Going Low in Lee Valley, Gearing up for Barton Cup and Getting Cold at Leinster Youths

I was pretty speechless on Saturday, hearing that the teenager from Greystones knocked it around Lee Valley in 64, the same score shot by Fred Couples there 17 years earlier. Rory Leonard produced similarly stunning stuff later that afternoon, with a 65, bookended by solid entries of 70 and 72 to take the honours. Paul Dunne added a 72 and a 74 to finish second, on 6 under. Hot favourite, Paul Cutler, duly missed the cut, ensuring those of us who backed Niall Gorey & co, couldn’t avail of Paddy Power’s money-back offer. Anyone who knows me is well aware of my deft ability to back the wrong horse. Worse still, the one piece of insider info I thought I had, and posted publicly on Boards.ie, was Andrew Hogan’s poor form. Of course he played great, with a solid sixth place finish. For those of you competing in the West next week, I will be accepting bribes to publicly slate you and back your nearest opponents in the days preceding the tournament.

Arklow and Blessington Lakes got stuck into each other at the final of Wicklow's Barton Cup warm-up tournament, the Garden Trophy on Sunday. Arklow continued their good form from the group stages, wrapping up two matches early on, and clinching three more at the later stages to win 5-1 overall. In the Garden Trophy, ten clubs from the county and surrounding areas break into two groups of five, playing four round-robin matches. The matches are played in accordance with Barton Cup format, with foursomes pairs of no lower than 14 combined handicap. During the group stages of the Garden Trophy, six pairings play each round, three home and three away. The final was held at The South County on a calm, bright day, fit for the occasion.

As Barton Cup proper kicks off in the coming weeks, Arklow have a comfortable home draw against Glenmalure to start with. Stiff opposition awaits in Round 2 however, with either Woodenbridge or Woodbrook, both with experienced sides, the latter with particular strength and depth to its panel. Meanwhile, Blessington Lakes will find it tough to progress past a first round tie away to Stackstown. Padraig Harrington's buddies in blue still have a handful of competitive players involved from their 1998 Cup win, though some of the low young guns of the time have moved into the pro ranks. Stackstown’s current Category 1 crop didn’t fair too well at last year’s Barton Shield qualifying, and didn’t make it past the strokes qualifying round. That said, the long but wide open 9-hole course at Blessington Lakes won’t be too daunting for the visitors, in comparison to the hills and sloped greens of Stackstown, on which the away team will need to win at least one match to get through the tie.

Interestingly, Arklow's pairings during the rounds of the Garden Trophy seemed to be quite high handicap combinations for such a strong team. O'Driscoll & Groome (8, 11) Wolohan & Kelly (6, 11) and Murphy & Williams (8, 9) would all be giving up shots against most teams who field pairings on or close to the combined limit of 14. Maybe this will change come mid April.

In a week where high winds, rain and snow is forecast, spare a thought for the those competing in the Leinster Youths, kicking off today at Laytown & Bettystown. Not known for sheltered conditions, the east coast links will provide a serious test of endurance. Best of luck to all.