Our J.B. Carr Trophy team got to inter club season off to a winning start in an exciting duel with Old Conna yesterday. In a hard fought, tense, encounter our team of experienced golfers came out the right side of a 3-2 result against a strong and very well prepared opposition. It was a match that will live long in the memory for those involved as it ebbed to and fro throughtout the day before some magnificent shot making saw us emerge victorious.
With a small panel to choose from we had two pairings who faced an uphill battle before the match even started with their combined handicaps exceeding the maximum permissible combination of thirty. Both pairs fought valiantly before the handicap deficit proved too great to overcome. Nick McHardy and Stephen Peake held the upper hand in their match in the early stages before succumbing to some excellent golf. Eddie Seery and Peter McGillen showed their mettle throughout but in the end were beaten by some of the b est golf of the day.
This meant that we needed to win the remaining matches on the course to emerge victorious. Donie McEvoy and Gary O’Rourke were engaged in a ding dong battle all day long. They had an opportunity to close out the match on 18 but it eluded them so the match went to sudden death. An excellent drive down the middle from Donie set up the approach shot to the green. Gary then stepped up to the mark with an excellent iron to thirty feet. Donie wasn’t to be denied a second time and his birdie putt rattled to back of the cup for an excellent win.
Meanwhile Vincent Chapman and John Messitt were playing very composed golf. They were in control of their game for most of the day and as Donie and Gary were taking the spoils in their match, Vincent and John were closing their game out on the 16th for a very impressive victory.
This meant that everything hinged on the performance of Dennis Hennessy and Billy Walsh. They were two down with four to play and the situation appeared to be grim. However, following and excellent pitch from Billy, Dennis sank a slippery four footer on 16 to bring the match back to all square and it was game on. They couldn’t be seperated on the final two holes as this tension mounted and so another match went down the 19th. Dennis hit a screamer down the middle of the fairway and Billy followed up with a superb approach to twenty feet. They then had the luxury of two putts to close out an excellent victory.
Well done to all concerned and to our members who provided such excellent catering afterwards. It was great to see the fighting spirit for which we have become reknowned manifesting itself again on the golf course.
