Monday 22nd May
Open Singles
1st Richard Sweeney (18) 43 pts
2nd Brian Burke (10) 37 pts
Two’s – €7 per Two
1st Daniel Hatton Jr.
5th John Lynch, Brian Burke, Jamie Farrell
16th John McDonald
Monday 22nd May
Open Singles
1st Richard Sweeney (18) 43 pts
2nd Brian Burke (10) 37 pts
Two’s – €7 per Two
1st Daniel Hatton Jr.
5th John Lynch, Brian Burke, Jamie Farrell
16th John McDonald
Padraig Croke and his JB Carr team travelled to Blainroe this afternoon to play the second round of the competition after their great win against Wicklow last month.
First out today was Paul Keane playing with Tom Sheehy, two down at halfway, the pair were three over through ten and three down …. the back nine was no kinder to them and the match rent Blainroe’s way 4&2.
Dave Kirby & Martin McNulty started well, winning the first two holes but it was all Blainroe from the fifth and the match went to Blainroe 5&4.
Tom Byrne & Gerry Browner were playing well and turned two up, while Martin Nolan & David O’Toole were two down at the same point.
In the end however, the tie was settled when Walter Gilbert & Brian Fawsitt’s match ended on the sixteenth, 3&2.
Always a big ask to win when playing all matches away from home.
Hard luck to Padraig and all the team
Sunday 21st of May
Mens Singles Stableford
1st William O’Riordan (3) 42 pts
2nd Paul McKnight (18) 41 pts (Back 9)
3rd Denis McGrane (19) 41pts
4th Keith O’Donnell (26) 40 pts (Back 9)
Gross William O’Riordan (3) 39 pts
Two’s – €7 per 2
1st Ben Crowley
5th Richard Bevan, Gerry Kilfeather, Martin Haugh, Paul McKnight, Brian Fawsitt, Stephen Aherne, Ray Crotty, Chris Lawless
11th Martin Commons, John Doyle
14th Kieran O’Driscoll, Michael Farrelly, Paul Creedon, Kenny Lewis
16th Mark Corcoran, Richard Taylor
Incredibly, the four inter-club matches played this afternoon brought the total played so far this year to just shy of fifty …
Our Men’s Senior Cup team, managed by Karl Holmes were first out at 13.50, playing Wicklow. Karl’s team had three matches at home and two away.
First out at home and leading from the front was David Byrne and at this stage we know what to expect from him. He started fast and had a five shot lead by the tenth, not having lost a hole at this stage. David was six up after eleven and despite losses on the twelfth and fourteenth was able to close his match out 5&3 with a win on fifteen.
This was not however our first point on the board. Karl put Dylan Holmes out second this afternoon and he turned in another fine performance, three up after the front nine, wins on ten and fourteen gave him his win 5&4.
Our anchorman at home today was Shane O’Connor. Shane lost the first two holes but found his rhythm from there and had the match back to all square two holes later. He powered ahead from this point, turning three up. A loss on the thirteenth was immediately cancelled with a win on the fourteenth and when the fifteenth was halved the match was dormie.
Meanwhile, we had had a staggered start today with the Wicklow match only teeing off at 15.00. Adam Packman was first to play and a good up and down out of the bunker on the first for par earned him a half, the second was also halved in par, after a somewhat fortuitous bounce into the green for Adam’s second shot. The pair also shared the third but four and five went the way on the home player and another loss on eight and a half on the par three ninth had Adam three down heading out the country.
Behind Adam, Darren McCormack was playing steady golf. A win on the second was undone by a loss on the fifth and six and seven were also traded. Darren hit a fantastic second to the eighth hole and won the hole and repeated this on the ninth, hitting an excellent iron to five feet.
Adam was on the tenth green and Darren had teed off the same hole when word came through from Greystones that Shane had won the sixteenth to secure a 4&2 win in his match and an overall 4-1 in the tie.
Well done to Karl and all the team.
Straight after the Men’s Senior Cup our Ladies’ Senior Cup team, managed by Mary Kavanagh took to the course at 14.00 to play Arklow.
With most of her panel available, bar our girls Junior Captain Isabella who is still in a golf camp in the US, Mary was able to field her strongest team today, however given our ladies handicap range it was suspected that this was always going to be, at best, a learning curve.
