full advantage of the tricky nature of the course for visitors. Ten and eleven were halved but it was all Stackstown from there, with wins on twelve, thirteen, fifteen and sixteen to close the match 4&2.
Ahead of Ann, Janet had lost thirteen also and was two down. She made a great par on the fourteenth to reduce the deficit only to lose the fifteenth. Made of stern stuff, Janet won both the sixteenth and seventeenth holes to square the match and head to the eighteenth with all to play for …
Meanwhile back in Greystones, Joyce, back all square with a win on the tenth, was two down again by the fifteenth tee. She won fifteen and made a vital half on sixteen after a pulled tee shot. On the seventeenth at one down and two to play, Joyce was faced with a tough third shot in a swirling wind. Her caddie, Deirdre Ahern, earned her fee as the pair deliberated on what club to hit. They plainly made the correct choice and Joyce hit an incredible third shot to ten feet, while her opponent found the water with hers – all square once again – the first time since the eleventh tee.
Joyce skyed her tee a shot a bit on eighteen but was still on the fairway with her opponent just ahead of her, also on the fairway. At this point news came from Stackstown that Ann had unfortunately lost the eighteenth and the pressure level raised immediately for Regina and all the Greystones supporters. Eighteen was halved in sixes and entourage headed back to the first.
Joyce hit first and hit a poor tee shot by her normal standards, off to the right while the Stackstown player drove to just short of the green. From there it was drama all the way. Joyce hit a great shot from the rough, through the trees to the edge of the green and her opponent elected to putt, leaving her putt well short. Joyce then hit a brilliant shot, under any circumstances let alone with a full gallery, to a foot, and her opposite number did well in the end to make her four and halve the hole.
On to the twentieth. Both ladies hit good drives but the Stackstown player’s second shot found the trees on the right of the fairway. A good chip out sideways, followed by a decent approach shot which found the green loaded a bit more pressure on Joyce, who’s third shot came up just shot of the green but in a nice position. Joyce putted from where she was and came up quite a bit short of the pin while Stackstown’s putt from thirty feet was of a very high standard, leaving a three footer for bogey. In the end it took a good putt from Joyce to halve the hole and off they headed for the twenty first.
Both girls hit good drives and second shots. The Stackstown player’s third shot came to rest twenty yards short of the green. Joyce was playing her third shot from the rough and her ball ran through the green and into the rough behind the green, leaving an incredibly difficult shot to the back pin. The next Stackstown shot went to the back edge of the green, fifteen feet from the pin and Joyce’s chip got caught in the long grass and just made it to the fringe.
With both players as they lay, Joyce, who was to play first, chose her putter. We had seen some rain at this stage resulting in the greens slowing down a bit and Joyce’s putt came up short leaving herself a nasty five foot putt. All eyes now turned to the Stackstown putt which was not easy by any means either. Their ball didn’t threaten the hole and ran out to six feet and when the return putt was missed it gave Joyce an opportunity to close out the match if she could hold her nerve to hole what was a tricky putt herself. Joyce and her caddie, Deirdre took a little time to decide on the line and then Joyce executed the putt perfectly and the tie was done.
Well done to Regina, her assistant in Stackstown today Janet Redmond and to all her team and their caddies on an excellent win. A great performance by everyone. Thanks also to the Stackstown team who played all the matches today in such a sporting manner.
Leinster South semi-finals up next…..
