Well done Shauna !!
Front and centre at the Solheim Cup today !!!!!
Well done to our Sixes team who, despite putting in an excellent performance in the All-Ireland finals today just came up short.
The finals were held at Grange Golf Club this afternoon in horrendous conditions with eight clubs competing from the provinces.
In the end Tramore ran out the winners but our team, representing the Leinster South region did the club proud both by how they presented themselves on the course and the quality of their golf.
Manager Martin Haugh stuck with the same team who won the Leinster South pennant last month to play today. The rules of this competition state that a minimum of two girls should be included in the six person team however it was great to see that the Greystones’ team included three girls and three boys. Only one other club in the finals had more than the two mandated girls on the team today ( the other being Galway GC ).
Out first today were Aoife Dempsey & James Long, Emma Haugh & Jane Lumley were out in the number two position and John O’Boyle & Jack Daly brought up the rear. With the best two cards to count Greystones returned an excellent team score of 4 over par.
Aoife also won the longest drive of the day competition!!
Many congratulations to all involved – another pennant for the 2023 wall of fame !
Congratulations to team manager Ben Crowley and his squad who beat a strong New Forest side this afternoon to get to the Leinster final which will take place later this month.
Ben and his team will face local rivals, Blainroe who saw off The Island in their semi final yesterday. The final will be over two legs, one home and one away (dates to be confirmed).
Out first today was Conor Dignam who was giving six shots to his opponent. Conor stormed into a three hole lead after just three holes and turned two up, despite a loss on the ninth. Conor halved the tenth, while giving a shot, and his win with a par on the eleventh was followed by another good win on eight. His New Forest opponent won thirteen but it was too little too late for him unfortunately and Conor closed out the match with wins on fourteen and fifteen by a margin of 5&3.
Number two today was Ruadhán Murray. Ruadhán was giving eight shots which is never easy and found himself two behind after losses on six and seven. He stuck to his guns however and dug out three excellent wins in a row from the eighth to get ahead for the first time in the match. The back nine was cat and mouse. Ruadhán lost twelve, giving a shot but won fourteen with a par. He was giving a shot on fifteen also which went to New Forest to bring the match back to all square. Sixteen was halved in pars but seventeen, another shot hole, went to the visitors and Ruadhán found himself dormie one down.
The anchorman for the team this afternoon was the ever dependable Toby Murphy. Toby was giving two shots to his opponent and was struggling a bit perhaps with the flat stick early on in his round, turning one down. He was giving a shot on the tenth but Toby made par which was enough to halve the hole. Pars on eleven and twelve got him ahead for the first time since the second tee box. His choice to hit driver on thirteen nearly cost him the hole but a good putt from six feet for bogey earned him a half and fourteen was also halved, this time in par. A birdie on fifteen got Toby to two ahead with three to play, sixteen was halved in par and another par on seventeen was enough to seal the match 2&1and the tie for Greystones.
Ruadhán had won eighteen to get his match all square when called in.
Congratulations to Ben and his squad.
Well done and hard luck to our Fred Daly and Irish Junior foursomes teams who headed to the All-Ireland finals in Castletroy on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Our Fred Daly team were up against it from the off having being drawn against Douglas G.C. in the quarter finals. Douglas boasts an impressive Junior section and their Fred Daly team boasted two Irish Internationals including their number one player Jack Murphy who recently shot 9 under at the British Boys.
In an impressive display, our boys saw off Douglas 3-2, including an excellent win from Dylan Holmes (his card including eight birdies) , who beat Jack Murphy 2up. William O’Riordan also won impressively 4&2 and Toby Murphy came from two down with five to play to half the match with a spectacular win on eighteen and go on to win on the 21st hole. Steven Gormley lost 2 down and Jamie Anderson 7&6.
In the afternoon our Junior foursomes played Monkstown G.C. but unfortunately it wasn’t to be our day in this event. Despite our boys putting up a good performance, the Monkstown team were better on the day and our boys went down 7&6. Marc Lawless & Ruadhán Murray were four down through fifteen and Jack McGovern & Milo Doyle were three down at the same point. Conor Dignam was ready for action if called upon as the team substitute.
On Wednesday morning our Fred Daly team faced Lurgan in the semi final and again put up an excellent performance in a tightly contested match. Dylan Holmes, once again put in a stellar performance to win 3&1, Jamie Anderson was three under when his match finished 4&3 and Toby Murphy had finished early, 6&5, after another excellent performance. When called in, William O’Riordan was one down through fifteen and Jack McGovern was three down through fourteen.
Our opponents in the final were the fancied Royal Portrush and, despite excellent wins by Dylan (4&2) who was playing a player who he had faced in the Inter-Provincials last week and by Toby Murphy (5&4), the green pennant and the Trophy headed up North. Jamie lost 5&4, Jack went down 4&3 and William narrowly lost out 2&1.
Heartbreak for the team but we should all be proud of their performances and the manner in which they all faced the challenges of the week. Every Greystones player gave their all to the team.
Well done to Peter Anderson and Karl Holmes for bringing these teams to this year’s finals, a great achievement. Many thanks also to Castletroy Golf Club for their hospitality.
Congratulations to the Leinster team who today capped off a great week of golf in Ballykisteen G.C. with a win over Connaught by a score of 6.5 – 3.5 to be crowned U 18 All-Ireland Provincial Champions for 2023.
Today’s win follows a 7 – 3 win over Munster yesterday and a 5.5 – 4.5 win over the much fancied Ulster team on Monday.
Greystones had two representatives on the Leinster team this year, Junior Captain Jamie Anderson, who was making his Inter-Pro debut and Dylan Holmes who played in the 2021 Inter-Pro at Under 16 level.