As it turned out however the progress that has been made within the ladies section over the years is starting to bear fruit and the match turned out to be far from a dead rubber.
Aishling Marmion was back in action after her exams and was first out at home today and was in great form. Aisling had put in a stellar performance in the Senior Cup last year and repeated the performance today, going one better however as she won a well earned point for the Greystones team. Aisling turned four up and completed her victory with a win on fourteen for an impressive 6&4 win.
1-0 Greystones
Another young player who has shown such promise and is now very much delivering, Sophie Lumley, was out after Aishling. Sophie lost the ninth to turn just one behind her Arklow opponent. She found herself two down after the eleventh but bounced straight back, winning the twelfth. The game ebbed and flowed a bit from there with a win for Arklow on thirteen and for Sophie on fifteen to have Arklow just one ahead heading for the sixteenth.
Our final player at home was the talented Shauna Seifried who emulated the Lady Captain’s win in the Challenge Cup on Friday winning by an outrageous margin of 9&7, not having lost a single hole.
2-0 Greystones
Mary had sent her more experienced players to Arklow. Mary Hutch was first out playing a five handicapper in a flat match.
After Mary, Jennifer Moore was our final match away. Jennifer was also in a tough battle as she was matched against a seven handicapper, again with no shots being given.
Both away players acquitted themselves very well, Mary turned three down but was playing well and was back to two down by the thirteenth. Losses on thirteen and fourteen and it looked like Mary’s day was done but she played the next three really well and won all three to get the match back to just one down playing eighteen. Unfortunately for Mary her great work was undone when she lost the last to give Arklow their first point of the day.
2-1 Greystones
Jennifer started slowly, losing the first three before bouncing back with a win on four and she turned two down. She got the match back to all square after twelve but local knowledge came to the fore over the next two holes and despite a great win on the fifteenth the Arklow player had just too much and won the sixteenth to close the match 2&1.
2-2
Meanwhile back in Greystones Sophie who was up against a player with a much lower handicap came undone on the sixteenth and seventeenth to lose her match 3&1.
Congratulations to Mary and all the players who put in such a great performance today. Arklow may have won but they knew that they were in a match.
And then it went from Senior to Minor. Regina Barry put out a strong Minor Cup team to play Ballinascorney in the first round of this competition.
Helen Creedon got the match underway at home and was in great form today. Helen was two up after four but her opponent changed gear from the sixth to the tenth at which point Helen was two down. She got her nose back in front however by the fifteenth with three wins from four holes. A loss on fifteen squared the match once more but Helen made a great par for a win on the sixteenth. One up with two to play…
Second out was Aine O’Rourke who has been performing well for various teams so far this year. It was a case of once more with feeling today, as Aine got to two up through the first nine before hitting the pro button on the back to win her match and get a point on the board for Greystones with a 5&3 win.
Bringing up the rear at home this afternoon was Michelle Knapp. Michelle was in a tough match but had edged ahead by one after nine. She lost ten but from there Michelle made few errors and a win on the sixteenth was enough to win her match 4&2 after an excellent performance.
In Ballinascorney, Joyce Kirwan was first out and there was a very evident home course advantage today, it wasn’t to be Joyce’s day as she faced a really strong local player. Ballinascorney got their first point on the board with a win on the thirteenth.
Regina picked Ann Clarke to play the anchor role away from home and once again Ann was up against a good player with good local knowledge. Ann was three down after five but fought back to level the match after eight however as the match headed into the back nine it was all Ballinascorney and they won their second point on the fourteenth.
With the match now at two all it was coming down to Helen’s match. Helen’s one hole lead was gone after getting into trouble off the tee and the pair headed to the eighteenth with the whole tie now in the balance.
On eighteen Helen hit a great drive and it was the Ballinascorney player’s turn to find trouble off the tee. Helen found the left edge of the green in three and hit a great putt from there to the pin which was bottom right today and her bogey putt missed narrowly – in for a six which was matched by her opposition.
On to nineteen and nerves were jangling. On nineteen Ballinascorney, hit a good shot but misclubbed and went to the back of the green with the pin at the front. Helen’s tee shot came up just short right – an excellent miss under the circumstances. The Ballinascorney player hit a decent putt from where they were but it ran passed the hole leaving themselves an eight footer back. Helen hit a brilliant putt which was conceded for a par and when Ballinascorney missed their eight footer the match and tie was settled.
