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Sutton bow out of Uden Cup campaign with heads held high after epic Quarter Final versus The Island. Two matches at home, 3 matches AWAY but both squads knew how to play to links and it showed in some fabulous golf on 2 super courses.

In glorious sunshine and with Sutton Golf Course in super condition, first up at home were Brendan Fitzpatrick & Marcus Middleton. Brendan & Marcus got the advantage early but the The Island pair were showing links skills and got ahead at the turn. It was neck and neck for the back 9 but the Island succeeded on 17.

Bryan Coughlan and Brian Coughlan yet again took up the challenge of leading off the away pairs. The first couple of holes in The Island are tough (actually all of the holes are) and the home Island pair were long recognised matchplay vets who took advantage to build a strong lead. Despite a beautiful birdie from Sutton on 6, we couldn’t close the gap on the front 9. Ultimately Byran and Brian despite a brave effort ran out of holes on the back 9.

Match 2 saw “elder” Noel O’Halloran and debutant Noel McGinnity take to the stage. Noel and Noel were out of the blocks early and both playing super golf to get an early lead of 2 up. The Island fought back yet again at the turn. But the 2 Noels were not wilting – Noel O’H’s tee shot on the signature 13 th par 3 was sublime. The guys had the pleasure of winning super away point in the fabulous backdrop of the 15th par 5 green. It became obvious that the overall match was very tight and was coming down to the wire in the 2 remaining matches.

In Sutton match 2, we again had the reliables…Frank Kennedy and Michael O’Halloran. The Island lads didn’t read the script and had the temerity to be ahead on the front 9. The home crowd was building and our lads responded to get their noses ahead in the back 9 with Michael O’Halloran needing gallons of water to get him through the battle after a devasting sickness almost laid him low for the match itself…

Meanwhile out in The Island, we had the final pairing of Ronan O’Driscoll and Joe Kelly who are battle hardened after tough successful rounds together in the earlier rounds of Uden. The Island lads sneaked ahead on front 9 but there never more than a hole in it either way. The Island was in super condition with fairways and greens running fast. Some of the teeshots and irons played by Ronan and Joe demanded a delicate mix of calm and skill which they fully delivered.

Back home in Sutton, the sides couldn’t be separated coming down 18, and on 18 th green Frank was calmness personified to sink a par putt to take the match to the 19th . At this stage our phone bills were increasing fast and the “live scoring app” couldn’t keep up…whispered details of shot by shot in both courses were going over and back over the airwaves. I should note the great support we got in The Island…SGC member spectators outnumbered the Island support – that is something we should take great pride is how we support each other!

The match in The Island provided drama through the back 9 – win 12, lost 13, Island got an unbelievable up and down on 14 to halve, halved 15. The Island struck a big blow on par 3 16th stemming from great tee shots to go 1 up. Then the news came through from Sutton that Michael O’Halloran has delivered the killer 2 putt on the 19th – some effort from our trusty home pair of postmen who always deliver….

Now with overall tied at 2 all, the final match headed down the 17 th hole (or the 90 th hole of the match if you think that way). The long par 4 17th always plays mean in The Island and luck wasn’t to be on Suttons side. Despite a brilliantly executed 70 yard putt approach from Ronan that drew gasps from the gallery (some of these gasps were both before Ronan hit the shot and after with the good play and is etched in the memory bank of all who witnessed it), we narrowly lost 17th as the home team simply knew the contours of the greens that little bit better than us visitors …hard luck Ronan and Joe but some super golf on the day and before in our run.

So that was that – the Island won 3:2 overall and Best of luck to them in the semifinal…they will be hard to beat. Our 2023 Uden campaign ends for 2023 but a really good campaign I’d like to think. We had a lovely mixture of seasoned campaigners and younger up and coming stars- blooding 5 new interclub men for SGC along the way. The support and enthusiasm from the panel and wider across the club was great to receive. A Uden pennant does not feel far fetched and is well within reached soon.

Many Thanks to Mark McDonald for working so closely with me on the team and to Dermot McMurray for his super roving reporting on Sunday!. While recognising the dangers of forgetting many, I want to note the particular support of Ronan O’Driscoll and Mark Hogan whose ears I bent and who helped me big time navigate the manager role and unearth some serious talent for SGC. We can now offer more time to our various employers rather than poring through excels and scores.

Here’s to team success for Sutton in 2023 and to the Uden story again in 2024

Tom O’Gorman

Match Report 2: Sutton V Elm Green

Sutton register 2nd win in Uden Cup campaign vs Elm Green 4-1 to set up Quarter Final versus The Island in the Uden Cup. Many of the Elm Green team were successful the previous week in Pierce Purcell vs Portmarnock so we were wary, but again Sutton delivered a comprehensive victory with some excellent scoring.

We started at 3.30pm in Elm Green with young guns Bryan Coughlan and Brian Connell. Like in the previous round Bryan and Brian raced to a big lead at the turn and calmly closed out the match very early on 16 – 3 up win. This early momentum again critical as it was in the last round – thanks lads - played super and what a start for Sutton. Brian Connell’s super calm win on 9th while giving shots to his opponents was a real highlight!

