Greystones Golf Club
Co.Wicklow, Ireland
Isabella Stewart and Sophie Lumley continued the excellent performances by our junior girls today. Playing in the Munster U18 Eileen Roughan Trophy, hosted by Lahinch this afternoon, Isabella shot 43 points to finish an excellent tied second in the competition while Sophie had 38 points to finish just outside the top ten in eleventh place.
Sponsored by Wood Group Homes, the 2022 Wicklow Boys got under way this morning with a strong field teeing it up from 07.30 in round one of this 72 hole event.
After two rounds of this 72 hole competition, defending champion, Dylan Holmes holds a narrow lead of one shot over Castle Golf Club’s David Lawley. Dylan followed his 66 of this morning with a 70 this afternoon for a two under par two round total. Despite a blistering front nine of four under, David also shot a round of 70 this afternoon following his opening round of 67.
A level par 69 this afternoon saw Jack McGovern shoot up the leaderboard by five places, to third, on a total of five over for the tournament. Adam Allahbachani (Powercourt) dropped two shots on the eighteenth (losing his ball off the tee) on his way to shooting a five over second round and dropped a place to forth on a six over total. Jamie Anderson fills out the top five spots, one shot further back, with Toby Murphy in sixth on nine over, one shot ahead of Rory O’Shea (Elm Park).
Best of luck to all the players tomorrow in the final rounds.
The leaderboard can be accessed by clicking here.
Course Superintendent, Keith Clancy and his crew were out at daybreak preparing our course to host the Wicklow Boys which is sponsored by Wood Group Homes. Tom Byrne was also around getting everything in place for the event and got some very nice snaps.
Sponsored by Wood Group Homes, the 2022 Wicklow Boys got under way this morning with a strong field teeing it up from 07.30 in round one of this 72 hole event.
Defending Champion, Dylan Holmes (Greystones) teed it up alongside Adam Allahbachani (Powercourt) and David Lawley (Castle) and these three have set the early pace with Dylan making a fine up and down from the sand on the 18th to complete a three under 66 while David Lawley birdied sixteen, seventeen and eighteen to finish just one behind on 67. Adam also birdied the last hole to finish on one over (70).
The leaderboard can be accessed by clicking here.
Hard luck to Ray Crotty, Brian Frawley and the whole Junior Cup squad who today lost to Castle Golf Club in the Leinster South semi-final. The whole squad put huge effort into the competition and have given us a few great days out this year.
We faced an extremely strong Castle team this afternoon and, even with the three match home advantage unfortunately it just wasn’t our day.
First out at home was Kenny Lewis who got off to a slow start, losing the first two holes, but who clawed his way back over the opening nine holes to go down the lane just one down. Losses on the tenth, to a par and on the twelfth followed and Kenny appeared to be in a bit of bother. The thirteenth and fourteenth holes were halved in pars and Kenny made a great birdie to win the fifteenth but unfortunately lost the sixteenth, and the match 3&2.
Alan Keane played second in Greystones and his was a tight match indeed. Alan and his opponent traded holes for the front nine, the lead changing the whole way but by the tenth tee Alan had nudged ahead by the odd hole. His opponent won the tenth and made a good two putt on the eleventh to win that also, Alan having missed the green long left. A win for Alan on twelve squared the match but only briefly as a loss on thirteen followed. Still just one down, Alan hit a great shot straight over the pin on the fourteenth to three feet and looked odds on to win the hole as his opponent was twenty feet away. As often happens, his opponent’s putt just stayed on the lip for a picky up par and Alan’s putt hit the hole but didn’t drop and the hole was halved. On Fifteen, Alan’s opposition hit a magnificent iron to ten feet below the hole for his third shot while Alan was just off the green on the left, also in three. Alan hit a beautiful chip shot to two feet and the Castle man raced his putt by, missed the one back and had to settle for a six. Alan now had a two footer for the win but it horse-shoed and the hole was halved and Alan remained one down. On sixteen, Alan missed the green left while his opponent was over the green and under the tree. Seldom do we see an up and down from under this tree but the Castle player scuffed a shot to three feet and held the putt while Alan didn’t get up and down – dormie two down.
As all this unfolded, Diarmaid MacGabhann was going about his normal, measured, winning ways. One down after one was the only time his was behind in the match as he played quality, solid golf shots against a strong opponent. One up through nine, Diarmaid lost ten but came back immediately on eleven by hitting a quality tee shot to the green after his opposition had found the greenside bunker off his tee shot. Twelve was halved in pars and Diarmaid won thirteen to go two up. Fourteen was again halved in Par and the pair teed off on fifteen with the Greystones man still two up.
In Castle Golf Club, our second man out, Jamie Anderson got off to a good start, halving the first but winning the second. From there to the seventh, consecutive holes were traded but a win on the eighth for Castle followed by a halved ninth gave the Castle player the advantage moving to the back nine. From there the Castle player moved to a different gear and wins on eleven, and three on the bounce from the thirteenth to the fifteenth closed the match off 5&3.
