Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge grand finale at Doonbeg

The Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge for 2010 attracted a good entry and eight teams have qualified to play in Doonbeg in the final on Tuesday next.
“The Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge was a tremendous success. We were delighted with the number of teams that took part and also that so many teams had the opportunity to play all 10 fantastic golf courses around Clare,” said Maureen Cleary, marketing executive of Clare tourism Forum.
The top eight teams through to Tuesday’s final are Des O’Brien, Sean McGuire, Bill Hanley and Brendan O’Keeffe with 383 points; David and Mike Casey, Nicky Duggan and Alan Neville with 376 points; Kieran Kennedy, Patsy Kett, John Duffy and Tony Duggan with 363 points, Shane Collins, Brian Hassett, Brian Sheedy and Liam Carroll with 363 points; John Daly, Pat McCarthy, Brendan McDonagh and Michael Ryan with 353 points; Gay O’Gara, Mick O’Shea, Aidan McMahon and Michael Flannery with 352 points; Michael and Teddy O’Hanlon, Ger Teefy and Tony Scott with 352 points; Kevin Stritch, Brian McCarthy, Brian Lenihan and Darren Rosney with 352 points.

East Clare

The winter league has got underway and during the month of November there will be competitions in mixed fourball, men’s fourball and ladies’ fourball.
In the men’s singles last week, the winner was Ludwig Pfutzner with 43 points from Bryan Tobin, who had a similar score.
The winner of the men’s seniors competition was Jackie McHugh from Tom Larkin with Liam Nolan in third spot.
In the ladies’ seniors competition, Sue Casey, Mary Collins and Lillian Nihill were the winners.

Lahinch

Marie O’Connor (15) was the winner of the ladies’ singles Stableford competition on the Castle Course in Lahinch last week with 37 points.
Last Saturday’s ladies’ turkey singles competition on the championship course was won by Linda Toomey (5) with 40 points from Barbara Foley (16) on 34 points. Sunday’s ladies’ singles stroke competition on the Castle Course was won by Yvonne Morrison (18) with 71 nett.

Gort

John Tierney and Pat Curtis were the winners of the 18-hole fourball at Gort last week with a score of 48 points. They had three to spare from Kieran Grimes and Eamon Morrissey, with third spot filled by Ray Dolan and Noel Ruane on 44 points.
This weekend, there will be an 18-hole singles Stableford competition while the weekly open singles will continue on Monday. The ladies will have a Christrmas voucher competition this week.

Ennis

Ennis Golf Club will hold the captains’(Pádraig Ryan and Ann Kelly) dinner in the clubhouse on Saturday, November 20. Tickets for the event are available in the clubhouse.
This year, there will be a break with tradition and the vice-captains for 2011 will be announced at the dinner.
The annual general meeting of the ladies’ section will be held on Wednesday, November 24 with the men’s annual meeting on Friday, November 26 and the annual get-together of the joint committee set for Wednesday, December 1. All meetings will be in the clubhouse with a starting time of 8pm.
In last week’s ladies’ 14-hole Stableford competition, Yvonne Keohane was the winner with 28 points from Joan Barrett on 26 and Nuala Healy on 25.
The Friday open singles grand final was held last week when Ronan Nalty emerged as the winner with 32 points from Joe Colleran on 29 points. Tony Cleary, Dromoland, won the gross with 26 points while the winner of the ladies’ section was Phil Butler with 29 points.
The Friday open singles will continue this week with a scramble on Saturday and a turkey fourball on Sunday.
This Friday night the club will host a session in the bar with musicians from the Ennis Trad Festival playing. The club’s vice-captain, Mike Butler, is a member of the festival committee.

Portumna

The winners of the three-ball waltz competition at Portumna were Ann Fahy, Brid Kelly and Enda Finn with 83 points from Pauline McEvoy, Sean Whelan and John Lynch with a similar score. In third spot were Des Clarke, John O’Gorman and Niall Kelly on 82 points. The annual general meeting of the ladies’ section will be held in the clubhouse on Sunday at 4pm.
The AGM of the men’s committee will be held next Tuesday in the clubhouse at 8pm. The annual mass for deceased members will be held this Friday at 8pm in the clubhouse.

