Many congratulations to Liam O’Shea, Pat Barry and their whole squad after their fantastic win today against Dublin Mountain Golf Club.
Today’s final was held at Elm Park Golf Club who run the competition and no doubt Stephen Cahill was looking down on the team today. Stevie was a big supporter of this event.
Three of our pairs were giving shots to their opposition today in this Scotch Foursomes format which is never easy to do.
Our first pair out were the ever dependable Cathal Cooney & Jerry Teehan. This pair have been ultra solid through out the whole campaign but a wrist injury for Jim necessitated a call to be made as late as yesterday evening regarding his fitness. In the end he pulled on the (new) jumper this morning and thankfully his bandaged wrist held up. Cathal & Jerry got off to a quick start and were three up after four. They shot 5 over gross for the front nine to turn at four up and very much in control of their match even though they were giving ten shots.
Our second pair of Ray Hogan & Julian Pollard had a tough start and found themselves a couple down through four and losses on seven and nine saw them turn at four down. The back nine didn’t start any better for the pair as they lost the eleventh to find themselves in a very tricky position at five down. Many might drop the heads but Ray & Julian fought back, winning the twelfth and thirteenth and had a great chance to win the fourteenth when their putt seemed to defy gravity on the edge of the hole. Another win on the fifteenth brought the match back to two down but the tricky sixteenth went the way of Dublin Mountain and the lads lost 3&2.
At the back of the field Eddie Joynt and Denis Cromie were send out to anchor the team and had to give six shots. A loss on the first wasn’t what was hoped for but wins on three and four eased matters for all concerned and as the lads played their usual solid golf they focused on the matter in hand and turned three up.
Pat O’Regan and Jim F. Ryan were out third, giving eight shots and not unlike Ray and Julien had a tough start to their match finding themselves two down through four holes. It was nip and tuck for the remainder of the front nine but an unfortunate loss on the tenth meant they were three down. Further losses on the twelfth and thirteenth left them with an uphill battle at five down with five to play. To their credit they dug their heals in and were going to keep the match alive for as long as possible. They won the fourteenth and fifteenth but like Ray & Julian the sixteenth was their Waterloo and the match closed by a margin of 3&2 to give Dublin Mountain their second point on the board.
Our fourth pair out today were Sean Hynes and Alan O’Sullivan, playing a flat match. One up through four holes the pair were playing great and wins on the seventh and ninth gave them a two hole advantage over their opposition and it never looked like Alan or Sean was going to give up this lead. With the bit between their teeth the pair won nine, ten, eleven, twelve and thirteen to win their match and get a Greystones point on the board 6&5
Meanwhile Cathal & Jerry were continuing the back nine as they had played the front nine. A win on the twelfth got them to five up with six to play and while a loss on the twelfth might have given their Dublin Mountain opponents a glimmer of hope Cathal & Jerry stamped their authority on the match with wins on both fourteen and fifteen to close the match 5&3.
Two all and down to the last match…
After turning three up Eddie & Denis won the eleventh after a half on the tenth to go four up and the tricky par three twelfth saw both pairs miss the green short but crucially miss the water also. Denis needed to hold his nerve, which he did, over a 4 footer to make four and halve the hole and maintain their advantage. Dublin Mountain weren’t going to give up without a fight however and they kept their hopes up with a win on the thirteenth. Three up to Greystones with five holes left to play and crucially Eddie & Denis managed a win on the fourteenth to bring the match to dormie with four to play.
Dublin Mountain managed to get two tee shots on the fairway on the awkward fifteenth while Eddie found the trees on the right of the fairway and Denis’s ball ended up on the fourteenth fairway. Eddie hit a great recovery shot through the trees and both pairs were now chipping to the green for their third shot. Denis’ chip got caught in the grass and came upp short while his opposite number ran a great chip up the green which ended up being enough to win the hole.
Dormie three up and by now the galleries were growing as the other matches finished and this obviously became the decider. Nerves were twitching among the gallery not to mind the players. The sixteenth hole has plenty of water on it but Eddie found the fairway and left Denis in a decent position from where he hit a good shot to just short of the green. The Dublin Mountain player was left with a tough shot from the rough 120 yards short of the green after a poor second shot. To his credit he played a great shot but ended up at the back of the green with the pin at the front, perhaps 40 feet away. Eddie’s chip found the front of the green but left Eddie twelve foot from the pin for par. For all the world it looked like the hole would be halved as we were giving a shot and Dublin Mountain had a difficult putt to come that had three stab written all over it. In the end however a fantastic first putt from the Dublin Mountain player to get the ball to four feet and their bogey was enough to claim the hole and keep the match alive.
The long par three sixteenth beckoned. Both Dublin Mountain players hit poor tee shots, the better of which left a perhaps 90 yards to the pin out of the rough whereas both Denis and Eddie hit excellent tee shots under pressure with Eddie’s having the better angle to the green. The Dublin Mountain player found the back of the green and in fact did well to hang on. Denis played a sensible shot to the front of the green leaving the ball below the hole. Dublin Mountain were first to putt and left the ball six feet short while Eddie rolled the ball to three feet. With Greystones just needing a half for the match it all came down to this six footer. There were a lot of breaths being held as the ball rolled towards the hole and a lot of sighs of relief from the Greystones contingent as it rolled past the hole and it was then handshakes all around with Greystones winning the Super Seniors 2021.
Congratulations to the managers and all the players who played today and to all the squad who contributed to the team during the campaign.
