Cunningham enjoys Cork win

Ennis member Sarah Cunningham won the Ford Ladies’ Scratch Cup at Cork Golf Club at the weekend. She had three shots over defending champion Gillian O’Leary from the host club.
Sarah completed the 36-hole event in one under par 147, which was impressive on a day when conditions were particularly difficult, with participants having to contend with a strong wind.
After round one, she shared top spot on 72 with Gillian O’Leary and Charlene Reidy and they were just two ahead of Leona Maguire, who eventually finished in third spot and whose sister Lisa finished in a disappointing 16th place.
In the first round, Sarah started at the second and looked to be in trouble when she had a quadruple bogey at the seventh.
She bounced back with birdies at the next three holes and had another at the 12th and to finish she had a birdie on 18 and then eagled the first (her final hole) to be two under after round one.
In the afternoon she was four over after four but again hit back with birdies on the 11th, 12th and 14th.
This week, Sarah is part of the Munster team for the inter-provincials, which are taking place at the same Cork club.
Sinéad Sexton from Lahinch is also part of the Munster team.
Meanwhile, 13-year-old Lisa O’Shea from Shannon reached the Munster ladies’ junior championship final at Muskerry last week, where she was beaten on the 17th by Zoe Allen from Lurgan after a tremendous contest.
Lisa now heads for Scotland with the Irish team, which will compete in the Scottish U-16 girls strokeplay championship.

Lahinch
In the men’s fourball Stableford competition at Lahinch on Good Friday, Ciaran Mandal (14) and Kieran Shanahan (21) were the winners with 44 points from Declan  (1) and Paul McInerney (5) on 43 points. Domhnaill (8) and Diarmuid O’Mahony (11) were third with 43 points.
A ladies’ fourball Stableford competition on the same day was won by Gráinne Hennessy (15) and Jean Basheer (17) with 44 points.
In a similar competition for ladies on the Castle course, Lourdes Gleeson (23) and Olive O’Kelly (24) won with 37 points.
The Ennistymon House Cup, a men’s singles Stableford competition, was the attraction on Saturday when the winner was Brian Sexton (18) with 44 points. Adrian Lyons McMahon (9) was second with a similar score followed by Kevin Power (14) with 42 points, Colm McInerney (11) with 42 points and Ronan Ryder (14) with 40 points. Eddie Power won the gross with 35 points.
The ladies played for the JK Brice Cup, a singles Stableford event, and the winner was Nicola Kenny (23) with 43 points from Jenny Hennessy (6) with 42 points and Marjorie Ahern (12) with 41 points. Elayne Hickey won the gross with 32 points.
Edwina O’Brien (20) won the silver section with 39 points from Barbara Foley (16) on 38 points. Oonagh Mee (24) won the bronze section with 37 points from Ellen Stuart (28) with 36 points.
A team-of-four competition was the attraction on the old course on Sunday when the winners with 89 points were M Pierse (4), P McInerney (5), J Conway Jnr (12) and Hilary Haugh (14). In second place with 86 points were C O’Mahony (7), D O’Mahony (9), N O’Mahony (11), D O’Mahony (11) followed in third spot, also with 86 points, by M Sadlier (11), M McCarthy (11), B Frazer (12), R Frazer (21).
In a similar competition on the Castle course, the winners were W Moore (11), T Greene (22), J Meany (22) and G O’Nolan (16) with 93 points.
The Mick O’Loughlin Cup, a men’s singles Stableford competition, was the attraction on bank holiday Monday when the winner was Michael Lynch (15) with 40 points from Peter Doyle (9) with 37 points, John Reidy (11) with 36 points and Peter Hennessy (4) with 35 points. Declan McInerney won the gross with 32 points.
Last week’s ladies singles competition on the championship course was won by Della Malone (15) with 37 points.

Doonbeg
Seanie Moloney with 42 points was the winner of last Sunday’s singles competition at Doonbeg. He was followed by John McGuire on 35 and Michael Conway on a similar score.
Kieran Golden and Seanie Moloney were the recent winners of the fourball followed by Darragh Flaherty and PJ Queally.
Vivian Killeen beat Pat O’Malley in the final of the singles club matchplay.
The ladies (Ita Mangan) and gents’ (Michael Bermingham) presidents’ prizes will be played for in Doonbeg Golf Club this Sunday. Presentation will follow competition in Darby’s Bar.

Ennis
Ennis seniors held a three-ball modified scramble last week when the winners with 81 points were Aidan Guilfoyle, Andy Cregan and Pat Rutherford followed on 76 by Bill Leacy, Michael Ball and Willie Moloney. In third place were Colm McNevin, Conor Murphy and Dickie Pyne on 76 followed by Michael Finn, Michael Kenny and Matt Molyneaux on 75, Joe Carmody, Michael Torpey and Sean O’Gorman on 75 with sixth place filled by Joe O’Neill, Joe O’Brien and John McEntee on 74.
In the ladies’ 18-hole Stableford competition the winner was Yvonne Keohane with 38 points from Della Burns on a similar score, with Peggy Duggan in third place on 36 points.
The winners of last week’s ladies’ seniors outing were Oonagh Fitzpatrick, Pat Leacy and Mary McMahon from Joan Murphy, Carmel Cummins and Carmel Verling.
In the ladies’ open singles on Friday, Elaine Kelly won with 35 points from Eithne Murphy on 34 points.

