6th December 2009: Tullamore Capture Ryder Cup Honours For 2009

The 2009 Ryder Cup took centre stage over the past 5 weeks over which 2 local teams did battle through winter hail, sun, rain and wind. Defending champions Erry got off to a slow start in Week 1 in Tullamore where the Arden team won 4 of 5 matches impressively. Following another 3 weeks of matchplay doubles Tullamore stood strong and increased their lead to 12.5 to Erry's 7.5 going into the final day of singles matchplay. With only 5 points between the teams the competition was still open but the Erry team knew that it would be a difficult task to dominate in Tullamore's back yard, and an unachievable feat it proved to be. Tullamore claimed 7.5 points from the singles which was more than enough to cement the club's first Ryder Cup victory as Erry claimed just 4.5 points. The total aggregate score saw Tullamore victorious on 20 points 8 points clear of Erry on 12 points.

All in all it was another successful Ryder Cup formatted competition between Erry and Tullamore, with Tullamore relinquishing the inaugural victory from Erry for 2009. Tributes must be paid to the Erry and Tullamore grounds men who had the courses in such playable conditions over the 5 weeks in such unforeseen weather conditions and also to Catherine Galvin who provided such a welcomed spread of hot food on the final day for the brave souls that battled the cold and windy conditions in Arden today. Both captains, John Fleming (Tullamore) and Tracey McGrath (Erry), paid tribute to their respective teams and noted the spirited rivalry and comradery on show throughout the competition, which makes the winter focused competition such a success. The founders of the competition, William Buckley Jnr. (Erry) and Michael Hogan (Tullamore) who were unable to take part this year, supported the teams each week and were also present to make the presentations to the Tullamore team and the winning captain John Fleming. We are looking forward with anticipation already to the third instalment of the Erry v Tullamore Ryder Cup in 2010!!

Please be patient as the photos download below if they are slow to appear.. The following are the results from the 2009 Erry v Tullamore Ryder Cup:


Week 1 - 36 Hole Fourball @ Tullamore