Banbridge win exciting match at Silverwood

Banbridge played Silverwood in the second leg of their first round match in the Des Gregg Memorial Cup last Tuesday.
Seamus McGrath finished in style.Seamus McGrath finished in style.
Seamus McGrath finished in style.

The Banbridge team, captained by Brian Mulholland, had won the home leg by two and a half games to one and a half.

So they went to Silverwood needing to win two of the four games being played. That was never going to be easy.

Silverwood is a wonderful golf course, well worth a visit. It has wide fairways, which favour the big hitters.

But there are lots of hazards, particularly trees and lakes. It is also deceptively long.

Peter Hillen and Bobby Geddis got off to a good start against Francis Kelly and Neil Walker but ran into a bad patch at the end of the first nine.

They lost 5 and 4 and finished 3 holes down.

Brian Mulholland and Verdun Bond played Seamus Patton and John Clarke in the second game. What a tussle this was!

It was always very tight and Brian and Verdun were delighted to emerge one up winners.

Dennis Lockhart and Tom Fee were level with Brian Brady and Frank Gallagher for 10 holes. The Silverwood men had 2 birdies and a wonderful par at the long 16th to clinch a 3 and 2 win.

So it all depended on Seamus McGrath and P.J. Johnston in the final game against Joe Kelly and David Mills.

There was never more than one hole in it throughout this game and they reached the final hole all-square.

A half would be good enough for Banbridge as they were 2 holes up overall. But Seamus and P. J. finished in style by winning the 18th and the game 1 up.

Banbridge won an exciting match by 4.5 to 3.5. They will now go forward to play either Edenmore or Mourne in round two.

Thursday 21 May

Great to see 50 players players in the Thursday sweep.

Victory went to Stephen Magee off 19 Handicap with 43 pts. He pipped Glen Buchanan (16) by one point.

A strong finish of 3 pars did the business for Stephen.

Gavin Greer was third with 40 pts beating the evergreen PJ Johnston on countback.

Scott Nelson started with a double bogey and won the gross prize with a 73 – well done Scott.

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