Kilrush
In the Paddy Ryan open singles at Kilrush at the weekend, Gearóid Williams was the winner with 41 points from John Stapleton on 40 and Michael Studdent on 39.
The winners of the Good Friday scramble were Declan O’Donovan, Joan O’Malley and Freda Moran from Jimmy McSwiggan, John Stapleton and Clare Pyne with third spot filled by Kieran Lillis, Michael Hemmings and Stephanie Roughan.
In the ladies’ singles last Thursday Ann Coen won with 38 points from Margaret Clune on 36 and Ursula Lineen on 35. Mary Lyons won category one with 31, Joan O’Malley won category two with 34 and Nicola O’Leary won category three with 35. 
In last week’s seniors outing the winners were Tom O’Dea, Noel Cooney and Matt Fitzpatrick from Kieran Lillis, Murt Collins, Noel Enright and Denis Hassett, with third spot filled by Aeneas O’Connor, Tom Cleary, Barry Taylor and Bill Murphy.
The club will hold a race night on Friday, April 20 and members are reminded to return their cards this week.

Shannon
John Gubbins (14) was the winner of the open singles at Shannon on Friday with 42 points from David Fitzgerald (11) with 40 points, Ray Kiely (12) with 39 points, Gerry Dunne (14) with 38 points and Gerard Sweeney (12) with 38 points. Ed Hickey (1) won the gross with 37 points. Terry O’Connor had a hole in one at the fourth.
In the open singles on Saturday, Fintan Ward (7) was the winner with 43 points from David O’Brien (12) with 42 points, Jody O’Donoghue (19) with 41 points, Peter Collins (17) with 40 points and Liam O’Mahony (12) with 39 points.
Ed Hickey (1) again won the gross, this time with 35 points.
In the ladies’ fourball competition, the winners were Deirdre Hennessy (22) and Eileen Quinn (26) with 41 points from Rose Doyle (12) and Liz O’Sullivan (15), who had a similar score.
The Wednesday open singles was won by Pat Green (14) with 43 points from Larry Egan junior (7) with 40 points and Noel Morgan (13) with 39 points. Jason O’Donnell (2) won the gross with 34 points. Michael Mulcahy recorded a hole in one at the 12th hole.

Spanish Point
Inter-club competition for 2012 started for the men’s club on Thursday, when the preliminary round of the JB Carr Memorial Trophy, against Woodstock was played at Spanish Point. The format for this seniors’ competition is five pairs playing matchplay in scotch fourball format. It was a very close game and in the end was decided on the 18th hole of the fifth match, with the home team winning on a three games to two result.
The Spanish Point team and panel was Eamonn Murphy, Patrick O’Boyle, Brendan Reddan, Tony Crowley, Tom Mernagh, Derry Waldron, Len Wilson, Michael Hillery, John Moore, Mike Hennessy, John O’Sullivan, David Fitzgerald and Christy Mohally and they now meet Ennis, the All-Ireland champions from 2010, in the next round, also at home.
All competitions for the holiday weekend were well supported with the Easter Hamper, played over Saturday and Sunday, being the highlight of the activities. Reflecting the good weather and the excellent condition of the course, scoring was good. Raymond Ward (15) shot 59 nett to win the hamper from Brendan McCarthy (11) 62 nett,  Eoghan O’Loughlin (3) 63 nett and Niall McMahon (18) 65 nett. In the seniors open last week, Gerry Meade (16) was the winner with 36 points.
In the Friday open, Brendan McCarthy (12) won with 41 points. The Easter Monday open was won by Fergal Hehir (16) with 36 points.

Dromoland
The winner of the men’s 18-hole Stableford competition at Dromoland was Donnacda Nagle with 40 points from Mark Hogan on 38 and Declan Devitt, also on 38. John Hourigan won the over-18 handicap category with 38 while the winner of the junior section was Sean Myatt with 41 points.
The winner of the ladies’ section was Catherine O’Neill from Fran Feighery and Colette Colleran.
There will be a club foursomes this weekend.

East Clare
East Clare will host an open men’s seniors (over 55) day next Tuesday, April 17 when there will be lots of prizes on offer. Entries can be made to 061 921322 or 061 640044.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles competition at the weekend Tim Walsh (19) won with 61 from Brian McCarthy (12) with 65 and Michael O’Halloran (12) with 67.
In the men’s singles off the yellow tees, Michael Larkin (23) was the winner with 38 points.
Last week’s men’s seniors outing was won by Brendan Moloney, Kieran Sheedy and Pat Browne from Liam Nolan, Mick Gough and Eddie Fennessy, with third spot filled by Michael Drew, Teddy Murphy and Kevin Grimes. The winner of the ladies’ seniors outing was Phil Burke.
Next weekend, the final of the winter league takes place while the men’s club will have an 18-hole singles and the ladies’ club have a golfer-of-the-year competition.