Our first man out in Castle, Ben Crowley was doing well. He was again in a very tight match but turned one up. Unfortunately he lost three holes between the tenth and thirteenth holes and found himself two down. Ben isn’t one to give up without a fight and he stuck at it gamely to win the fourteenth and fifteenth to square his match, but unfortunately lost the seventeenth to find himself dormie one down..
So….. two matches gone(Kenny & Jamie), Diarmaid two up playing fifteen, Ben dormie one down away and Alan dormie two down at home.
At home, Alan’s opponent hit a fantastic drive to 70 yards on the seventeenth while Alan found the fairway bunker. Alan’s bunker shot cleared the water and left him a nice chip to a middle pin. Needing only a half however, it appeared that the writing was on the wall but, inexplicably, the Castle man hit his approach shot over the green and almost to the eighteen tee-box. His tricky return pitch found the bunker and it was still his shot. To be fair, he then hit a fabulous bunker shot to three feet but it wasn’t enough to avoid Alan winning the hole with a par and the match moving to eighteen. On eighteen, Alan pulled his tee shot slightly but was still very much in play while Castle hit a big drive down the middle. As the players, caddies and large viewing gallery moved off the tee-box however, the word came through from Castle that Ben had halved eighteen to lose his match one down and the tie.
Hard luck to Brain, Ray and the whole squad, a really great effort.
The Junior Committee held a fun day for all Juniors on Thursday afternoon with Ali & Olivia on hand to run the barbecue. The sun shone and it was a great day. Congratulations to the winners and to all those who took part – we’ll definitely do this again !
The winning team was Adam Moore, Cameron McConnell, Isabella Stewart and Sophie Lumley who narrowly beat Marc Lawless, John Byrne, Sinead Seifreid and Taylor Quinn in to second place.
Many congratulations to David Lewis and his Leinster Under 15’s team who this afternoon pulled off a great win against Edenderry in the fourth round of thLeinster Under 15’s Championship. With three games away from home in Edenderry this was never going to be a walk in the park for David’s team.
As the match unfolded, three of the games were decided early doors with Toby Murphy winning 7&5 at home having played some great golf, including a chip in for birdie and a win on the eleventh. Marc Lawless continued his fine recent form with an excellent win away 5&4 but unfortunately for Conor Dignam, who was a late draftee after Jack McGovern was injured, he came up against a strong opponent in Edenderry and lost 6&4.
As always in these matches it was a nail biting finish. We needed one of, home player William O’Riordan, who turned all square but was two up after fifteen or Milo Doyle, who was in Edenderry having turned two down but who had got his match back to one down with two to play, to win their matches.
As it turned out, William lost sixteen and seventeen (where he was giving a shot to his opponent) and was all square on the eighteenth tee box. Milo, in contrast, won his seventeenth to go all square. So two chances to get a win…
William hit a great drive down eighteen, leaving himself a seventy yard pitch from the rough to the pin which was on the lower level of the eighteenth green while his young opponent was twenty yards out in two. William hit a wonderful shot to six feet and, when his opponent left his chip short and William lipped out for birdie it was time to shake hands. Milo’s match continued to the finish in Edenderry and he won the final hole with an excellent birdie to complete an excellent 4:1 victory for Greystones.
A great win for the team, and many congratulations to David and the whole squad.
Best of luck to David Lewis and his Under 15’s team who play Edenderry this weekend in the second round of the competition. After a good win against Powerscourt in round 1, the lads face a tough task with three matches away on Saturday.
Tee off is 15:30 on Saturday and all support is welcome. Live scoring is also available by clicking here.
Brian Frawley & Ray Crotty’s Junior Cup team face Castle Golf Club this Sunday in the Leinster South Semi Final of this All Ireland competition. This team have put huge effort all year into their preparation and hopefully can make it all the way to the final.
All on course support will be most welcome ! Live scoring also available by clicking here.
Congratulations to those who qualified to play in the Class Cups.
Congratulations to those remaining in the men’s matchplay events.
President Neville Galloway’s Prize is at the semi final stage. John Commons will play Garry Campbell in the first semi final and Derek Cowley will take on John Behan in the second.
In the Carrinson, Derek O’Regan & Alan Byrne play Michael Cawley & Marc Hamilton on the top half of the draw while Simon Keane & Alan Condren play the Carrinson Cup specialists, John and Larry Behan in the second semi final.
A reminder to those still in the Father & Son that their quarter-final matches have to be played by the 8th of August at the latest please.
Updated draw sheets are available to view in the matchplay section of this site.
Hard luck to our Under 19 Girls team who put up a brave effort but just came up short in 3rd place in the Leinster Qualifier of this Golf Ireland event.
The format of this qualifier was stableford, with the best two scores to count. Our girls, Isabella Stewart, Sophie Lumley and Shauna Seifried shot two creditable 38s for a 76 total. Lucan won the qualifier with an unbelievable score of 85 ( 48+37) with Carton House in second on 83 ( 44+39 ).
