Chasing a place at the captain’s table

CAPTAINS’ prizes were played for at Dromoland, East Clare, Ennis and Gort in the past week, while the Clare Teachers’ Society also had their captain’s day at Ennis, which brought to an end a very successful year for the society.

This weekend, it will be the turn of Woodstock and Spanish Point to host captains’ prizes.

Dromoland
WILLIAM Fitzgerald’s captain’s day at Dromoland was a huge success with an enjoyable social occasion afterwards. The competition winner was Robert Deegan from Aodhan Wynne with Brian Shally in third spot followed by Alan Ryan and Alan White. Brendan O’Flanagan won the gross, while the nines were won by PJ Phelan and Noel Stapleton. The winner of the past captain’s prize was Con Ryan with Sean Byrne winning the student category. Killian Howard won the junior section from David O’Brien and Patrick Duggan.
Meanwhile, the Fred Daly junior team overcame Castletroy at the weekend at Woodstock to move to the next round.
Next week’s men’s competition is a fourball in aid of Holmpatrick for the blind.
Dromoland ladies were successful at the weekend in Limerick. The intermediate team had a win over Lahinch, while the minor team beat Kilrush. The quarter-finals will take place in Nenagh in July.

East Clare
STEPHEN Croke (11) won the captain’s (Kevin Mannion) prize at East Clare at the weekend with a score of 95.5. He had half a shot to spare over John Moloney (14) and they were followed by Enda Donnellan (14) 99, Tony Duggan (17) 99.5, Stephen Moloney (11) 100.5, Paul Madden (14) 101 and Eoin Mannion (14) 102.
The gross was won by Eoin McGuinness with 72, while other winners were Category 1. Dermot O’Donoghue (5) 103.5; Category 2. Paul Hayes (11) 102.5; Category 3. Kevin Moloney (20) 103; Seniors. Joe Brady (13) 100.5; Past Captains’ winner. Sean Ahern (14) 106; longest drive was won by Dermot O’Donoghue and nearest the pin was won by Herbie Burke.
Saturday’s best score came from Jason O’Brien (18) 67, while Sunday’s best score was provided by Tony McMahon (11) 66.
The captain’s prize to the ladies was won by Ann McInerney.
The senior and intermediate men’s scratch cups will be played for this weekend, while the ladies will have an 18-hole stroke competition.

Shannon
GER Sheehan (14) won the June medal at Shannon last weekend with 63. He had four strokes to spare over Anthony Connolly (14) with Colm Egan (15) in third spot, also on 67. They were followed by Brian Power (5) with 68, Ian Richardson (8) with 69, John Monahan (23) with 69 and Pat O’Rourke (15) with 69.
Ed Hickey (1) won the gross with 73 from Daniel Brennan (3) on 75.
In the open singles last Wednesday, Brian McMahon (18) won with 42 points from Tom Walsh (12) with 41 points and Seamus Stack (4) with 41 points. Ed Hickey (1) won the gross with 36 points.
In the Fred Daly Junior Inter-club Competition, Shannon had a 5-2 win over East Clare at Woodstock last week.
Eileen Carey (24) was the winner of the ladies’ June medal with 67 nett. She had one stroke to spare over Mary Carroll (25). Linda Quinn (19) was third with 71 followed by Noeleen Neylon (15) with 72 and Lynn Kelly (19) with 73. Lisa O’Shea (10) won the gross with 84.

Woodstock
IN the open singles at Woodstock last Wednesday, Anthony Sweeney (4) was the winner with 39 points from Michael Reen (7), who had a similar score.
Anthony Sweeney (4) won the June medal with 69 from Conor Sexton (7) on 71 and John O’Connor (11), also on 71. Kieran Cunnane (scratch) won the gross with 76.
The weekly mixed scramble continues this Thursday with a draw at 5.40pm.
Captain James Carmody’s fourball will take place this Saturday and Sunday.
The closing date for entries to the Shanaway Cup has been extended to this Sunday when the draw will be made.
In the seniors’ open fourball over 16 holes, the winners were Brendan Arthur and Willie Thompson with 41 points from Brendan McNamara and Michael Nugent on 35.
In the ladies’ monthly medal, Mary Sadlier was the winner with 74 nett from Teresa Sherlock on 77.
The lady captain’s (Anne Marie Russell) prize will be played for on Saturday and Sunday, July 7 and 8.

