Sutton were beaten in the Pierce Purcell Q-final by the narrowest of margins, losing the deciding match on the 19th hole. For the third time, the away team had home advantage.

Noel O’Halloran and James Kelly had a superb win playing majestic golf in Sutton. Michael O’Halloran and James Gilbert, previously unbeaten, proved to be “human after all” and lost their match to a very strong pair. Forrest Little was the away venue, where the Grey Squirrels are ubiquitous. They are very capable of opening golf bags and pinching chocolate. And so are the squirrels. Brian Coughlan and PP debutant Chris Long were first out and pulled their match from the brink – 2 down at the 12th to 2 up and dormie on the 16th. They eventually won on the 19th with Chris playing a majestic pitch to 2 feet on the deciding hole. What a win. What a pairing. Kieran Brady and Larry White didn’t get a break all day, and were beaten 3&2 despite playing extremely well. Their luck was typified by losing a ball just off the fairway on the second hole. A squirrel was blamed but the outside agency rule didn’t work as nobody saw the offender take the ball. The deciding match once again came down to Brian Curtis and Barry Teeling. It was tight all day and this pair had been the heroes of the previous round. Could they do it again? The away pairing won the 18th hole and the match went down the 19th. Forrest Little holed a huge 30 foot downhill leaving Barry needing to chip-in for a half. It wasn’t to be and a great putt ended our Pierce Purcell dream for 2023. Forrest Little were genuinely welcoming and gracious hosts and their course was beautifully presented. We wish them the very best of luck in the Semi-Final. Team managers Ronan O’Driscoll and Brian Cole would like to thank the entire panel. It was a great run that took us From Clontarf to Ashbourne to Killeen Castle and to Forrest Little.  We know Sutton has a superb team for the 2024 challenge.

MATCH REPORT 2

Sutton’s Pierce Purcell team won the tightest of tight matches against Killeen Castle with 3 matches away and 2 at home.

Michael O’Halloran and James Gilbert put down an early marker at home with an absolutely blistering performance. James was just off the plane from Spain to the warmer temperatures (honestly) of Sutton and he and Michael trounced their opponents 6&5 with flawless golf. The crowds were big with the Barton Cup team also in action. The Sutton greens were lightning and the rough was up. Sé and Conor O’Leary were in a dogfight, 2-down at the turn.

 In Killeen Castle, previously unbeaten pair Bryan Coughlan and James Kelly were 1-up until the turn but three quick opposition pars saw them go 2-down. The Killeen Castle lads closed out the match with a world class birdie on the par 5, 15th. Fair play. You can’t argue with that. Tensions were high. Tom O’Gorman and Mark Newman were nip-and-tuck against a very strong pair of down-the-middle merchants and were giving away shots. They really played great but lost on the 17th. Word came from Sutton that the O’Leary’s were just hanging in there rather than turning their match. They were still 2 down on the 15th. It was looking bad. Meanwhile, in the anchor match in Killeen Castle, Curtis and Teeling were nowhere to be seen. Playing a hole behind, the word came through that they were 2-up through 13. Brilliant. Their opposition were big hitters, one of whom had a very fancy remote-control buggy which was distracting to say the least. The world descended on this match. We lost the par-5 15th to an EAGLE to be just 1-up. On 16, a daunting par-3 over water, they went splash. This was Sutton’s chance. Back at home, the O’Leary’s won 16 with the most crazy par ever. We were in deep doo-doo and they were safely on the green in regulation. Time to shake hands and concede. NO WAY. Conor hit a flyer wedge that sailed high over the green into the net and it bounced back onto the green to 25 feet. A stroke of genius! Then, Sé knocked in the huge putt! He will never forget that moment. This moment of magic put immense pressure on Killeen Castle who 3-putted. Incredible. We were all-square now. In Killeen, Barry was on the tee, 5-iron in hand. They were wet. All you could see was water, but Barry superbly played his shot down the left to the fringe. We were 1-up dormie on 18 but Killeen Castle had a shot. Barry milled his drive over the trees and around the corner to the fairway. They were perfect too. This set up a huge climax. Brian Curtis then hit the shot of his career. A stunning 6-iron got him to the front of the green and this forced the opposition to pull their shot left into rough. A couple of putts later and it was all over. Wow. We had our away point.