A great win for Regina and her team.
Our final match today was that of Deirdre Ahern’s Carton Cup team who played their home leg of their match against Kilmashogue, their away leg was to have been played earlier this month but had to be postponed till the 28th of this month due to a waterlogged course.
For the most part this would have been these players’ first chance to play inter-club matchplay and while the result might not have been as they would have hoped, all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Deirdre’s team, for this nine hole competition, was lead out by Pauline Short Foley who played well and was well in contention until losing the sixth and seventh with the match finishing 3&2.
Second out was Mary Nohilly who lost the first three holes but responded brilliantly by winning the next three to level the match. Unfortunately Mary fell foul of the seventh and also lost the eight to lose her match 2&1.
After Mary, Avril O’Farrell was next to play. Avril also found herself three down through three but won the sixth to get the deficit back to two. The seventh was halved but, like Mary, Avril unfortunately lost the eighth for a 3&1 loss.
Fourth out was Fiona Tilson who was one ahead after three but it was all Kilmashogue from there with their player playing really well and getting whatever rub of the green that was going to finish the match 3&1.
Fionnuala Meehan was the last Greystones player to head for the first tee box this afternoon. Fionnuala was down early in her match, having lost the second and third holes but played the fifth great for the win. The sixth was halved but Fionnuala lost seven and a half was enough for Kilmashogue to finish the match 2&1.
Some excellent play today from Deirdre’s team – onwards and upwards.
Saturday 20th of May
Singles Stableford
1st Charles Tarter (20) 42 pts
2nd David O’Brien (11) 40 pts
3rd Stephen Aherne (10) 39 pts (Back 9)
Class 1 Simon Keane (7) 38 pts
Class 2 Michael Smullen (10) 38 pts
Class 3 Gerald Hollingsworth (17) 37 pts
Class 4 Robert O’Reilly (26) 39 pts
Gross Alan Condren (+2) 38 pts
Front 9 Dominic Reilly (12) 22 pts
Back 9 Craig Hazelton (12) 22 pts
Two’s Results – €7 per 2
1st Peter Nolan, Ken Hall
5th Brian O’Connor, Gerald Hollingsworth, Ashton McCormack, Conor O’Callaghan, Ronnie Cotter, Brian Frawley, Eddie Lonergan, Alan Condren, Peter Nolan
11th Collie Dunne, David Kirk, Alan O’Sullivan, Joseph Kenny, Eddie Lonergan, Dylan Holmes, Antti Happonen
14th Mark Connaughton, Keith Lewis, , Craig Hazelton, Jamie Anderson
16th David O’Brien, Peter Burke, Conor Fleetwood, Pat O’Regan
Paul Keane and his Barton Cup team went head to toe this afternoon with Bray in the opening round of the Barton Cup.
Paul had three matches at home but Bray always perform well in this competition so there were no chickens being counted as the match teed off. Dermot Whiston was looking after the home team today.
First out at home were Chris Boylan & Gary O’Connor. This strong pairing were three up through nine having won seven, eight and nine. They were pegged back to a one hole advantage by the fourteenth however and had to work hard on the fifteenth where they were in all sorts of difficulty but still managed to win the hole and get a little bit of a cushion.
Second out was the young pairing of William O’Riordan & Milo Doyle. The boys struggled on the front nine it’s fair to say and turned two down which became three down after the tenth. Halves on the eleventh and twelfth calmed the nerves a bit and some excellent play followed on the thirteenth and fourteenth to reduce the deficit to just one hole.
Our final home pairing was that of Murt Davis & Declan Murray, who found themselves two down after the first four holes. The fifth was halved and the pair had a good win on six, before losing the seventh. When their opposition hit their ball out of bounds of the eighth it was back to just one down and remained so through the ninth and tenth holes. Eleven went to Bray and twelve was halved. After Murt knocked down his drive on the thirteenth it looked like we were in trouble again but a good recovery shot from Declan and an excellent approach shot by Murt, coupled with their opposition finding water lead to an unlikely Greystones win. Declan’s tee shot on fourteen was a foot from being perfect but instead found the bunker Bray’s par was enough to win the hole to go back to two up.
