Birdie blitz for Ward in Mid-West Alliance

ROUND three in the Mid-West Alliance took place at Dromoland at the weekend when Martin Ward won the gross with 69.
The Ennis Golf Club professional recorded birdies on the seventh, ninth, 13th and 15th. After two cautious shots to within 112 yards on the picturesque par five finishing hole, Ward proceeded to hole out his well-struck pitching wedge for an eagle and a winning three under par 69 around the demanding but fair Dromoland Castle Course.
In second place was Seamus McEnery from the host club with 71, followed by Timmy Rice (Limerick) and Paudie McGrath (P&M Golf Superstore), both with 73.
In the nett category, Nicky Duggan (5), Dromoland was the winner with 71 from Declan O’Leary (6), Dromoland, with a similar score. Nearest the pin on the seventh was Jason O’Donnell (Shannon), while nearest the pin on the 13th was Mike Kemmy (Limerick).
Both already won this category in previous weeks.
The final round is on Sunday, March 4 and Tony Cleary, Dromoland, is leading on -1 and has a two-shot lead over a large chasing pack.

Woodstock
THE winners of the modified fourball in week two of the Spring League at Woodstock at the weekend were Hugh McGrath (9) and Brian J Aherne (15) with 51 points. In second place with a similar score were Conor Brennan (4) and Eugene Quinn (17).
The Spring League continues this weekend with a modified scramble and there will also be a club singles.
In the club singles, the winner was Pat Keane (10) with 43 points.
In the weekly senior’s competition, played over 15 holes, the format was a team-of-three modified scramble and the winners were Eugene Phillips, Pat Quinn and Liam McInerney with a score of 59 points.

Ennis
ENNIS seniors held a three-ball scramble last week in which 78 golfers participated. The winners with 47.3 points were Pat Cusack, Aidan Lynch and Aidan Guilfoyle from George Dilger, Jimmy Kerins and Seamus D’Arcy on 48.3. In third spot with 48.7 were Ned Ryan, Seamus Hanrahan and Don Ryan, followed by Tom Greene, PJ Garry and Luke Coote with 49.1; Paul Mockler, George Tuohy and Greg Fogarty with 49.1; Michael Ball, Paddy Cahill and Jim Hennessy with 50.1, while seventh place was filled by Larry Parks, Pat McGuire and Maurice Walsh.
The Clare/Galway Winter League takes place in Ennis next Monday with the tee reserved from 9am to 1pm.

Dromoland
WEEK five of the Winter League took place at Dromoland at the weekend when the individual winner was Mick Shinkwin with 44 points.
In the team competition, the team of Declan O’Leary, Kieran McDermott, Martin O’Mahoney. Philip Naughton and Joe Moran won from Darren Piccolo, Sean McMahon, Barry Moloney, Mick Shinkwin and Glen Stackpoole. In third spot were Sean Myatt, Paul O’Brien, Niall Geraghty, Michael Flannery and Dale Foley.

East Clare
THE winners of the men’s 14-hole scramble at East Clare at the weekend were Michael O’Halloran (18) and Seamus O’Dwyer (23) with 45.9 nett from Brendan Moloney (11) and John Farrell (20) with 46.9 nett.
In the senior ladies’ outing last week, Ina Reddan won from Brigid Minogue with Breda O’Loughlin in third spot.
The men’s club had an 18-hole singles competition running throughout the week.
In the Winter League, William O’Brien’s team has stormed into the lead from Jim Dunne’s team, with Brendan Moloney’s team running third. With just over a week left in the February phase, scoring is really tightening up and players are reminded to keep submitting their nine-hole singles cards also.
In the ladies’ 14-hole singles competition, Sue Casey was the winner from Celia Moloney, with Mary Collins in third spot.

Lahinch
LAST week’s ladies singles Stableford competition at the Castle Course in Lahinch was won by Mary Lucas (36) with 32 points from Jenny Cagney (15) with 31 points and Emmanuel McMahon (28) with 29 points. Angela Cullinan won the gross with 18 points.
The men’s singles v par competition on Saturday was won by Richard Meaney (15) with one up from Kevin Glynn (10) with a score of level. 
The winners of the men’s fourball on Sunday were Kevin Glynn (10) and Frank Keane (12) with 46 points.

Portumna
IN the 14-hole Stableford competition at Portumna at the weekend, Leslie O’Meara (8) was the winner of the 0-10 category with 31 points. Steven Madden (14) won the 11-14 category with 32 points, Andrew McCarthy was the winner of the 15-18 category with 31 points and Kevin Dunne (22) won the category 19 and over section with 30 points. The winner of the seniors’ category was Joe McCormack (20) with 31 points.
The monthly three-ball competition is going on until the end of April. Two teams qualify each month for a play-off in May.

Shannon
IN last week’s men’s 15-hole singles competition at Shannon, Liam Hogan (11) was the winner with 37 points from Kevin Thompstone (16), who had 35 points.
The weekend 15-hole fourball competition was won by Denis Bartley (2) and Michael Kilmartin (12) with 40 points. In second place were Conor Galvin (13) and Joe McGrath (15) with a similar score, while third place was filled by Chris Harrigan (8) and John Paul Meaney (11) with 39 points.

Kilrush
AFTER week one in the Spring League at Kilrush, Gearóid Williams’ team is leading with 82 points from Michael Hogan and Noel Haier’s teams on 80 points, with Tony McMahon’s and Pat Brennan’s teams each on 76 points.
In last week’s seniors’ outing, the winning team comprised Leo Harvey, John Stapleton and Bill Murphy, followed by TJ Lyons, Tom Cleary and Maurice Roche, with third spot filled by Jim McSwiggan, Sean Moran and Tom O’Dea.
The Clare-Galway Senior League will take place at Kilrush next Wednesday, when the tee will be available from 9am to 1pm.
Gort
THE winner of the singles competition at Gort at the weekend was Niall Divinney with 41 points from Ray Dolan on 40 points, Anders Edler on 40 points and Anthony Thompson on 39 points. Eamonn Morrissey won the gross with 34 points.
There will be a similar competition this weekend, while the ladies’ Spring League is continuing.

Doonbeg Society
Members of the Doonbeg Society will have an outing on Saturday to Spanish Point.
The tee will be available from 10am and those wishing to take part should contact Tom O’Dea at 086 2799254.

Spanish Point
ONE of the most memorable achievements for any golfer is recording a hole in one and Tipperary man John Stapleton (18), who plays out of Kilrush Golf Club, did just that at Spanish Point last week when his beautifully struck mid-iron to the sixth bounced near the pin and dropped in the hole.
With nearly 30 golfers taking part in the seniors’ open on Tuesday, scoring was good and the winner with 39 points was John Croke (16), Rathbane, followed by Martin Cahill (17) with 37 points, also from Rathbane.
The spring lamb member’s competition last weekend was a scotch foursomes and was won by Kieran Madigan (19) and Jim Marrinan (16) with 47 points.
Competitions continue and timesheets are in the clubhouse.

Pitch and putt
TONY Clancy was the winner of the strokeplay competition at the Clare Road last Sunday. In second place was Gabriel Kerin, while Marty Fawl won the gross. The Clare Road will be the venue for a county board competition on Sunday when the tee will be available at 10am.