JB Carr Diamond Trophy
ROUNDS 1 & 2 REPORTS:
Surprises are not unusual in the draw for the JB Carr. This draw takes place in a wooded clearing alongside a sacrificial famine altar near the old 8th green in Woodenbridge County Wicklow. Traditionally the sacrifices are ‘links golf clubs’ who have the temerity to enter this competition. For 2024 there are 75 Leinster teams entered of which 10 are links.
Remarkably, in the whole of Dublin there are 4 links entrants, all in Dublin North and all drawn together. Portmarnock, Sutton, Royal Dublin and The Island. After the phenomenal finish at Cush Point last Thursday only Sutton Golf Club remains representing links golf in the whole of Leinster.
In round one we travelled across ‘the gut’ to Portmarnock Golf Club and won by a resounding score of 4 – 1. Portmarnock is one of the princes of Leinster golf and they enjoy a membership that affords them a wide choice of suitably qualified players. They turned out an extremely strong team and the signs for our star pairing leading the charge were ominous. Suffice to say, from 1 down after a hard fought 12 holes, Simon and Tom turned on the after-burners and closed out the match on 17 th in exemplary fashion.
Frank and Declan were second out and dovetailed well to win 4 up. Conor Litchfield and Joe Comyn played excellent golf to win 3 up. Mark Logan, David Jones, Brian Curtis and Danny Buckley were never in trouble and were called ashore without losing a point. Job done.
My sincere thanks to Tim for his sage advice and attending at Portmarnock. A big shout out too, to, Captain Cian and Vice-Captain Larry for making the journey to support our team. Though disappointed in defeat, the Portmarnock lads were gracious and wished us well going forward.
For round 2 we were faced with a short turn-around and some selectorial issues because of work commitments, busy inter-club matches and the fact that both manager and assistant manager were unavailable due to vacation and nursing commitments…….
The simple thing would have been to hand the paperwork over to one of the players to organise but that would have taken from the preparation of the team selected and caused avoidable distraction. A decision was made to introduce a new apprentice and empower him to attend to the paperwork and protocols of the day. This worked out well and we are deeply indebted to Brendan Deane for delaying his departure to his beloved Wexford and looking after the housekeeping last Thursday.
The team selected was.
1. Simon Russell & Tom Shanahan
2. Frank Kennedy & Declan O’Callaghan
3. Danny Buckley and Brian Curtis
4. David Jones & David Carson
5. Conor Litchfield & Joe Comyn
Simon and Tom met a tsunami. Playing fantastic golf, they were level par after 6 holes and down 2! Against inspired golf (2 x birdies and 8 x 10-foot putts holed) and giving 4 shots there was little they could do and eventually succumbed to a strong Island pairing.
Next on the tee were Frank and Declan and what a performance from these two competitors. They never let The Island pairing into the match and when they won 7up they were 2 over gross for the 13 holes played. Golf of the highest order.
Then we had one of those matches that literally would be won or lost on 1 hole of great golf. We got this on the 17th . Sutton held a slender 1 hole lead and Sutton found themselves short left of the green with their second shot. Danny was faced with one of those fiendish shots over the bunker with no margin for error. Ronan captured this magnificent shot which rolled to 8 feet. Cometh the hour and all that, up stepped Brian Curtis. He stood over the downhill putt and, as cool as a breeze, holed the putt to halve the hole. The Island never recovered from that body blow and Sutton won that match on the 18th. Interestingly, a lady who was bathing below on the Burrow Beach took a bad turn when she was frightened with the roar from Ronan O’Driscoll when Brian sank the putt.
At this stage our last match was struggling against the final Island pairing. Conor and Joe battled valiantly and held them for 16 holes but eventually, giving 4 shots, they lost 2 down. All heads turned then to the ‘Two Davids’, David Carson and David Jones. Let me say that these two guys are the epitome of what representative golf is all about. They relish the opportunity to represent their club when the opportunity presents itself and they are always respectful of the selection decisions that afford them the chance to play or not.
All square playing the 18 th and with a big crowd watching, they ended up with a really difficult two putts down the hill from the back of the green to win the hole and the match. As the cliché goes, if you have 2 take 2 and David Jones did just that. He slid a majestic putt to 2 inches and that, gentlemen was that. (video below)
By all reports the standard of golf against The Island was incredible. This was the essence of a team performance, and we truly appreciate the effort the lads put in. I was nervous for about 4 hours in Tenerife, Tim was nervous all day nursing his sister in Thurles and Brendan didn’t sleep for 48 hours before and during the match.
Thanks for all the support. This makes a huge difference, and I would ask all members to try and get down to support our teams. They are playing for all of us and really trying to make their own piece of Sutton history. Next up Hermitage away. Now that will be a difficult match but, you know what, we’ll give it a great run.