Up the road in Bray Brian Murray & Walter Gilbert got off to a great start, winning three of the first four holes before the local Bray pair found first gear. Brian & Walter’s three hole lead became a one hole deficit by the tenth. The Greystones pair were playing great however and got their noses back in front with wins on thirteen, fifteen & sixteen.
Second out in Bray were David Byrne & Anthony Byrne. David & Anthony were three down after the front nine and despite digging deep with wins on ten and twelve ultimately lost on the sixteenth 3&2.
First blood to Bray 1-0
Meanwhile in Greystones Chris & Gary were glad to have a cushion of two holes when they lost the sixteenth to birdie before halving the seventeenth and heading down eighteen only needing a half for the point. Gary hit a great tee shot down the right hand side after watching his opposition find the middle of the trees behind the twelfth tee box. It took Bray three additional shots to get to twenty feet of the green but Chris got a flyer from the semi-rough and his ball landed on the path to the left of the green up against the hedge. After some debate, Gary played the ball as it lay and a tap in six was enough to win the hole and the match.
1-1
William & Milo were still going, sharing the spoils on the fifteenth & sixteenth before their opposition lost one ball off the tee on seventeen and followed this by finding the water with their second. All square heading for eighteen where both teams made par and shook hands before realising they had to move back to the first to try to find a winner.
As William & Milo were walking back to the first, Murt & Declan’s match was finishing on the seventeenth with a 2&1 loss, and word was filtering back from Bray that Brian & Walter had lost the tough seventeenth and were heading for the eighteenth all square.
2-1 to Bray
On the first in Greystones William hit a magnificent shot to fifteen feet while the Bray player could only find the rough to the right of the green and was faced with a very difficult up and down. He hit a good shot to be fair but was still ten feet from the hole and when Milo hit his putt to two feet it was enough to seal the match.
2-2
All ears turned to Bray where word came through that Brian & Walter were in bother on eighteen, fifty yards out in four with the Bray pair twenty five feet from the pin in three. Unfortunately for Greystones, there was no further drama and Bray secured the match win and the tie; 3-2
Hard luck to Paul, Dermot and all the squad.
Our Best Cup team, managed by Pat O’Dowd and Joe O’Brien won 3 1/2 to 1 1/2 against Elm Hall this evening.
In a very tight match it came down to the last holes both in Greystones and Elm Green to decide the tie.
At home, Jimmy Hempenstall & Tom Purcell won on the thirteenth with Kishor Borkhataria & Barry Walsh winning on sixteenth.
In the last game in Greystones, Jim Kinsella, who was playing with George Hughes sank a twelve foot putt on the eighteenth to win the hole and secure a halved match.
In Celbridge, Joe Grennan & Martin McNulty lost 2up but Dermot Whiston & Quentin Teggin were the heros of the hour, with Dermot sinking a thirty foot putt to win his match on the final hole.
Well done to Pat, Joe and all the team.
Jim Wood & John Burke’s Pierce Purcell team were out this evening (18thMay) playing Foxrock in the second round of the competition.
The team saw just one change from the team that beat Hermitage convincingly less than two weeks ago in the first round with Colm Drew & Dermot Barry coming in for Gavan Campbell & Rod O’Shea.
Due to the vagaries off the GI Draw we had, once again, three matches away from home this evening so securing a win wasn’t going to be easy.
First out at home were Anthony Byrne & Neil Lawless who won the first and fifth to be one up, having lost the third, however this lead was reversed with Foxrock winning the sixth and seventh holes. The eighth & ninth were swapped and the match turned with the visitors one up.
Just behind them Andrew Nolan & Gary O’Connor, coming off the back of their excellent 6&5 victory in the Hermitage match, found themselves one down through eight but were playing well. They won the ninth to square the match and followed this up with wins on the tenth, eleventh and twelfth to go three up.
Meanwhile, in Foxrock Colm Drew & Dermot Barry led the Greystones charge but losses on the fifth & sixth saw them two down, but with a long way to go of course. Unfortunately Foxrock also won the next two and after a half on the ninth the match went to the tenth tee with Foxrock four up.
