National Inter-Club – Collintown’s Scratch team’s progress
On Saturday last, the Collinstown Scratch team took on the might of Old County from Dublin in their penultimate group match in this year’s Inter-Club Championship. This match was played in McBride in Drogheda. Special mention must go to the McBride club on the way they have developed their course over the last number of years – it’s a fine Pitch & Putt course and well worth a visit.
The opening pairing from Collinstown was Larry McGinn and Alan Hanlon. Their opponents from Old County were Stephen Power and Paul McGreal. This was a very tight affair in the opening holes of the match but an incredible run of seven birdies on the bounce gave the Dublin pairing an advantage that was too difficult to peg back. Eventually Larry and Alan lost on the 17th.
The second doubles pairing saw Michael Buckley and John Browne for Collinstown take on George McGreal and Andy Lowe. George and Andy got an early lead in this one but Browne and Buckley pegged them back to all-square after 9. McGreal and Lowe then won a few holes in succession and found themselves 3 up with 5 to go. A super pitch from Buckley on 14 though resulted in birdie and then when Browne holed from the tee on 15, it looked like there might be still something in this match for the Collinstown men. A further birdie on 16 resulted in the match returning to all-square. A brilliant pitch from McGreal on 17 though set up birdie and once again the Collinstown pairing was 1 down with only 1 hole remaining. An excellent pitch on the 70 metre 18th by Browne though resulted in Buckley knocking in a nerve-wrecking 4 footer to secure an unlikely half.
The final doubles match was however, dominated from an early stage by Collinstown as Martin Carter and Liam Buckley both found top form on the day. Their opponents were Thomas O’Reilly and Liam O’Reilly and really the Dublin pairing had no answer to the clinical play from the Glenidan men. Liam pitched superbly all round and it’s widely known that if Martin Carter gets his eye in, on the greens, which he did, then there are few to match him with a putter. The Collinstown pairing eventually closed the match out by a margin of 5&4. This left the overall match score tied on 1.5 points each with the 6 singles remaining.
The opening match in the singles was between Larry McGinn and Paul McGreal. Paul had the upper hand for most of this match and at 2 up with 6 holes remaining, it looked pretty gloomy for McGinn. Larry is noted for his ‘stickiness’ in Matchplay though and managed to get the match back t o all-square going down the last. McGreal had a ten foot putt to win the match but did not manage to hole it giving both men a half.
Second match out saw John McDonald make his singles debut for the Collinstown team. His opponent was the talented Stephen Power. McDonald made a couple of early errors and found it difficult after that to retrieve the situation. In fairness Power never opened the door for him and in the end the Old County man ran out a 5&4 winner.
Collinstown immediately got this point back though in the next match when Michael Buckley went on a birdie spree against Andy Lowe. Michael made an early bogie to go behind but suddenly got 5 birdies on the bounce to take control of the match. In the end Mick ran out a 5&4 winner.
Mick’s brother Liam was having similar success in his match against Liam O’Reilly. Liam carried his solid pitching form from the doubles into his singles match and dominated from start to finish in this one – eventually winning again by 5&4. This left Collinstown 4-3 ahead with 2 matches remaining.
The penultimate match seemed to be slipping away from Collinstown though with John Browne 3 down with 5 to go against former Leinster Strokeplay champion George McGreal. Browne has been in excellent form recently though and wasn’t giving this one up without a fight. He proceeded to birdie the remaining 5 holes to somehow wrestle a half point out of this match.
And so the stage was set for the remaining match – Collinstown led 4.5 to 3.5 and Alan Hanlon led Thomas O’Reilly by 2 holes with 5 to go. Matchplay is a strange game though and it always seems to produce moments that rarely happen in strokeplay – this match was a perfect example of this. O’Reilly holed from the tee-box on 14 to retrieve the deficit to 1. But when O’Reilly put his tee-shot on 15 in the bunker, it looked like he was in trouble. Hanlon jumped on the mistake by pitching to 4 foot. Incredibly though O’Reilly holed his bunker shot and Hanlon had to make the four-footer for a half now instead of a win. O’Reilly was obviously spurred on by this adrenaline and made birdie on 16 and 17 to go from one down to one up and turn the match on its head. But the drama was not over – O’Reilly pitched very short of the 70 metre 18th hole and was left with a very tricky up and down to win the point and tie the match over-all. His chip was decent to about 5 foot and he rolled in the putt to the rapturous applause of his team-mates. It had been an enthralling match between the two clubs and in the end, it has to be said that a draw was probably a fair result.
Compliments to McBride on a very well presented course. Our final group match is not until the end of June, when we take on Erin’s Isle in Cement, Drogheda. It’s a match that we must take something from if we are to proceed further in the competition.For full details of all results in this competition and up-to-date tables, visit the PPUI website at www.ppui.ie.
On Saturday last our Scratch team came up against the might of the St. Bridget’s club from Kildare. The venue was Old County in South Dublin and with three former Dubs on the St. Bridget’s team – this was indeed going to be a difficult match. The first match on the course saw John McDonald make his Collinstown debut in the competition. His partner was friend and sparring companion Larry McGinn. Their opponents were Ian Dillon and John Cullen and this was a match of high quality indeed. Both pairings were 6 under for the opening 10 holes and all-square. The Kildare lads got the better of us on the back 9 though and ran out winners on the 16th.
Our second pairings though of Michael Buckley and John Browne immediately pulled this point back. Browne and Buckley got off to a flyer going 5 up for 9 against Frank Ryan and Cathal Dunne. The Kildare lads fought well on the back 9 but eventually sucumbed to defeat on the 15th.