 On 18 in Sutton, the O’Leary’s got the job done. And we knew they would. With both pairs in trouble off the tee, Sé hit a stunning low-running, chasing 7-iron onto the green and 2 putts saw us over the line. What a win! A tear was shed. A special mention to unsung heroes, Sam Kelly who managed our team at home, Brian Cole who is assistant manager and who’s insight is invaluable, Chris Long, Aubrey Woolfson, Alison Newman and Cian Bennis who supported our away team and the huge crowd in Sutton. We now face Forrest Little with yet another away tie. 3 away on 18th June. There is a great team spirit throughout our entire squad. Killeen Castle is a magnificent golf course and their players were gentlemen all.

Far and Sure.

MATCH REPORT 1

Sutton beat Ashbourne 3.5 to 1.5 to march on. We had three home games and two sets of brothers in action at Sutton.

 The Ashbourne matches started over an hour before the Sutton games, so we had a deliberate app blackout for the first hour. When the app went live at 4pm, it wasn’t pretty, with Sutton down by 2 early in both away games. Ashbourne is a tough, long course and Mark Newman was on hand in The Royal County to keep the lads motivated. But sure enough, Bryan Coughlan and James Kelly dug in and turned their match around beautifully, eventually winning 3&2. These lads have won twice now on the road – a huge achievement. Our second pair away were Tom O’Gorman and Joe Kelly. The lads played superbly but were up against two crack-shots who are turning professional soon. The Ashbourne bankers got their home point but Sutton high-tailed it back to Cush Point with an away point in the bag to catch the late home action.

 First out at home were Noel O’Halloran and Conor O’Leary who were down early, but once again, they had a blistering stretch around the turn and took a commanding lead on the back 9. But Ashbourne fought back with a sand save on 14, and a win on 15 to get to 1-down. Squeaky bum time. On 17, however, Noel and Conor had a very cool 2-putt to close out the match 2&1. Michael O’Halloran and James Gilbert were matched against Sutton Team manager Ronan’s uncle Barry – so he had divided loyalties. However, he wasn’t too upset when the Sutton pair went 3-up after 4 and never looked back. It was classy stuff from Sutton and most of the crowd thought they were watching the Senior Cup. Sutton won 4&3 with a magical par on 14. In the anchor match, ultra steady Raymond Buchan and Fred Gilbert were nip-and-tuck all day. 1 up, 1 down, all square. It was so tight. But our lads were never going to be beaten and didn’t miss a fairway all day. They found the heart of the green in two on the 17th  and were all set to go 1-up down the last when they were called in. A fine Sutton win against a fine Ashbourne team who loved the tour of the Joe Carr room.

 We go back to Meath again in Round 3 to play Killeen Castle with 3 away. This team is on a roll now.

Conor O’Leary holes a crucial putt on 13 in Pierce Purcell v Ashbourne

Match 1 v Clontarf

Sutton beat Clontarf 3-2 with 2 matches at home and 3 away in R1 of the Pierce Purcell Shield 2023. Clontarf are the current North Leinster Champions, so it was a very tough draw.

 At home, Noel O’Halloran and Conor O’Leary led it out. They were 2 down very early but slowly and surely turned it around. The lads won 8,9,10 and 11 in a blistering run around the turn, eventually winning comfortably on the 15th. James Gilbert and Michael O’Halloran were also down early, to two superb Clontarf birdies, but they were playing great golf and were calm and controlled. They played a magnificent back 9, and won their match on the 17th green. Our home pairings just didn’t make any mistakes. Both pairs were incredibly strong and played beautiful steady par golf. There were some absolutely spectacular shots hit too – worthy of Senior Cup. A big crowd watched a brilliant home performance in glorious sunshine.

In Clontarf, Sutton also had fantastic support for our three pairs, whom we labelled The Clontarf Raiders. We absolutely, positively had to get at least one point away to the champions. Tom O’Gorman and Mark Newman and Brian Curtis and Kieran Brady were sublime and battled brilliantly, but lost narrowly. But out of the shadows came heroes. Bryan Coughlan and James Kelly were hanging in there at all day either all-square or 1 down until the dreaded quarry holes 12, 13 and 14. Generally Clontarf win these very tricky holes. Not this time. Our lads won or halved them all. We were now dormie 3 up. Bryan holed two absolutely crucial 6 foot putts to keep us ahead. But if you want to close out a match, why not do it in real style with a 50-foot putt birdie on the 17th . That is exactly what happened. James Kelly knocked it in and the moment was captured on video, see it below!

 As always, our opponents Clontarf were Gentlemen to the core. They were gracious in defeat and warm hosts.

 Our team showed true grit. That’s what is needed.  We play Ashbourne in the next round on or before 7th May. Another tough draw.