Simon Thornton is excited to sink his teeth into the group of death at the Annesley Williams 9-hole Matchplay at Sutton Golf Club.
Thornton was drawn out alongside Cormac Sharvin, David Higgins and Brendan McCarroll in group 7. The reigning Irish PGA champion will face McCarroll in the opening match of the group and knows that if he can make it through to the knockout stages a couple of big hitters will have already bowed out.
“You have to beat them at some stage,” Thornton said of the draw. “Me and Cormac were looking at each other knowing that it had to be us so then our names got pulled out. We’ll give it a go, links golf suits my game but you have to beat everybody in front of you so just see what matchplay brings anything can happen.
“It depends on the wind for this course because 1 and 2 are reachable and then you have the par-5 as well but if the wind gets up the wrong way around then you can’t reach them and they become different holes. Cormac hits a long ball and he’s playing well getting through first stage, Higgo is there as well and Keith too.”
Thornton has already been in the winners enclosure as his team won the Sutton Pro-Am on Friday with a score of 46 points for nine holes.
Storm Amy played havoc with club selection but the course was in fantastic condition and there’s no doubt the matchplay has become a favourite of the players on the PGA in Ireland region.
“It’s a great event to end the year and it’s a great golf course which lends itself to matchplay perfectly. It’s quite short, tricky, you can make birdies but you can also be out of a hole pretty quickly as well. To finish the season on a high, this event is brilliantly supported you can see how much the members get behind it,” added Thornton.
The top players from each group will advance to Sunday’s quarter finals.
Draw Below.