Our 2nd game away again saw Ronan O’Driscoll and Joe Kelly resume where they left off in Skerries, playing super golf and winning the match 3&2 on 16. Special Kudos to Joe and Ronan who had to endure a birdie, birdie start from our opponents to be 2 down after 2. No panic from Ronan and Joe and they had turned the match in our favour by the 9th with a crucial 6 footer putt from Ronan along the way. On the Uden whatsapp chat, Joe is now referred to as “Scud Kelly” such was his pin high 278yd drive uphill on the Par 4 6th hole.

Feeling positive about the way the lads had it in hand in Elm Green, I rushed back through traffic from Elm Green to Sutton to catch up on the traffic delayed HOME matches where Derek Hunter was co-ordinating. Such was the belief that Derek had in the home pairs, he was able to split his time between “fume watching” Munster beat Leinster on his phone while still encouraging on the golf!

(MUNSTER, MUNSTER was the battlecry from the O’Hallorans)

Again, first up at home were more young guns in Brendan Fitzpatrick & Conor O’Leary. Brendan & Conor got the advantage early with some great scoring and kept that lead well in calm control all through and closing out the match on Hole 17. Elm Green did mount a fightback on back 9 but Brendan’s reply tee shot on 16 was a wonder and killed off any nerves. Brendan and Conor were dormy 2 up and sitting pretty on 17th fairway when the overall match was called.

For Match 2 in Sutton we had the experienced pair of Frank Kennedy and Michael O’Halloran. Word reached us in Elm Green of Frank Kennedy’s blistering start – 3 birdies and 3 pars in the first 6 holes. (4 birdies in front 9). Seemingly Michael had noted to Frank that he had plenty of golf on at the weekend representing SGC and so Frank took it upon himself to relieve the physical exertions for Michael. The lads won 8 Up on the 12 th – awesome display.

Match 3 saw Noel O’Halloran and John Houston take their Uden 2023 bow. The match was tight and reflected in a slower pace being required. Although Elm Green started well, Noel and John were able to exert control and Noel gave me a knowing wink when I first caught up with them on 12th . Noel and John were nailed on for a win when the match was called in on 14th .

Overall, a very good Sutton 4:1 win against a young but skilful Elm Green. We now face The Island before 26th June with 3 matches away – a tough but exciting challenge ahead. Victory celebrations were held into the early hours in the clubhouse where we overcame the challenge of a closed kitchen with Pints, Vincenzo’s pizzas and posh fries – a great day all round for Uden in SGC.

Match Report 1: Sutton V Skerries

Sutton beat Skerries 4-1 with 2 matches at home and 3 away in preliminary round of Uden Cup. Many of the Skerries Uden team were runners up in last years Pierce Purcell competition so we knew we were up against experienced campaigners, yet Sutton delivered a very solid victory with some excellent scoring.

We started at 3pm in Skerries with young guns Bryan Coughlan and Brian Connell. Bryan and Brian raced to a 6 up lead at the turn and calmly closed out the match very early on 14. Skerries noted our lads might have had 38pts over the 14 holes..they played super and what a start for Sutton. Next up was the mix of savvy experience in Ronan O’Driscoll and powerful, youthful debutant Joe Kelly – this pair again both played super golf and had their strong opponents under control from early with Sutton closing out the match 3&2 on 16. My apologies to Ronan for not capturing his chip in birdie and solar plexus hit to the opponents on camera but its in the memory bank and can be embellished upon that way!

Mark Newman and Dermot McMurray were the 3rd match in Skerries – again a very good quality close match that see-sawed both ways to see what team would lead. Skerries got the seesaw seat on 17 and narrowly got the match on 18. The tone in Skerries was set by all the Sutton lads with powerful drives on the 1st hole that let Skerries know they were in for a game. All the games were held in truly competitive and friendly spirits with Skerries being great hosts.

The HOME matches were scheduled slightly later as the club also hosted the Wooden Spoon and Sindy Cup so we were able to provide positive early vibes back to SGC via the live scoring app – but the lads at home were already determined before this. First up at home were more young guns in Brendan Fitzpatrick & Conor O’Leary. Brendan & Conor got the advantage early with some great scoring and kept that lead well in calm control all through and closing out the match on Hole 17..again like the away matches this was done with great gelling and low scoring. 

For Match 2 in Sutton we had the more seasoned pair of Frank Kennedy and Michael O’Halloran. Special word must go to Frank Kennedy winning the weekend club competition on Saturday with 43pts before turning his focus to Uden on Sunday. Like the first pair in Sutton, Frank and Michael also struck quality blows early to get ahead and in control and closing out on Hole 17 also.

Overall, a good Sutton 4:1 win against an experienced and high quality Skerries team and we face Elm Green in the next round of Uden. Victory celebrations were held into the early hours in the clubhouse alongside the remnants of the successful Wooden Spoon and Sindy spoon teams – a great day all round for SGC !