Seventeen teams representing nine different colleges and IT’s around the country descended on Woodbrook Golf Club, Co Wicklow for two-day inaugural Irish Colleges Matchplay Sprint, with Trinity ultimately winning the tournament.
Other colleges present included Maynooth University, University College Dublin (UCD), Queen’s University Belfast, Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), Ulster University, Dublin City University (DCU), the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), and NUI Galway.
The more streamlined, quicker format saw teams compete in two foursomes pairings competing in nine-hole matches, with the results of the two matches being added together for an overall aggregate result. The Trinity pairs lined out with Jack Killeen, a second-year engineering student playing alongside Nick Armstrong, a third-year history and political science student. The other Trinity pair saw Conor Fitzgerald, a third-year business, economics and social studies (BESS) student, partnering third-year mental health nursing student Cillian Tully.
Trinity were drawn alongside Ulster University, IADT and CIT in the day one group stage. Draws against Ulster University and IADT came either side of a tight one hole victory over CIT. After successfully navigating the group stage on day one, with day one conditions being windy but dry, Trinity found themselves drawn against Queen’s in the quarter-finals on Friday morning. The second day of the tournament saw the weather take a turn for the worse, with heavy rain throughout. A tight match was one by the Tully and Fitzgerald pairing by a single hole with Armstrong and Killeen drawing their game allowing Trinity to progress to the semi-finals.
There they came up against a side from Maynooth, winning by two holes over the two ties, despite the Maynooth side including two Irish internationals.
In the final, Trinity faced a side from Ulster University, and came away with a comprehensive victory. An aggregate victory of six holes included a win for Killeen and Armstrong by four-holes and a two-hole victory for Tully and Fitzgerald. Judging by handicap, it was quite an upset for the Trinity side, with the Ulster University combined coming to 4 whilst Trinity’s came to 17.
This was Trinity’s first major tournament victory since November 2014, when Daniel O’Byrne won a Golfing Union of Ireland Intervarsity Series round in Royal Portrush. Trinity will be hoping that this success will spur them on when they compete in their Colour’s clash with UCD on Friday 10th of March at Portmarnock Golf Club.
Correction: 8.06pm March 3rd, 2017
An earlier version of this piece incorrectly stated that Ulster University’s combined handicap was 8. In fact, it was 4.
