Castle capture AIG Barton Shield for the first time

CASTLE Golf Club were crowned AIG Barton Shield champions for the very first time, following their four-hole victory over Castleknock in the final at Tramore Golf Club on Saturday.

While Alex Gleeson and Ross McKeever won out against Paul Coughlan and AIG Irish Close Champion, Quentin Carew by three holes, Peter McKeever and Jack Walsh recorded a one-hole triumph over Ruairi Kennelly and Ian O’Connell.

It capped a superb three days of competition, that saw Castle beat Rosslare by three holes in the quarter finals before seeing off the challenge of Donaghadee in the penultimate rounds.

Delighted with the performance of his team, Castle Captain James Behan, said “We’re euphoric and very relieved.

“We’d an incredible panel and I am not even sure how many players we used throughout the whole campaign.

“Obviously, we were missing Rob [Moran] this week, who is playing for Ireland in the Eisenhower Trophy, but we were well able to replace him with a deep panel.

‘It was very tight towards the end [against Castleknock]. Crucial halves on 12 and 13 for Alex and Ross, which looked unlikely, made all the difference, and made sure the match didn’t go south on us.

“Thankfully we had a nice lead in the second match and a very important win on 15 and half on 16 sealed it” he said.