The Men’s Senior Cup pits the best Irish amateur Club golfers against each other in a 5-man team, playing singles off scratch. Sutton has a long and rich history in this great competition, but that is from a time long past. Yesterday, Sunday 08 May 2023, marked a turning point for the new Sutton Golf Club. It was a day that we stood up against mighty odds and almost took away a win that, on paper, should not have been near our reach.

The combined handicap of the Howth Team was +7, against our combination of 11 handicap. That’s a 17.4 difference in a flat match. Paddy Power and Ladbrokes stopped taking bets last Friday.

First up at home stepped the mighty and legendary Kieran O’Byrne, a man who has played Senior Cup for Sutton in each of the last six decades. That must be an Irish record. His opponent was a South African lad, who by all accounts walked off the street some time ago and asked if he could join Howth. I like their policy of attracting and accepting top golfing talent – hopefully we take this on at SGC some day soon!! Our South African friend started with birdies on the first and second, and

Kieran new he was in for a tough battle. However, Kieran being Kieran, he battled back to be only 1 down at the turn and all square standing on the 18 th tee. The large home support then witnessed the Howth player hit his drive on 18 to 20 feet from the flag – in one! Kieran dug deep and smashed his drive to less that 100 yards from the green, pitched it majestically to 15 feet, and ended up lipping his putt for birdie which would have taken him down the 19 th . Kieran’s handicap is 3.4 and his opponent’s is +1.2. Kieran O’Byrne you are a legend!!

Our two lefties followed at home in the shape of Ryan Hannon and Paddy Lennon. Ryan’s opponent got out of the gates very quickly and despite some heroic battling from SGC’s own prodigal son, he succumbed to some excellent golf on the day. Paddy Lennon asked to play in the anchor match at home. Their man plays off a handicap of +3.6. On paper, this should have been a straightforward affair for the Howth man. Non-one told him, however, that Paddy Lennon is made of steel. Paddy went on to produce one the great matchplay displays of recent times, never once dropping behind and closing the match out with a huge drive on 17 and the flick of a sand wedge to 20 feet. The match was won – in could be argued – on 13 when Paddy, having dunked it in the water from a bad lie in the left rough, re-loaded and hit it to an inch. His man then managed to three stab from the side of the green for an unlikely half.

Up in Howth, we sent out two of our mighty young guns. Up first stood the Hollywood-esque Bruno Lupo Junior. Rumour has it that Howth had to hire in crowd control to stop the crowds from getting at him. He duly replied by almost driving the first green. In a ding dong battle against one of Howth’s best players Bruno shone brightly and was 2 up in the closing holes when his match was called in. Only a few short years ago, Sam Kelly was playing Metro Cup for Sutton. Yesterday, in what is an incredible story of hard work, dedication, and good old grit, he teed it up in the anchor leg in Howth in the Senior Cup. He was pitted against an experienced plus handicap golfer who played sub-par golf on the day. Sam battled bravely all day but just came up short.

Many congrats to the Women’s Revive Active and the Men’s Pierce Purcell for two mighty wins yesterday. A great day for our great Club.

Sutton Golf Club is back at the heart of amateur golf in Ireland. Our plan is to be seriously competitive and pushing for pennants at Men’s Senior Cup, Barton Shield, and Junior Cup in the next 3-5 years. Yesterday was a monumental step in that direction. Far and Sure!