Sandra Wilson & Joan Kelly

Emer Digan & Patricia Hunt

Irene Morrow & Kathleen Harbison

Belinda Ennis & Mary Cole

Catherine O’Neill & Orna Cassidy

On a sunny June day, perfect for golf, we welcomed Woodbrook GC to compete in the second round of the Mary McKenna Diamond Trophy. Although we had all 5 matches at home, we gave each pairing an extra “courtesy shot” to balance the books!

We were feeling confident with many of our girls in top form: Joan Kelly winning the Lady Captain’s Prize and many of our pairings scoring well in the Eilish Gunning Fourball on Tuesday last. But of course, previous victories mean nothing in the white-hot heat of battle and Woodbrook were formidable opposition: our top pairing of Sandra Wilson and Joan Kelly found themselves 3 down at the turn, and in fact with the exception of Emer Digan and Patricia Hunt, none of the matches seemed to be going our way over the first couple of hours.

But soon we had some good omens: a stunning approach to the 9th by Irene Morrow, a comprehensive fightback by Sandra and Joan culminating in a beautiful par on 18 to win the match and some super foursomes play by Emer and Patricia who sealed the deal on the 14th !

But of course, the Golfing Gods usually manage to bring it down to the last match on the last hole and so it was today in Sutton: 1 up on the 18th tee, Catherine O’Neill nailed her drive and Orna Cassidy played a beautiful approach only for her ball to be grabbed by a strong helping wind and dropped on the practice putting green: OB! So down the 19 th .. …..It was great to see so many ladies in pink and indeed a great crowd from Woodbrook support the final pairing down the fairway. In the end, 5 was enough to win the hole and the “W” was in the bag.

What a great day in SGC: the Woodbrook ladies were awed by the scenery and dismayed by our devilish greens! And in the end….we got the win!

MATCH REPORT 2

Mary McKenna Diamond Trophy, 2nd leg Round 1 v Royal Tara Thursday 25th May

Having battled in Royal Tara on 19 th May to secure 2 out of 5 matches, the day was set fair for the second leg in Sutton last Thursday 25 th . Tara are formidable opposition and the memory of them stopping our march in the All Ireland Mixed in 2021 was still fresh enough to have us thinking of revenge!

It was a spectacular day in Sutton, glorious sunshine and not too much wind at the start and shorts and t-shirts all round. We needed 3 matches to force a play-off but Plan A was to win 4. We were slow enough to get positive numbers on the board but once the top pairing of Mary Lennon and

Belinda Ennis clinched their match on the 15 th , the wins came quickly: the formidable pairing of Ann Teeling & Mary Cole playing beautiful golf and winning on the 13 th (we almost felt sorry for their opposition!) followed by Elisabeth Guinan and Joan Kelly clinching victory on the 18 th .

Needing one more win from the last two, nothing was certain but Catherine O Neill and Orna Cassidy dug deep to produce some great golf to win on 17. The in-form Irene Morrow and Noelen Murphy were then called in while 1 up on 16.

Royal Tara was a great scalp for our girls and they did it in style! Roll on 21st June when we welcome Woodbrook to Fortress Sutton!

MATCH REPORT 1

The MMK is a highly competitive All-Ireland interclub competition run by Woodenbridge GC. The format is 5 pairings playing Scotch Foursomes and to be eligible, Ladies must have achieved the wisdom that comes with turning 60!

In 2022, Sutton had a great run, narrowly beaten away to Donabate in the semi-final. This year, we have assembled another fantastic panel, determined to go even further in 2023. Round 1 has a Home and Away leg with subsequent rounds played either Home or Away depending on the draw. This year, Sutton has been drawn against the formidable opposition of Royal Tara in Round 1. Tara elected to play at home for the first leg on Wednesday 10th May and the SGC ladies set off in fine spirits determined to get a couple of wins to take back to Sutton for the second leg.

The top pairing of Elisabeth Guinan and Naomi Cassidy were singing from the start. Elisabeth has been working hard on her game and it paid off as herself and Naomi produced some sparkling golf to get to 4 up after 9. We actually felt a bit sorry for their opposition!! At the other end of the draw, Mary Lennon and Karen O Kelly found themselves doing battle with a former Senior cup player who had recently found her form again and was playing to a much lower handicap than the 10 on the team sheet. She was lethal in and around the greens and we simply had no answer to her formidable short game – how will she fare in Sutton we wonder??

As the rain came down in stair-rods, it looked like our best chance of nabbing another win was the middle match of Emer Digan and Lady Captain Mary. They played wonderful, steady golf but so did their opposition and it was proving very difficult to pull away….one up, all square, one down, all square, etc. Finally, playing the 18 th A/S, the rain had reached biblical levels and it was a miracle our girls could concentrate and stay calm enough to win that final hole. A superb achievement. 2-3 in Royal Tara was ultimately a good result given the quality of the opposition so it is all now to play for in Sutton on 25th May.