Ennis Seniors

Paddy Lane, Michael Kerin and Martin Concannon were the winners of the Ennis seniors modified three-ball scramble last week with 66 points. They had one to spare from PJ Garry, Dick Burke and Jim Hennessy. In third spot, also with 65 points, were George Dilger, Sean O’Gorman, Tom Purcell and JJ Keane, with fourth spot filled by Pat McInerney, Joe McMahon and Maurice Walsh on 64 points.

Dromoland

The winner of the weekend turkey competition at Dromoland was Tony Byrne with 40 points, with Ray O’Neill in second on 39 points. This weekend’s competition will be the Christmas hampers.

Spanish Point

Lucia Cronin, Evelyn Kelly and Val Ross were the winners of the three-ball scramble at Spanish Point last weekend.
A nine-hole competition will take place during the month of November, with the draw at 1.50pm on Sundays.
The AGM of the ladies’ club was held last Sunday. The following officers were elected for 2011. Lady Captain: Breeda Murphy; vice-captain, Nuala Kilroy; ex-official, Mary Saunders; secretary, Aoife O’Malley; treasurer, Martina Skerritt; handicap secretary, Mary Cleary; PRO, Geraldine Reddan; commitee members, Kathleen Twoomey, Mary Saunders Clare McNamara.
The men’s club annual meeting was also held at the weekend and the following were elected. Captain: Michael Hennessy; vice-captain, Noel McMahon; ex officio, Gary Carroll; hon secretary, Fergal Hehir; hon treasurer, Jim Marrinan; committee, Martin Glenny, Eoghan O’Loughlin, Gerry McMahon, Paidi McGough.
Bad weather caused problems with last week’s fixtures but the men’s team rumble for turkeys was played, with a score of 99 points winning for Brendan Sexton (14), Gerry O’Loughlin (18), Fergal Hehir (14) and Eoghan O’Loughlin (5). There will be a men’s turkey singles stroke competition this weekend and a timesheet will operate.

Shannon

The Wednesday open singles at Shannon saw John Paul Meaney prove too good for the rest of the field when his 40 points left him with three to spare from Eugene Donaghy, who occupied second place with 37 points. Visitor Denis O’Brien was third with 35 points while the gross was captured by Liam Hogan with 20 points.
The ladies’ weekend competition was their Christmas hampers, which saw Mary Carroll capture the spoils with 37 points. Junior member Lisa O’Shea was second with 36 points, Pauline Kilmartin was third with 35 points, just edging out Caroline Fanneran by virtue of a better back nine. The gross was captured by Jean Murphy Wright with 21 points.
The ladies’ AGM takes place next Monday in the clubhouse, commencing at 8pm and the men’s club AGM takes place next Tuesday, also commencing at 8pm.
This Friday, the men’s captain’s (Joe Sheehan) dinner takes place in the clubhouse. There will be a men’s 15-hole singles competition this weekend, while the mixed hampers will be the competition on Sunday.

Woodstock

Frankie Vaughan (37) won the turkey singles at Woodstock at the weekend with 37 points from Cormac Walshe (14) on 36 points. There will be another turkey competition this weekend.

Clare Teachers

Woodstock was the venue last Saturday for an outing for members of the Clare Teachers Golf Society. Peter Quinn, the society captain, emerged as the winner with 33 points from Rory Kennedy on 31 and Martin Mason on 30. The category winners were John Doyle with 28 points, Shane McCarthy with 30 points and Joan Murphy with 20 points while the nines were won by Pat McNamara with 17 points and Seamus Frehill with 19 points.
The society’s next outing will be on Saturday, December 12 to Ennis.

Clarecastle

Colin Higgins was the recent winner of the Clarecastle Society’s recent outing at Galway Bay Golf Club. Pat Barry was second with Joe Green third. John McGrath and Mike Foley were the winners of the nines, with Joe Considine winning of the guests’ section. The next outing is the Christmas hamper, which will be played at Spanish Point Golf Club on Saturday November.

Sixmilebridge

Sixmilebridge Society held an outing to East Clare on Saturday, when the winner was Tommy Liddy with 42 points from Daniel Reddan, who had a similar score. David Purcell was third with 40 points while the nines were won by Shane Chaplin and Russ Trow. Mikey Corbett won the category for high handicaps. The golfer of the year prize was presented to Brian Casey.

Corofin

The November outing of Corofin Society will be to Ennis this Saturday. This will also be the final singles competition of the season and will decide the club’s golfer of the year. The tee is reserved from 10am.