The Bay GC canter past New York GC in inaugural TGL match-up

New York GC’s Xander Scheuffele (back to camera) and Shane Lowry of The Bay GC swap greetings at the inaugural match of the TGL in Florida on Tuesday. Image courtesy tglgolf.com.

By Rahul Banerji

In the end, it was something of a cakewalk for The Bay Club over New York Golf Club in the inaugural match of TGL presented by SoFi at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida on Tuesday, the former winning the 15-game match by a comfortable 9-2 margin.

The Bay GC’s Shane Lowry was to hit the first shot under the lights in the new-look, hi-tech arena league but forgot to bring a tee along to the hitting area and got a round of canned boos for that,

There was some back and forth between the six players in action on the day and following a few giggles, the burly Irishman got things off safely after the initial blip by hammering his driver well down the “fairway”.

Lowry would go on to record the clinching point for The Bay GC over New York GC, besting Rickie Fowler in singles at the par-5 10th to make it 7-1, a TGL statement said.

It sealed the win and opening points for Lowry and playing teammates Wyndham Clark and Ludvig Åberg with five holes left. The remaining holes were played out for a final score of 9-2.

NYGC (0-1) fell behind on the first hole with Fowler, Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick looking on as Åberg drained a nine-foot birdie putt at The Plank (each hole has been given a nickname) for the early 1-0 lead.

Off-colour

It was that kind of night for NY Golf Club, who found themselves on the wrong side of an early two-point swing.

TBGC (1-0) began the match with the Hammer (for a bonus point) and held onto it for the first two holes.

Then, with Clark feeling confident standing over a 7-foot birdie putt to win the par-3 third hole, Set in Stone, TBGC threw the Hammer to increase the point value of the hole to two points and show how quickly it can change the momentum in a match.

NYGC accepted and Clark drained the putt to give his team a 3-0 lead through three holes.

Bay GC continued grinding out points with steady play and several spectacular highlights from Åberg.

Cruise mode

The 25-year-old Swede helped earn another point at the fourth hole, Boomerang, hitting his team’s third shot into the 582-yard par 5 to just four feet. Lowry made the birdie putt to put TBGC ahead, 4-0.

Åberg tacked on another at the par-3 fifth hole, Craic On, draining a 32-foot birdie putt to win the hole and make it 5-0 TBGC with 10 holes to play.

TBGC won their fourth consecutive hole with a stress-free par at the sixth, but NYGC finished strong in Triples thanks to a crafty chip from Fitzpatrick at The Spear, the par-5 ninth hole.

That resulted in a conceded birdie and the first point on the board for NYGC with the score 6-1 entering Singles.

Bay GC picked up two points in the SoFi Cup Standings with the victory, while NY Golf Club will look to pick up their first points of the season in the next match.

New York GC return to action on January 21 against Atlanta Drive Golf Club, while The Bay will look to keep it rolling with matches on February 17 against Atlanta Drive and Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf as part of a TGL tripleheader.

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