Sutton Wooden Spoon team narrowly miss out on historic hat-trick victory over Howth.
Having defeated Howth in 2021& 2022, the Sutton team headed up to Howth Golf Club on Sunday last for the annual Wooden Spoon match played between the two clubs. On a dry bright Sunday afternoon, Sutton went down to a 5.5 to 3.5 loss, with two of the 9 matches decided on the 18th . The Sutton team put in a valiant defence, but it wasn’t to be on this occasion.
The Sutton team were led out in the first match by Captain Cian and Vice Captain Larry. After struggling through the first 9-holes, the Sutton C-suite almost pulled off the greatest comeback since Liverpool’s victory in Istanbul but wasn’t to be.
Per tradition, the team primarily comprising current committee members and past Sutton captains burned off calories and expended their lungs as they hiked the hills and walked the fairways of Howth GC in search of the illustrious win. Each match shared the common ingredients of competitive golf but equally played with a strong spirit of friendly rivalry.
Tension in the Howth clubhouse, with news filtering that the match comprising 9- scotch foursome combinations was down to the final two matches on the course with Howth GC leading 4.5 to 2.5. Can Sutton win both and allow the Wooden Spoon to remain gathering cobwebs in Howth? With darkness descending rapidly, an agonisingly narrow defeat to Howth on the 18th in match 8, with the Sutton final pairing in match 9 defeating Howth for the final 5.5 to 3.5 result.
On what was unbelievably the 70th running since 1956 of this annual rivalry against Howth to kick off the years golfing season, the victorious Sutton intermediate Cindy spoon team with their Howth opposition, joined up at the Howth clubhouse and a most enjoyable meal and banter was appreciated by all. Enjoyable speeches perfectly delivered by both sets of Captains as well as the Cindy Spoon managers. The strong bond and history between both clubs once again truly cemented.
Finally, and most importantly, team Sutton who almost to a man remained at Howth GC late into Sunday night, wiped the floor with team Howth, when it came to the ‘after session’, with the early departing Howth team apparently wiped from the combination of the toil of the emotion from eventual victory and the strenuous efforts involved to take down team Sutton.
Noel.