The third doubles match was the tightest of the lot. Liam Buckley and Martin Carter had an early 3 hole lead pegged back by Derek Courtney and John Delaney. The Kildare boys then got their noses in front going down the last and when McClair’s birdie putted slipped by the hole, the customary handshake was offered – Bridget’s led 2-1.
The singles started poorly for the Westmeath men with Rene Bloem losing out to Ian Dillon after leading early in the match. John Browne suffered the same fate with Cathal Dunne and at 4-1, Bridget’s now only needed one more point for victory.
Michael Buckley pulled a point back for Collinstown though with a hard fought win on the last hole over John Cullen. Larry McGinn then registered a superb 3&2 win over last year’s National Matchplay semi-finalist Derek Courtney. With the score now at 4-3 and the remaining two matches very tight on the course – the tension was rising.
Liam Buckley was one up with 3 to play against Bridget’s John Delaney. Delaney however made a good putt on 16 to level the match. Liam then got an untimely and unfortunate kick off the bank on 17 to an near unplayable lie. The resulting bogie meant he was one down going to the last and when he failed to make birdie the game and match was up.
Alan Hanlon still could fight for a 4th point in the final match against Frank Ryan though. Alan had pulled back from 3 down to all square with two to go. But again the 17th cost us dear as Aaln bogied to leave Frank one up playing 18. Frank almost holed his pitch meaning Alan need an ace which did not materialise. In the end the 6-3 scoreline did not do justice to the match in general – it was a very tight affair between two strong teams that could have gone either way. Well done to St. Bridget’s and best of luck to them in the rest of their games.
Our next match is against Old County in McBride on Saturday 3rd May.
Last year, Niall Reynolds, former NEC officer came up with one of the most innovative and refreshing competitions to have graced our calendar in many’s a year. It was a competition that players had been crying out for, for years – a National Inter-Club Championship. Niall with help from his fellow officer Paul O’Gorman consulted with several players over the format before settling on what was to become one of the most talked about competitions of 2013. Collintown’s scratch team had a wonderful adventure in this competition and eventually achieved bronze for their semi-final appearance. Given the buzz that the Collinstown players got from that journey last year, it was no surprise that they were more than enthusiastic about the commencement of the 2014 championship.
The exact same panel of players entered again with the only change being a new captain. Liam Buckley, the 2013 captain decided that it was time for new blood and did not put his name forward this year. The man the players voted in for 2014 was none other than Alan Hanlon. Alan then wisely asked Liam to assist him as vice-captain thus retaining all the experience that Liam had gained in the job last year.
Our first match this year saw us pitted against an opponent we had played in 2013 – Bellewstown. Bellewstown is a team that boasts a Leinster Champion in Wally Sheridan and the current European Champion Ian Farrelly. Add to that the experience of Anto Kavanagh, Robert Bisset and Damien Mullaney and the youth of Colin Byrne and Peter Reilly – it was not hard to see that this was a tough opener for the Westmeath club. The match took part in the exquisite Erin’s Isle club in north Dublin. The course was presented in superb condition and compliments must be paid to the ground staff on the work that is obviously put into the course on an on-going basis.
The first pairing on the course saw our own Liam Buckley and Martin Carter take on Anto Kavanagh and Robert Bisset. This match had more swings and roundabouts than a park playground. The north Meath pairing got in front early on only for the Collinstown lads to take the lead for themselves mid-way through. However a hat-trick of birdies in the latter stages of the match gave the advantage back to the Bellewstown pairings and despite a miraculous 3 from the bunker on 17, the Collinstown lads went down on the final hole.
Next up was Michael Buckley and John Browne for us and their opponents were the formable partnership of Wally Sheridan and Ian Farrelly. Browne and Buckley got out of the traps quickly though birdying the opening 3 holes to go 3 up. This was an advantage that they were never going to give back and eventually ran out 2&1 winners.
The final doubles match was between Alan Hanlon and Larry McGinn for Collinstown and Bellewstown’s Damien Mullaney and Colin Byrne. Hanlon and McGinn got in front in this one and like the match ahead on the course – they never gave back the advantage. Again this match finished with a 2&1 victory for Collinstown. This left the score at 2-1 going into the 6 singles.
First out in the singles for Collinstown was Rene Bloom and his opponent was Wally Sheridan. Rene got off to a flyer and never really opened the door for Wally. He eventually closed out the match on the 15th by a 4&3 margin. Next up was John Browne and his opponent was Damien Mullaney. This was good solid match with Mullaney pulling back an early 2 hole deficit. Browne however holed from off the green on 9 and 12 and drained a 20 footer on 13 to gain a 2 hole advantage once more. This was a lead that he wasn’t giving back this time and the match ended 2&1 to the Collinstown man.
So Collinstown now only needed one more point and indeed it would come in the very next match. Michael Buckley was taking on Robert Bisset. After an uncharacteristic bogie on the opening hole, Michael went on a run of birdies to take control of the match. Like the earlier matches this one also ended on the 17th – again 2&1. Collinstown had got their victory but there was points difference to be still played for. The next match however went to the Meath club when Ian Farrelly got the better of Liam Buckley by a margin of 3&2.
The final matches were tight affairs. Larry McGinn had a great finish against Peter Reilly, going on a birdie spree from the 14th in to win 2&1 in the end. It was a similar story with Alan Hanlon’s match against Anto Kavanagh. Alan missed a relatively easy chance on 14 but this just pushed him into top gear and he birdied the next 3 to win on the 17th.
Collinstown would like to thank Bellewstown for a sporting game and indeed the banter going around was very enjoyable. Our next game is against St. Bridget’s in Old County on Saturday 26th April.