Our Barton Cup team were up against Castle GC in their last 8 match on Sunday afternoon.
Castle had the home advantage of 3 matches at home and 2 in Greystones. Ray McDonnell had selected the following team:
At home Chris Boylan/Keith McDonnell and Alan Keane/Ruadhan Murray while away Ollie Nolan/Kevin Barry, Shane Nolan/Craig Hazelton and Diarmaid MacGabhann/Henry Gilbert.
At home Chris and Keith got off to and were 5 up after 9 holes. Alan and Ruadhan were also in good position at the turn as they were 2 up on their opposition.
Away from Ollie and Kevin were 2 down early on but fought back well to be 1 up as they headed to the tenth. Shane and Craig were up against it early on but after winning the 8th were 3 down heading to the back nine. Diarmaid and Henry had their backs against the wall also after a difficult start which left them 5 down after 5 holes.
Meanwhile at home Chris and Keith kept the pressure on their opponents by winning the tenth and they confirmed Greystones first point when they won the 12th to win 7&6.
Alan and Ruadhan’s opposition fought back to be level after winning 10 and 14.
Castle quickly got two points on the board when Henry and Diarmaid were beaten on the 11th and Shane and Craig lost on 13.
Ruadhan and Alan continued to battle and won the 15th to go back to one up.
Back in Castle GC Ollie and Kevin extended their lead on 11 to 2 up. However there was plenty of golf left to play. Two great approach shots by the Castle on 12 & 13 led to two wins and the match was all square. The par 4 14th was halved after a fine pitch shot from Kevin. From there Castle GC won 15, 16 and 17 to win 3&1 and progress to the next round. Unfortunately Alan and Ruadhan despite winning 16 to go dormie two up were called in.
Congratulations to Ray and his panel on a great campaign and I’m sure they will be back again next year.
