MATCH 2 V Lucan Golf Club

The Sutton campaign to win this prestigious trophy came to a torrid finish last Sunday when we were beaten by a strong Lucan Golf Club team. We fielded a wily and committed side selected from a large panel of eligible players, however, on the day, Lucan finished strongest.

If there is anything to be gleaned from this short campaign it is that Sutton Golf Club is well placed to win this trophy going forward. We have the players, we have the support of our club, we have learned a lot from our various practice matches and from playing Clontarf and Lucan but, most importantly, we now know what it will take to win this trophy!

The response from the members when invited to join this panel was nothing short of outstanding. We had no trouble in mustering over 40 excellent golfers and this gave the selection team a real, but welcome, headache. Thank you one and all for answering the call to arms and, with a fair wind, we will meet the challenge again in 2024.

To the match.

The forecast was not great but apart from a few showers, it turned out to be a good golfing day. The course was presented in great condition and our thanks to Simon and his team for this. Our opponents were very impressed with the course and took their opportunities. Sutton shared the first 4 matches and congratulations to David O’Neill & Liam Kelly and Danny Buckley & Kieran Brady for 2 strong wins.

Frank and Michael in the first match met a very competent Lucan pairing and lost narrowly on 17 th hole. Both showed great fighting spirit to the end. In the 4 th match Declan O’Callaghan and David Carson were faced with the daunting prospect of giving 5 shots to their opposition. Lucan made full use of this advantage and we have no complaint with the end-result. I will say this, I have never seen 4 people so disappointed in defeat. They had prepared well and represented our club with a competitive and dignified approach. Thank you four.

In the final match we had the tantalising prospect of the comeback of the year. Gerry McInerney and David Jones were on the back foot from the first hole. Their opposition (both strong players) got every break imaginable and at one stage were 4 up. Gerry and David are fighters, and, with darkness falling and the weather deteriorating they halved the 14th to leave Sutton 3 down with 4 to play.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. From an impossible position high in the rough to the left of the 15th Green, David played the most delicate ‘pitch of the day’ only for his ball to bounce off a sprinkler head and, instead of being ‘stone dead’, it ran past the hole to the fringe, 12 feet from the pin. This allowed Lucan the faintest hope of an unlikely half, but they didn’t allow for how good a putter Gerry McInerney is. When the question was asked, he nursed the ball down the green to finish one inch from the hole! Two down with three to play. Both pairings were well down the 16th fairway, but Gerry’s second shot was immense leaving David a putt from slightly off the green left of the hole. David obliged and the putt was conceded for a great par and the win.

One down with two to play. The evening was getting dark and both pairings had to contend with fatigue and a plummeting temperature. Both teams were short of the 17th in two. Lucan played the better shot to the green and tragically, holed the putt for a par to close out the match. Never were two players left with such a responsibility. The weight of expectation on their shoulders coming out of Connor’s Field was huge but they stepped up and Sutton has rarely been prouder.

To our team, the JBC panel, the members and the fantastic supporters who stayed to the bitter end, my sincere thanks. It was a short ride but worth every minute.

Brian Deane

MATCH 1 V Clontarf GC

The J B Carr Diamond Trophy team got off to a great start yesterday with a hard-fought victory over our nemesis, Clontarf Golf Club. Unfortunately for Clontarf, their rhythm was upset by the ‘no-show’ of one of their team. It is worth noting that Clontarf sent a strong team, some of whom are Pierce Purcell Shield team members and, our opponents next Sunday!

The match was played in good spirit and the support from the JBC panel members and other club members added to the occasion. Teams are lifted with support and encouragement.

The match was bookended by two strong performances from Dave O’Neill & Brendan Deane and Michael O’Halloran and Kieran Brady. I am tempted to quote the legendary Grantland Rice and suggest that “Outlined against a blue, grey April sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are O’Neill, Deane, O’Halloran and Brady. They formed the crest of the Cush Point cyclone before which another fighting Clontarf team was swept over the precipice at Cush Point yesterday afternoon as about 60 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the greens below” but that would be crass.

Suffice to say that faced with strong opposition, both teams fought to the bitter end and Sutton prevailed. My sincere thanks to Dave, Brendan, Gerry, Paul, Frank, John, Declan, Tom, Michael and Kieran and the reserves. You made us proud, and we look forward to the next round which will also be in Sutton sometime in May and the opposition will be either Lucan GC or Hermitage. We owe Hermitage one……

Swing slow.