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Paddy Power Cup preview

Posted on 5 Oct '18 by Dave Hayden II

This Saturday sees the climax to the year-long Paddy Power Cup. This will be the inaugural running of the event that will culminate in twenty-four of Lucan's best performing gents and ten of Lucan's best ladies doing battle for their respective titles. With all players playing 36 Stableford (Nett) with bonus points appended to their scores depending on their qualifying position.

In the Gents, the top six qualifiers will take a lot of beating, due to their impressive display over the year and their superior bonus points. Lucan's Gent's Player of the Year for 2018, Anthony Malone (1) has dominated pretty much every event over the past six weeks, capping off an impressive season which seen him claim his fourth Dublin Senior Matchplay title. In current form, it would be hard to bet against Skinner ending the regular season with yet another victory.

Trying to stop him will be Gent's Senior Club Strokeplay and Matchplay Champion Damian Creevey (2) and Philip Sweeney (3) who have both had stellar years and have claimed sixteen club prizes between them this year. With the top three qualifiers coming from Class 1, they know their bonus point advantage will be swallowed up by the players behind them, with -8 handicapper and Dublin Junior Matchplay Champion Terry O'Shaughnessy (4) and the dangerous -9 handicapper Joe Murphy (5) hot on their heels, the top three will know that if either of these two men produce solid rounds, there may be no stopping them in claiming the title. The top six is rounded out by Paul County (6) who started the season in fine form, winning four competitions in April, but has faded somewhat as the year has gone on.

The next six will know that should they produce a couple of decent rounds they will find themselves in the shake-up. The legend Johnny Price (7) is more than capable of shooting very low scores, but his low handicap may prove a difficult obstacle to overcome. Noel Leonard (8) has been playing super pitch and putt all year and can count himself very unlucky to have only won one prize this season, coming close on more occasions than he can care to remember. The next two players are more than capable of walking away with the title, as everybody knows Val Poleon (9) and Ted Flynn (10) can be a little inconsistent, but they are in the sweet spot with good bonus points and a decent handicap, both will know that if they can produce mistake-free pitch and putt they will have a great chance. Next up is President's Prize winner Oliver Kavanagh (11), Oliver showed the club what he is capable of with a fantastic display to win the President's, there will be a lot of eyes on him especially as he has the second most shots of the twenty-four players with a -13 handicap. The final player in the second "pack" is Dublin Intermediate Matchplay champion Dave Hayden II (12), after a quiet few years, Dave has finished the season strongly and if he is able to produce his very best there is no reason why he can't challenge for the top prizes.

The remaining twelve players will be aware they are all giving the leading pack a head start, but that won't deter them from believing they can come from the rear and cause an upset. John McDermott (13) has had a very solid finish to the year, having been away for a number of years, he is finally rediscovering some of the play that made him a force to be reckoned with in previous years. He is followed by the evergreen quartet of Sean McGrath (14), Noel Ryan (15), Paddy Croke (16) and Christy Kane (17), all of these four have produced solid pitch and putt throughout the year, though none of them have hit the heights of previous seasons, all very consistent performers with the ability to go low, write them off at your peril! The final player in the third "pack" is Eamon Kenny (18), who made a strong start to the season and will be very dangerous off a handicap of -12.

The final six players know they will have their work cut out to claim the top prize, but despite this there is some serious quality in this "pack". Dublin Intermediate Matchplay runner up Tom McMorrow (19) hasn't quite produced the pitch and putt of previous seasons, but with the pressure off this weekend, could finish his season in style. Three time Dublin Senior Strokeplay champion Chris Gallagher (20) comes next, one of the finest players in Dublin let alone Lucan, the only real surprise is that he's so far down the rankings, sadly with his low handicap and low bonus points, this one may be a bridge too far for Chris. Paddy Noonan (21) follows and just like Chris it's a surprise to see such a talented player qualifying near the end, again Paddy's low handicap and low bonus points will make victory a very tall order. Sean Dillon (22) comes next, a very useful performer on his day, but Sean will know nothing but his absolute best will be good enough on Saturday. The man with the most shots in the field comes next, with John Murphy (23) knowing that despite his lowly starting position, with twenty-four shots over the two rounds, a couple of solid rounds could catapult him into the mix. The final qualifier Alan Doyle (24) will have to perform a minor miracle to challenge for the very top of the leader board, but one step at a time, making his 12:00 tee off has to be his primary objective!


In the Ladies section, sadly there were a plethora of withdrawals, with the event being reduced from twelve to ten players. With such a small net of bonus points covering the field, it will be almost impossible to pick a winner.

The top five are comprised of Lucan's most prolific competition winner in Philo Condron (1), who has won an incredible two hundred and twenty-seven club prizes since the year 2000 and few would rule out this being yet another victory for Philo. Tracey Smith (2) is next in line, one of the most consistent performers in recent years, she will have no fear in playing alongside Philo and pushing her all the way. Snapping at their heels will be the gritty Kathleen Croke (3), a player who always manages to produce when it matters and also a player who is more than capable of producing two really low rounds. Eileen Loakman (4) comes next and with a handicap of -18 and a solid starting position, she is probably best placed to win the event if she can produce her form from earlier in the year when she won six prizes in eleven weeks. The final member of the "top five" is Catherine Leonard (5), a very talented player who will have grown in confidence following her win in the Club Handicap Matchplay last month.

The next five won't worry too much about giving away a few bonus points, as four of the five will more than make up for that with their handicap. Rita Dillon (6) and Marie O'Toole (7) have bags of experience and enough shots to claim victory if they can manage to avoid putting any silly scores on their card. Inter county player Barbara Furlong (8) comes next, a player with plenty of ability and belief, Barbara will know that her very best will be required to usurp those ahead of her. Fittingly, Evelyn O'Gorman (9) will make an appearance in the inaugural Paddy Power Cup and being out in the first ladies group, she will hope to lay down a marker following a relatively quiet year. The final player is Martina Tierney (10), who has the highest handicap of the ten ladies, with forty shots over the two rounds, few eyebrows would be raised if the last player to qualify ends up as the first player over the winning line.