Leinster South pennant for Junior Foursomes team….

After a brilliant performance today (17th July), our Irish Junior Foursomes team delivered a blue pennant for Greystones.

Peter Anderson’s team were up against a very strong Bray team in the final which was played in Edmonstown Golf Club.  The course was presented in excellent condition and both teams produced some stunning golf.

Two foursomes matches play in this handicapped competition with the cumulative scores of the two games deciding the eventual winner.

Out first for Greystones today were Dylan Holmes & Milo Doyle with junior boy’s captain, Jamie Anderson, out in the second match alongside Marc Lawless. Dylan & Milo’s match was flat while Greystones were giving one shot in the second.

A Greystones par on the first was enough for an early win in the first match but an excellent birdie for the Bray team on the second levelled the match. These holes gave a glimpse of what was to come in both matches for the rest of the afternoon. Dylan & Milo were level par after eight and two ahead but a bogey on nine had their match at one up at the halfway point.

Jamie & Marc had come out of the stocks fast, taking an early three hole lead through four holes but Bray fought back, winning five, six and seven to level the match. Eight went to Greystones but a loss on the ninth had the second game at all square heading for the tenth.

It was all too tight to call at this point with just one hole in the overall tie.

The golf from all four players on the back nine was of an extremely high standard, the games ebbed and flowed but crucially if one Greystones pair lost a hole the other picked one up. When Dylan & Milo lost the fourteenth (to birdie of course), it was the first time that either Greystones pair had found themselves behind and this position didn’t last long with the boys throwing in a couple of birdies on fifteen and sixteen to get back ahead.  Seventeen was shared in unexpected bogeys as the tension mounted.

Behind, Jamie & Marc got their noses in front with a win on the eleventh and a birdie on the par five, twelfth moved them to two up. The par three thirteenth was halved but the match was back to just one after a Bray birdie on the next hole.  With every shot crucial at this stage, Jamie left his driver in the bag on the tight fifteenth and found the fairway thirty yards ahead of his opposite number. When Bray missed the green with their approach, Marc took full advantage, hitting an excellent approach and the resulting Greystones par got them ahead by two as they headed to the sixteenth tee.

Milo hit a great drive on eighteen down the left hand side but it caught the rough and the ball settled in a divot.  Bray’s drive was further ahead, also in the rough. Dylan hit a brilliant shot from his lie which hit the green but rolled off  the green leaving an awkward chip for Milo, over a mound. The Bray approach also hit the green and also rolled just off.  It was Milo to play first and he hit a lovely chip to a couple of feet whereas the Bray chip was a bit tentative leaving a six footer for their par.

The rest, as they say is history with Bray’s putt just slipping by the hole and Dylan’s putt being conceded to close the first match two up while behind Jamie & Marc were also two up with three to play, giving an aggregate score of 4 up with three to play.

This group of lads have been together for a number of years at this stage and have all put a huge effort into their golf games.  It was very evident what this win meant to them today, after having come so close both in their Under 15 days and the Fred Daly without quite getting over the line – until today.

Where there is a winner, there is also a runner up and the Bray players deserve praise for both their golf and the manner in which both games were played today.

Congratulations to Peter Anderson and all the squad.