Kenny wins the Matchplay Championship

IN the semi-finals of the Matchplay Championship Kenny Stevenson beat Sherwin Curran 2 and 1 and Shane Crossan beat Callum Barnes 3 and 2.

That set up a final between Kenny Stevenson and Shane Crossan.

Kenny is one of the greatest match-players that the Banbridge club has ever produced and he is still as competitive today as he was in his teenage years. His swing is as smooth as ever and he can play off a 3 handicap without any bother.

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His opponent in the final is one of the most promising young players in the club.

Shane Crossan is a relative newcomer to the game and he starred on the Junior Cowdy team a few years ago. He too loves matchplay and, off a handicap of 14, he is difficult to beat.

The final was a major occasion for Shane and he was well aware that he was up against the “All-Time”, as Kenny is affectionately called.

Shane played very steady golf over the outward nine holes and used his shots to good effect. He was all-square at the turn.

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But then Kenny turned up the heat. He went 3, 3, 3, 3, 5, 3, 4, a run that was just too good for Shane to cope with.

Kenny won the final by 3 and 2 and he is now the official club champion and a worthy one at that.

It was a marvellous achievement for Shane Crossan to reach the final and he will have learnt a lot from the experience.

As for Kenny, this is another honour in a career full of highlights. He lost to Cameron Morton in the final last year and came back to win it this time. What a player!

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