Junior Cup v Balcarrick

Sutton march into the next round, with a superb 4-1 win over Balcarrick.

Nothing breeds confidence more than winning and that was evident in the level of performance from the Sutton players in this second-round match. Following victory over a very strong Killeen Castle team in Round 1, the players picked it up again against a gritty and determined Balcarrick team.

Leading the charge and first out at home was the irrepressible Dave O’Neill, fresh from beating his age the previous week by shooting a remarkable 71 in the Lady Captains Prize. In an absolute belter of a match Dave built a 3up lead after 10 but his opponent went on a birdie blitz at the start of the back 9 to bring it back to All Square after 18. Following regulation pars on the 19 th , Dave hit a delightful 8 iron to the 20 th green and calmly rolled in the birdie putt from 8 feet.

In the second match and at the other end of the age scale, 19 year old Dylan Flanagan (our Junior Captain) made his Interclub debut for Sutton. Dylan produced a masterclass in ball striking but another dogged Balcarrick competitor hung on and was remarkably only 2 down after 12. However, class told in the end and with two quick fire wins at 13 and 14 Dylan sealed the deal and closed out the match comfortably 4up after 15.

John Carroll played in the top match away in Balcarrick against their lowest handicap player – bang on the limit of 2.5 HI. The Balcarrick man established an early 3up lead but John battled back gamely to All Square after 7 holes. Another blitz of holes saw his opponent streak into an unassailable lead and he took the match on the 14th hole.

The other two matches saw Ben Logan at home and Mick O’Sullivan in Balcarrick establish commanding positions on the respective back 9s. With two points safely in the bag the race was on to see who could claim the winning point. Both were dormie (Ben 4up; Mick 3up) and it was neck and neck – Ben missed the 15 th green left but played a delightful pitch from deep rough to 15 feet. Out in Balcarrick, Mick also missed the green on the par 3 16 th and it was going down to the wire. Ben holed his par putt and a quick phone call to Balcarrick to advise was met with the response …..”Mick has just chipped in for birdie!”. Heroes both!

Thanks to the caddies once again and also the supporters who came along to watch, all agreed the quality of golf produced by both teams was superb. Balcarrick were excellent hosts, very gracious in defeat and highly complimentary of our course.

We play Rush in the last 16, which will be a huge challenge with 3 matches away but momentum and confidence are huge in sport and the lads will give it their very best shot!