Robert Clarke & Michael Keating won the second to go one up but lost the third, fourth, sixth and eight to find themselves three down after eight holes. A win on nine steadied the ship, but only briefly unfortunately. Three further losses in succession on the tenth, eleventh and twelfth were the lads undoing and the match ended on the fifteenth, 4&3 for Foxrock.
Our anchor pair of Stephen O’Brien & Shane Power took up where they had left off when they last played together and were four up through seven, lost eight but bounced back straight away with a win on nine to be four up at the halfway point.
Gary & Andrew continued the dominance of their match with wins on the thirteenth and fourteenth (after an excellent tee shot from Gary to fifteen feet), to close out their game 5&4.
1-1 in the overall tie.
It soon became clear that the critical match was the first at home.
Colm & Dermot had battled back, with wins on the eleventh & thirteenth but the mountain they had to climb was just too high after the front nine and their match ended on the fifteenth by a margin of 3&2.
Similarly, Robert & Michael were unable to undo the damage done on the front nine and their match ended on the fifteenth, 4&3.
Our anchor match of Shane & Stephen had powered through to a fantastic 5&3 win away from home to level the match at two all.
So…..2-2 and all to play for…..
Having turned one down, Neil & Anthony lost the tenth to a par to go two down but, to their credit persevered to bring the match back to all square with wins on eleven and twelve. The Greystones pair made a great half on thirteen, after having been out of position with their tee shot, only to lose fourteen to par to go back to one down. Another unlikely half on the par five fifteenth, this time benefiting the visitors, was followed by a similar result on the sixteenth.
On the seventeenth Neil split the fairway while the Foxrock man found the rough on the right hand side of the fairway. He played a nice layup and it seemed to be evenly poised when Anthony didn’t make a perfect connection with his ball and ended up thirty yards short of the water. When it came to playing their third shot the Foxrock pair realised that they had played a wrong ball which resulted in a loss of hole and brought the match back to all square once again.
Off to the eighteenth, now with a full gallery…
Anthony’s drive veered left off the tee, as did that of his Foxrock opponent. As luck would have it the Foxrock drive was in the clear while Neil was faced with a hack out, at best, from heavy rough. Foxrock found the bunker on the right of the fairway, furthest from the green with their next while Neil was only able to advance his ball to a point requiring another chip out by Anthony, to be fair a good result given his lie. Anthony played a good shot and Neil’s approach from this point was long left. Foxrock only managed to find a similar position from the bunker – game on….
From where he was, Anthony played a good chip to ten feet and, when it took his opponents two more shots to be just inside him it looked like we were heading for playoff holes. As it played out however, Neil’s ten footer just missed the hole while the Foxrock man nailed his to win the match and the tie 3-2 to Foxrock.
A great match, down to the wire once again and hard luck to Jim, John and all the squad who have all put in so much work this year.
Wednesday 17th May
9 Hole Singles
1st Stephen Corry (3) 22 pts
2nd Alan Horgan (10) 20 pts (Last 6)
3rd Neil Lawless (8) 20 pts
Two’s – €8 per Two
1st Darren McCormack, Stephen Corry, Cian Gilmore
5th Craig Hazelton, Harry Kirk, Richard Collins
Wednesday 17th May
Singles Stableford
1st Jerry Teehan (19) 42 pts
2nd Gavin Nolan (10) 40 pts
3rd Noel Smyth (V) (8) 39 pts (Back 9)
Class 1 Peter Keane (9) 39 pts
Class 2 Richie Taylor (13) 39 pts
Class 3 Philip Pratt (15) 37 pts
Class 4 Chuck Tarter (20) 38 pts
Gross Alan Condren (+2) 37 pts
Front 9 Ronan O’Farrell (15) 22 pts
Back 9 Dermot Coffey (31) 19 pts
Two’s – €10 per Two
1st Fergal Duffy
5th Thomas Kealy
11th David Kirk, Kenny Lewis, Jerry Teehan, Brian Burke, Alan Redmond
12th Noel Smyth
14th Stephen Buckley, Niall Stokes, Eoin McHugh, Marc Hamilton, Alan Condren, Richie Taylor, Maurice Phelan
16th Stephen Buckley, Niall Crosbie, Alan Condren