Lucan Pitch and Putt Club

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Winter Leagues Preview Group B
Posted on 30 Dec '25 at 19:57 by Gary Ryan

– Steven Keegan, Stephen Needham, Alan Doyle and Tracy Needham Alarm plural is what one player on this team definitely needs (only joking Alan). Bar one player on this team all of these players have served as fantastic captains of the club and still are involved in some capacity around the club. Keego is one of Lucan's finest players, a scratch cup winner and a 5 time winner of the Winter Leagues he will be one of the hardest matches for anyone in this group. Stephen Needham is a consistent member of Dublin's Inter County team along with Alan Doyle in the Junior grade and both men are very difficult to play in matchplay. Stephen is also a 4 time winner in the Winter leagues. Tracy the final member of this team is a superb player on her day, busy now looking after the next generation of Lucan players Tracy gives up her Sunday afternoons to help coaching and looking after Lucan's Juvenile section. Tracy will be out to show her Juveniles just how good she is. – Barbara Furlong, Dermot Buckley, Dora Keane and Tommy Coogan The Barbarians are not a new team but have some new faces this year. Last years runners up will be looking to go one step better this year. The team is led by Barbara Furlong 2021 Dublin Matchplay champion. Barbara will be in the number one slot for this team and I know this is a match none of the other players in the one spots will be looking forward to as Barbara will be sharpening her knives for the upcoming possible scalps. Dermot has been a constant improver this year as shown with an early open singles win over in one of our fellow local clubs RGSC. Dermot will be a tough match for anyone. Dora took a little break this year to fix a niggling injury and then came back firing with a couple of late season wins. Dora will be one of the most difficult matches in this group as I think she will be taking a few scalps alongside her teammate Barbara. Lucan's President Tommy is the final player on this team. Tommy a 2 time Winter League Runner up will be hoping he can help push this team over the line to finally get their hands on the trophy. – Gary Ryan, Niall Leahy, Bryan Barry and Angela Shanahan. This is a newly formed team that have come together late in the day. Gary would not be a regular in the winter leagues but has come onboard with this team to hopefully surprise some of the regulars and make a run at the title. Gary was a member of Lucans Interclub team which reached the National Semi Final this year alongside Niall. Niall has been a fantastic addition to Lucan since joining a few years ago. He was a Dublin Matchplay finalist this year and also got on his first Dublin Intercounty Team. Niall was also one of the players vying for the player of the year for most of the season but unfortunately couldnt make up the early ground gained by the eventual winner. Bryan is a very new member to Lucan joining midway through this season and has definitely made use of his membership by playing every week and even getting a late win in the Bonanza. Angela has been a member of the DanDans previously and has come on with this team to hopefully get over the line and lift the Winter League trophy. Angela was a 2 time Mixed Foursomes winner and also won the Club Handicap Matchplay in 2005 so she will have her eyes set on winning a few scalps. – Peter Keogh, Brendan Keane, John Egan and Eileen Loakman The McCann Cans are a regular team in the Winter Leagues. Without their namesake this year Ann McCann the team will hope they can get another win in her name after their win in 2020. Peter will be driving the bus for this team out in front and will be a very difficult match for all other players in Slot 1. Peter was Presidents Prize overall winner in 2023 so he is a man who can perform in the pressure moments. Brendan Keane Lucan's Jubilee Gents Captain will be no easy match for anyone as Brendan a former winner of this competition will know how to get over the line. John Egan is a new member who joined late in the season so not many chances to show his skills just yet, but will he be the Dark horse in this group. Eileen is another very difficult match for anyone in the number 4 slot. Eileen is a Multiple time Major winner in Lucan with wins in the Captains and multiple wins in the Club Strokeplay along with a win in the Club Mixed Foursomes in 2024. – Billy Blake, Alyn Poleon, Michael Donnelly and Nicola Doyle. The Mints are a new team with some regular faces. Billy and Alyn have rejuvenated Lucan's Juvenile section over the past few years and have done a fantastic job, they are also joined on the team with a previous Juvenile Player of the Year Michael Donnelly. Billy has been a finalist and winner in a few matchplay competitions both doubles and singles. He is also a previous winner of the Winter Leagues. Alyn another previous winner of the Winter leagues has not played as much as we would like to see him but over the years has been known to have deep runs in handicap competitions such as his runner up in the Gents Handicap Matchplay in 2012 and his Club Fourball win in 2015. Michael as previously stated was a Juvenile player of the year back in the days when it was Peggy Croke who was looking after the juvenile section. Funny enough the player Michael beat to win the player of the year in the Juveniles is also playing in this group (can you guess who that was). A club Foursomes Matchplay finalist this year Michael will be one very difficult match for anyone in this Group. Nicola is the 4th member of this team. Nicola finally got over the line this year and won her 1st Club major in the Club Strokeplay. Nicola also has previous matchplay form as she won the Club Mixed foursomes in 2018 alongside her dad the Late Great Christy Kane. Group B prediction from 2025 Player of the Year Matt Finlay Another group with 2 new teams. This has the makings of being a very tight group with some of the teams going deep into the competition in previous years. Armed and Dangerous with their previous experience and pairings, The Barbarians last years runners up look like they can go deep here again with Barbara setting the tone at the top of the Order. Surprise package might be the Fantastic Fore with both Niall and Gary's excellent form in the book this season even without the experience of playing in the winter leagues previously. McCann Cans are always there or thereabouts in the League format and will know doubt be in the mix and The Mints look dangerous on paper but will their lack of action during the season be their downfall. Expect a group with fine margins here but my prediction for the group is below. 1-Armed and Dangerous 2-Barbarians 3-Fantastic Fore 4-McCann Cans 5-Mints