Our two young men played together each day in the foursomes matches and delivered 2.5 points over the three matches and in the singles Dylan delivered another two points for the team over the three days.
This a fantastic achievement for the two lads and the club.
Many congratulations to Emma Haugh who became only the second name on the Wicklow Girls‘ trophy, and the first Greystones winner of this event, when she won it this afternoon after a brilliant score of 41 points, playing off 30.9.
The event was played in bright sunshine today with girls from Wexford GC, Arklow GC, Powerscourt GC, Bray GC, Foxrock GC, The Carrickmines GC, Killiney GC and of course Greystones GC competing for the fantastic prizes and of course the Wicklow Girls Trophy.
This event is generously sponsored by Wood Group Homes and, ex Lady Captain and President, Carmel Wood was on hand this afternoon to present the prizes.
Greystones players, Sophie Lumley (13) and Shauna Siefried (10) were second and third with 37 points and 35 points respectively and Aliya Davis (31.9) from Foxrock GC was fourth with 34 points.
Defending champion, Ellen Larkin (Powerscourt GC) won the gross prize and Jane Lumley (Greystones) won the front nine with 18 points while Ciara Staunton ( Bray GC ) won the back nine with the same score.
Longest drive was won by Ellen Broderick (Bray GC) with the nearest the pin being won by Aliya Davis (Foxrock GC ) and each won a Titliest hat signed by Leona Maguire – thanks Leona!
In conjunction with the main event today, Neil Kilgallon from Golf Ireland ran a Girl’s Development Academy for girls with higher handicaps or who were just at the very beginning of their golfing careers. Thirty five girls from all over Leinster enjoyed putting, chipping and long game clinics ( thanks to our PGA Professional David Lewis and his team ) before heading off to play a nine hole scramble.
After golf the girls enjoyed a barbque in the Greystones walled garden before the prize giving ceremony.
Lady Captain Celine and a dozen other lady members did Trojan work all day to make sure that the event ran without a hitch as of course did Liam and Jenny in the office, Ali and his team in the kitchen along with Paul and Jackie in the bar.
Special thanks to Neil Lawless and his Junior committee for their support of the event.
We look forward to the 2024 event being bigger and better yet again.
Congratulations to Ben Crowley and his under 15’s team who have made it through to the Leinster South semi finals this afternoon after an emphatic win against a good Stackstown team.
All three players won their matches which were all played in Greystones
Conor Dignam pulled off a great win, holding his nerve to half the eighteenth after a loss on seventeen to win his match 1up.
Earlier, Ruadhán Murray had turned 7 ahead and finished the job off with a 6&5 victory and Toby Murphy closed his match out 5&3 after having turned two up.
Next up will be either Naas or New Forest.
Well done to all the team!
We have a new champion !
Congratulations to Junior Boys’ Captain, Jamie Anderson who, this afternoon, won the Wicklow Cup beating his good friend, cousin and the defending champion, Dylan Holmes into second place.
Jamie played brilliantly yesterday to put himself in an excellent position after the opening two rounds of the competition, shooting 68 in round one and 69 in round two.
He went to bed on Monday night holding a four shot lead over Robert Burns from Portmarnock (who had shot a best round of the tournament 67 in his opening round), and a six shot lead over the defending champion, Dylan Holmes.
Round three on Monday morning proved difficult for Jamie, particularly the front nine, and his had lead disappeared after a disappointing 81.
As the final group teed off for round four, Dylan had moved into a one shot lead over Neil Patterson (Baltinglass) with Jamie and Robert Burns each a further four shots back. It looked like Jamie’s chance to lift the title might have gone but, ever the fighter, Jamie put round three to the back of his mind and shot a brilliant 69 to close out the championship two shots ahead of Dylan and three ahead of both Robert Burns and Neil Patterson.
Other Greystones prize winners were, William O’Riordan (best gross rounds 3&4), Ruadhán Murray (best nett round 2), Marc Lawless (best nett round 3) and Toby Murphy (best gross round 4).
This event couldn’t happen without the enormous effort by Tom Byrne in co-ordinating it. This year Tom was ably assisted by Carol Murphy, Alan Keane and Darragh Browne and of course by our OM, Liam Moulton.
Very special thanks are due to Wood Group Homes for their continued very generous sponsorship of this event and Jim Wood was on had this evening to present the trophy.
Next week will see the second running of the Wicklow Girls tournament, again generously sponsored by Wood Group Homes. The event runs on Thursday 24th August and is open to all levels of golfers with the Wicklow Girls competition proper, running alongside a Golf Ireland Development Academy event on the day.
Finally and once again, congratulations to the 2023 Wicklow Boys champion – Jamie Anderson.
The under 18 Inter Provincial teams were announced this week and Greystones are honoured to have two of our players selected for the Leinster team.
Junior Boys’ Captain, Jamie Anderson gets his first call up along with Dylan Holmes who previously represented the province at Under 16 level in 2021. This is a fantastic achievement for Dylan & Jamie and a fitting reward for all their hard work over the years. This is now three years in a row that Greystones players have represented Leinster in the provincial teams. ( Dylan Holmes 2021 & 2023, Toby Murphy 2022 and Jamie Anderson 2023).
This year’s InterPros take place at Ballykisteen Golf Club in Tipperary from 23rd to 25th of August.
Congratulations and best of luck to the two lads and all the Leinster team.
Hard luck to our Girls Interclub team who bowed out at the semi final stage yesterday (3rd August) when they went down 3:1 to Blainroe. With two matches at home and two away, Jane Lumley & Emma Haugh unfortunately lost in Blainroe, Mia Walsh also lost at home but Junior Girls Captain, Isabella won her home match.