First away this afternoon was our Pierce Purcell team who faced Dun Laoghaire in the third round following a great win against local rivals Delgany. Our first pairing out at home, Stefan Florin & Rob Tierney took their match by the scruff of the neck early on and after going 3 up through 9 they then applied the pressure to close the match by a margin of 5&4. It was a much tighter affair for our second match pair of Alan Byrne & Gerry Browner who turned 1 down. Both players are also team managers ( Jimmy Bruen & Powerscourt Cup ) and understood the value of each point and stuck to their task to find themselves dormie two up. A loss of 17 kept Mark’s blood pressure on the high side but a great win on 18 sealed the match 2 up. Away from home, Frank Marmion & Shane Power were playing well and were 2 up through 12 after the delayed away start time. Our third match in Greystones featured Stephen O’Brien & Eoin Mullen who looked in a strong position at 4 up at the turn. Matchplay golf is never over till it’s over of course and a rally by Dun Loaghaire from the 10th through the fourteenth saw the match all square. 15 & 16 were halved and the Greystones pair had a great win on 17. 1 up and one to play it fell to Stephen to hole a 5 footer on the 18th to close out the match and the tie for Greystones. Away from home, Conor Whelan & John Comer had taken control of their match, turning 2 up and getting to dormie 5 up before being called in.
Second out this afternoon was our Barton Shield team who also faced Dun Laoghaire. This was a quarter final match for Tom Byrne’s 2021 team. Unfortunately this was not going to be our day. At home Adam Packman & Gary Dunne found themselves on the back foot having lost the first 4 holes. At this level it’s hard to recover from such a position. Away from home Eddie Lonergan & Daniel O’Byrne were faring betting and at just one down through 7 were well in the match and were all square after 14. This is a cumulative holes format and we were ultimately unable to recover from the slow home start loosing 7&6.
After the Barton Shield our Ladies Revive team took to the course to play Powerscourt with three matches away and two at home. This was round 3 for Lisa Croke’s team, having beaten Delgany and Foxrock in rounds 1 and 2. Lisa headed to Powerscourt to look after the away leg awhile Mags Smith looked after the home tie. Three matches were settled early. Away from home Marguerite Hamill & Ger O’Shea played really well to overpower their opponents and win out 5&4 and put a point on the board for Greystones. Our second away pairing of the normally unbeatable, Hayley Mulcahy & Sandra Cotter didn’t fare so well coming up against a really strong pair and they ended up loosing 4&3. At home Jacinta Dean & Aine O’Rourke were 1 up through 6 and turned 3 up. They kept their feet on the gas and closed their match out 5&3. At 2/1 up in the tie, the remaining matches were extremely tight. In Powerscourt Amanda Lawless & Mary Hutch were 1 up through 9 and 1 up standing on the 18th tee. Powerscourt won the 18th and the match headed to the 19th. Meanwhile, in Greystones our first match out had a really strong pair of Mary Lockhart & Regina Barry. As it happens Powerscourt also had a strong pair in this match position. All square through 9 became all square through 14 with the players swapping holes. Greystones edged ahead with a great win on 15 only to see their lead go when Powerscourt won the 17th. No stress in amateur golf then ? On 18, Greystones played the hole impeccably to win the match and close out the tie for Greystones.
Congratulations to all the teams and many thanks to the managers and players who put themselves out their representing their club – it is appreciated.
Like the curates egg – good in parts !