Woodstock
The winners of the open fourball at Woodstock were David Pilkington (16) and Alan Markham (12) with 48 points from Michael Daffy (16) and Brian Hassett (18) with 47 points.

Portumna
In the open fourball at Portumna at the weekend the winners were Ger Brehony (10) and Mick McGivern (9) with 48 points from Dan Hogan (8) and Joe McCormack (16) with a similar score. In third spot with 47 points were Andrew McCarthy (10) and Donal Flannery (11) followed by Leslie O’Meara (6) and Brian Grogan (12) with 45 points. The gross was won by Matt Donoghue (7) and Pat Quinlan (7) with 38 points.
In the monthly open three-ball, the March winners were Jean (23), David (13) and John Hickey (17) with 55 points from Dermot Corcoran (16), Liam Mulroney (16) and Ger Heffernan (17) with 53 points.
In the father-and-son fourball on Friday last the winners were Martin (15) and Gavin Young from Birr with 46 points from Michael (18) and Kevin Coughlan with 45 points, Vincent (14) and Owen Treacy (24) with 45 points and Justin (12) and Cathal O’Byrne (5) with 44 points. Michael (5) and Michael Junior Darcy (4) won the gross with 38 points.
The Monday open competition was won by JP McLoughlin (1) with 42 points from Paul Conlon (17) with 39 points and Tom Feeney (22) with 30 points. Shane Ryan (5) won the gross with 32 points.
The junior committee at Portumna will hold a junior open on this Friday, April 13.

Gort
In the men’s singles Stableford competition at Gort at the weekend, Rory O’Donnell (21) won with 41 points from Tom Deveney (7), who had a similar score, Shane Keane (17) with 40 points and Michael Bindon (18), also with 40 points. Enda Cradock (1) won the gross with 35 points.
In the open singles on Friday, Shane Kennedy (19) was the winner with 44 points from Andy Turner (21) with 41 points and Ronan Higgins (7) with 40 points. Enda Cradock (1) was the gross winner with 32 points.
Last week’s open singles was won by Joe Geoghegan (9) with 42 points from Ronan Higgins (8) with 40 points and Pat McNamara (22) also with 40 points. Enda Cradock (1) again won the gross with 39 points.
The competition this weekend will be the subscription stakes, a golfer-of-the-year event.
In the ladies’ singles last week, Maura Hanrahan was the winner with 41 points from Carmel Murphy on 38 points and Sue Madden on 37 points, Siobhán O’Connor won the gross with 24 points.
Last week’s open singles winner was Siobhán Forde with 36 points.
The ladies will also play the annual subscription stakes competition this weekend.

Kilkee
Captains George Roche and Irene Neylon held their drive-in at Kilkee at the weekend. A scramble was held in conjunction with the drive-in and the winners were Jimmy Murray (10), Brian Muldoon (15), Ita Mangan (18) and Elaine Lyons (25) with 49.2 from Ger O’ Flynn (12) Michael Galvin (17), Michael Morrissey (21) and Catherine O’ Connor (27) with 49.3. In third spot were Harry Eakins (13), Martin Leyden (19) and Kathleen Kelly (27) with 51.

Clarecastle
Clarecastle Society will hold its next outing at Athenry this Saturday. The first tee has been reserved from 9.30am. Members and guests intending to play should text their preferred tee times to 086 3246015. Those who do will be notified of the tee times and playing partners by text following a draw on Friday evening.

Sixmilebridge
Sixmilebridge Society will hold an outing to Portumna this Saturday when the tee will be available from 10.30am to 11.40am.

Cooraclare/Cree
There was a turnout of 32 golfers at the Cooraclare/Cree Society outing held in Ennis on Saturday. Winner in the ladies’ section was Margaret Clune with 34 points from Geraldine Burke with a similar score. Mary Bolton was third with 31points.
The winner of the men’s section was Michael Studdert with 34 points from Denis Nagle and Martin Morrissey, both with 33 points. In the visitors’ section, Mary McNamara won with 39 points from Dolores Reidy on 36 points. The society’s next outing will be in Woodstock on Saturday, June 2.
Monday evening golf will continue from 5.30 to 6.15pm at the Kilrush. The competition will be played over 12 holes. Men and ladies who wish to take up the game are welcome to attend.

Pitch and putt
The overall winner of the Clare Scratch Cup in Doolin was Noel Collins from Cork. The senior title was won by Liam Donovan (Bruff) with the intermediate title going to Ger Hanrahan from the Cill na Mona club and the junior to Conor Hanrahan from the same club.
Helen Daly, also from Cill na Mona, won the ladies’ title.
In Sunday’s strokeplay event at the Clare Road club, the winner was Tommy Kelly from PJ Considine with Ger Hanrahan winning the gross.
The winners of the two-ball scramble were Marty Fawl and Denis McElligott.