Ennis
LADY captain Monica Gallagher’s prize was played for at Ennis on Sunday when Imelda Colleran emerged as the winner. She had two shots to spare over Margaret Anne Killeen, with Margaret McEnery in third place a shot further back on 73. They were followed by Anne Casey (74), Suzanne Dean (75), Nancy Curran (75), Brid Cunningham (76), Karina Doyle (76) and Phil Butler (76). Pamela Murphy won the gross, while Frances Devitt won the beginners’ section.
In the mixed foursomes, Michael and Claire Carmody were the winners from Peter and Karina Doyle with Steve and Della Burns in third place followed by Michael and Betty O’Reilly. Pádraig McNicholas and Pamela Murphy won the gross.
In the Friday open singles, Niall Nevin won with 39 points from Colin Ryan on 38 and Mark Geraghty on 36. Tony Nugent won the gross with 32. Róisín O’Brien, Roscommon, won the ladies’ competition.
The winner of the June monthly medal was Pádraig Sutton with 64 nett.
Ennis Seniors travelled to Ballinasloe last week to compete against the host club in the annual PV McInerney Trophy. Ennis emerged winners with Tony Coote and Paul Higgins in first place on 47 points with Sean Fitzpatrick and Peadar Cosgrove second on 45, Jim Connolly and Eamon Kealy from Ballinasloe finished third.
The weekly competition at Ennis on Thursday last was won by Peter Daly, Tom O’Flaherty and Sean Finnerty with 47 points. They were followed by Terry Hughes, John White and Paul Mockler on 46, Mike Torpey, Joe McMahon and Padraig Ryan on 46 and Michael Kenny, Tom Purcell and Noel Ruane on 45.

Lahinch
MYLES Gallivan (14) won the men’s open singles on the Castle Course at Lahinch on Wednesday with 37 points.
Thursday’s men’s open singles was won by John Burke (12) from Macroom with 27 points.
In the John Burke Club Championship on the championship course, the winner was Michael O’Kelly (+1) with 150 gross from Peter Hennessy (3) on 157. The best nett was returned by Kevin Power (5) with 153.
In the club handicap championship at the weekend, John Morris (9) was the winner with 143 nett from Ger McMahon (9) on 146 and Michael Lydon (13) with 149.
In the ladies’ Eileen Murphy foursomes on the Castle Course, the winners were Olivia Lucas (8) and Angela Cullinan (12) with 37 points.
The men’s and ladies’ open singles continue next week on the Castle Course on Wednesday and on the championship course on Thursday.

Spanish Point
THIS weekend at Spanish Point, lady captain Nuala Kilroy will host her prize on Saturday and the timesheet is in the clubhouse. There is a nine-hole mixed scramble scheduled for 5.45pm that evening and the prize-giving takes place later followed by refreshments. The very popular Friday evening social nine-hole team scramble started last weekend and will continue through the summer. It is played as a team of three or four with a draw for partners at 6.30pm. It is open to all golfers and will be followed by a barbecue.
With the arrival the school holidays, regular junior golf lessons resumed on Wednesday and continue every second Wednesday under the supervision of Karen Twomey and Fergal Hehir. On Saturday next, the club’s Munster Country Club’s team take on Lismore at Doneraile at the quarter-final stage.
The senior open on Tuesday was won by John O’Brien (14) with 35 points with Margaret Whelan (28) Gort Golf Club second on 34 points.
The winners of the Friday scramble were Daragh Malone (28), Pat Green (12) and John O’Brien (14) with one under gross.
In the singles stroke golfer-of-the-year competition at the weekend, the winner was Eoghan O’Loughlin (3) with 65 nett from David Keane (12) 65 nett, Noel Connellan (17) 67 nett and Gerry Gallagher (21) 67 nett. This Sunday, there is an 18-hole fourball and timesheets are in the clubhouse.

Kilrush
THE vice-captain’s (Michael Hogan) prize was played for last weekend at Kilrush when the winner was Jim Young Junior (2) with 39 points. He won by two from Tom Prendeville (15) with captain Declan O’Donovan (8) in third spot, also with 37 points. Greg Young (5) won the gross with 30 points. The category winners were Noel McMahon (8) with 37 points, John Saunders (15) with 36 points and Denis Hassett (22) with 36 points. Other prize-winners were Neil Browne (nearest the pin) John Saunders (long drive) Michael Ryan (13) (front nine) with 21 points and Ronan Nagle (18) (back nine) with 20 points. In the visitors’ section, Liam McCannon (15) won with 36 points from Tommy Timpson (10) with 36 points.
In the lady vice captain’s (Margaret Donnelly) prize, the winner was Nicola O’Leary (13) with 40 points from Annie Gallagher (16) with 39 points, Luck Blake (32) with 37 points, Marion Brennan (21) with 36 points and Ann Cronin (21) with 34 points. Margaret Clancy (15) won the gross with 19 points. The nines were won by Sheila O’Grady and Elizabeth Blake.
In the vice captain’s mixed, the winners were Pat Donnellan and Geraldine Burke from Peter W Glynn and Lucy Blake with third spot filled by Brendan McNamara and Ailish Lorigan followed by John Stapleton and Stephanie Roughan.
In the open singles on Sunday, Diarmuid Murphy (6) was the winner with 38 points from Noel Healy (16) with 37 points and John Saunders (15) with 35 points.
In the seniors’ competition last Wednesday, the winners were TJ Lyons, PW Glynn and Murt Collins from Michael Hemmings, Tom Clarke and Denis Hassett with third spot filled by Tom Coffey, John Stapleton and Noel Enright.
Open week commences on Monday and timesheets will operate for the week. The draw for the Hartmann Cup’s mixed matchplay has been made and details are on the club noticeboard. Entries are now been accepted for the Members Cup, a men’s singles matchplay.

Gort
FRANK Higgins captain’s prize to the ladies was the competition at Gort on Sunday when the winner was Mary Fahey Coen (16) with 41 points from Josie Collins (17) with 39 points, Ann Marie Cradock (30) with 38 points and Ann Nolan (30) with 37 points. Bernie Diskin (12) won the gross with 23 points. The nines were won by Regine Malone (23) with 19 points and Geradine Lynch (19) with 19 points.
In an 18-hole singles Stableford competition on Tuesday, the winner was Phil Mulkerrins (27) with 35 points from Ann Marie Moran (33) 34 points and Marion Ruane (28) with 34 points.
The ladies will have a mixed foursomes competition this Friday and an 18-hole singles on Sunday.
John Kelleher (11) was the winner of the lady captain’s Regine Malone prize to the men with 41 points. Dave Hennessy (21) was a point back in second place followed by Ollie Curtin (14) with 40 points and Ger Smith (15) with 40 points. Enda Cradock (scratch) won the gross with 37 points.
In the Monday open singles, the winner was Philip McInerney (16) with 40 points from Enda Cradock (scratch), who had a similar score. Tony Kenny (9) won the gross with 30 points.
The men will have an 18-hole fourball this weekend.

Kilkee
IN the members’ cup semi-final at Kilkee, Len Owens (17) beat Liam Browne by 3/2.
In the quadrangular singles, the winner was David O’Flynn (9) with 36 points from Tom Carr (17) with a similar score. Ger O’ Flynn (12) with 33 points was third.

Portumna
IN the open fourball at Portumna last week, the winners were Niall J Kelly 14 and Hugh Davery 28 with 47 points. They had three to spare over Michael Kennedy (12) and Ollie Callanan (20), with third spot filled by Brian Duggan (2) and Ger McCarthy (16) on 43 points. The gross was won by John (6) and Sean Cleary (2) with 39 points.
In the ladies’ 18-hole fourball, the winners were Niamh O’Regan, Ennis,  (11) and Celeste O’Regan (Mount Temple) (12) with 37 points from Catherine Roche (Rosses Point) (27) and Inesa O’Gallagher (Portumna) (26) with 36 points. The gross was won by Suzanne Corcoran (Portumna) (2) and Fiona Moclair (Ballinasloe) (7) with 31 points.
The Ladies’ Senior Cup team has qualified for the All-Ireland Series on August 17 in Grange, Dublin and fundraising is underway.
Open week started last weekend and continues until Sunday. This Thursday, the competition is a three-ball betterball Stableford with a gents’ 18-hole singles stroke on Friday and a four-person team event on Saturday and Sunday.

Clare Teachers
CONOR Murphy was the winner of captain’s (Fintan McEvoy) prize when the Clare Teachers’ Society held their captain’s day at Ennis last week. Conor scored 40 points to win by two from Sean Daly with Pat McNamara in third spot, also on 38 points. They were followed by Michael Kilmartin on 37, Michael Cummins on 36, Joe Griffin on 36 and Jackie McHugh on 35. Mike Kelly won category A on 35 points. Leo Quinlan won category B on 34 and Áine Burke won category C on 27 points. The winners of the nines were John Doyle and John Reynolds while the guests’ prizes were won by Pat Lucey on 37 points and Noel Pyne on 34 points.
In the golfer-of-the-year competition, Michael Kilmartin won the men’s section with Áine Burke winning the ladies’ section.
After the outing, the society’s annual general meeting was held where Betty O’Riordan was elected as captain for the coming season. Joan Murphy is the secretary and Sean Daly is the treasurer, while the committee members are Kathleen Frehill, Joe McMahon, Pat McNamara and Tim McGillicuddy.

Irish Open sold out
ANYONE contemplating travelling to the Irish Open at Royal Portrush in Antrim this weekend will only be able to gain admission on the opening day, this Thursday, as the remaining three days have been sold out.
Last Thursday, the European Tour announced that Saturday and Sunday had officially sold out. For the first time in its 40-year history, the tour had to close tickets sales for a tournament with the 27,000 limit for each day reached.
Now, tournament organisers have confirmed that Friday is now also in the same situation as expectation surrounding the first staging of the Irish Open in Northern Ireland since 1953 reaches fever pitch.

Shannon Chamber
A TEAM from Emerson took home the honours at the Shannon Chamber of Commerce Classic on Thursday last at Shannon. Teams from DB Schenker, Maidenform International Ltd and the Mid-West Media team filled the runner-up spots. Owing to sponsorship, there was a nearest-the-pin prize for each team.

Sixmilebridge
SIXMILEBRIDGE society members played for their president’s, Bobby Deegan, prize at Nenagh last week when the winner was John McInerney from Danny Reddan, Shane Chaplin and Colin Murphy. The nines were won by Mike O’Halloran and Mike Ryan with the category prizes going to Willie Feeley, Vinny Purcell and Jo Jo Murphy.

Pitch and putt
THE county strokeplay pitch and putt competition will be played for on Sunday at the Cill na Mona club when the tee will be available from 10am for all grades.