East Clare and Gort in Solheim Cup

East Clare and Gort were amongst 17 golf clubs that qualified for the 2011 Solheim Cup Club Challenge Connaught final at Galway Golf Club last Thursday.

Moyvalley from Kildare and Mountbellew from Galway qualified to play in the ladies’ Irish Open Pro-Am in Killeen Castle on August 4.
Over 200 clubs from around the country entered this year’s challenge.
East Clare were represented by Mary Beatty, Petty Ryan and Tara Whelan while Gort’s team comprised Siobhán O’Connor, Ruth Naughton and Gabrielle Warnock.

Inaugural Great Irish Links Challenge
Over 250 golfers from around the world participated in the inaugural Great Irish Links Challenge, which was held recently over the links at Ballybunion, Lahinch and Doonbeg. Despite some really challenging weather, the event was a huge success and already a date of May 14 has been agreed for next year.
A feature of the event was three holes in one over the three days. Darius Rucker (a member of rock group Hootie and the Blowfish) aced the 16th at Lahinch while Marshall Mize recorded his ace at the eighth in Lahinch. Indicative of the conditions was Alan Farnsworth’s ace at the par three ninth in Doonbeg, courtesy of a driver.
The event was played on a team basis at the three courses. The winning total was 199 Stableford points, a great score given the testing conditions. The winning team consisted of Jimbo Covert (Florida), Joey Marino (South Carolina), Al Perkins (New Hampshire) and Dan Drawball (Pennsylvania).

Ennis
Ennis Seniors hosted a modified fourball competition last week in which 71 members played.
The winners with 37 points were Luke Coote and Seamus D’Arcy from Jimmy McNamara and Vincent Gardiner on 36 points. In third spot with a similar score were John Joe Keane and Michael Torpey followed by John Keane and Pat McGuire with 36 points, Tony Kehoe and Michael Kenny with 35 points, Sean Fitzpatrick and Jim Scully with 35 points and John Vaughan and Ned Ryan with 34 points.
Ennis Seniors Memorial Day is on Thursday, June 9 and a timesheet is in operation.
In the Friday open singles, Flan Glynn was the winner with 41 points from John Cullinane on a similar score. Stephen Guilfoyle was third with 39 points followed by John Considine on 39. Johnnie Finn won the gross with 28 points.
In the ladies’ section, the May medal silver section was won by Kitty Morris with 71 with Flor Coffey winning the bronze section with 75.
In the ladies’ senior section the winners were Phil Butler, Grace Ryan and Claire Kennelly with 37 points from Alice Darcy, Brid Kelly and Ann Casey with 42 points.
In third spot with 42 points were Bridie Keane, Oonagh Fitzpatrick and Gertrude Finn followed by Anna Glynn, Joan Murphy and Nora Kelly with 43.

Woodstock
Conor Sexton (9) was the winner of the open singles at Woodstock last week with 37 points from Michael Murphy (14) with a similar score. In third spot with 35 points was Thomas Hehir (12).
The weekend fourball was won by Kieran Dromey and Conor Sexton with 47 points from Seamus Kelly and Tom Dormer on 45 with Tony Nugent and Michael O’Brien with 43 points.
The winner of the May Medal was Martin Dormer (19) with 66 nett from Liam McInerney (14) on 67 with Ross Darmody (10) in third spot with 67. Tony Nugent (4) won the gross with 74.
In the ladies’ May medal, Mary Sadlier won category A with 77 while Teresa Sherlock won category B with 79.
Friday’s mixed was won by Kieran Drowey and Mary Sadlier with 19 points. Mary Sadlier also won the previous week’s nine-hole mixed when she partnered Michael O’Brien.
This weekend’s competition is the president’s (Jimmie Kelly) prize, a singles Stableford event. There will be an open three-person scramble on Monday.

Shannon
In the Wednesday Open singles level par was a popular score with both Michael Corry and Jamie O’Shea going around in level par to secure first and second places. Michael covered the opening nine in one over, with his solitary birdie coming at the sixth. His only concession to par on his inward journey came at the 16th but was offset by birdies at the 13th and 18th.
His 42 points left him two clear of junior member Jamie O’Shea, who covered the opening nine in three under, with his only dropped shot at the fifth.
He recorded birdies at the second, third, sixth and eighth holes. In third place was Joe Finlay with 39 points while Jason O’Donnell won the gross with 36 points.
The men’s competition at the weekend was the May Medal and Tony O’Farrell emerged victorious with 64 nett. Tony covered his opening nine in two over, with a birdie at the second being his highlight.
A steady back nine of three over with a birdie at the 17th was sufficient to get him across the line by one shot from Kieran Considine and Jody O’Connor, who occupied second and third places respectively.
Next came a trio on 68, Chris Wason, Damien Casey and Aidan Moloney occupying fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively with Finbarr Keyes next on 74.
The gross was captured by Jack Keary with two over par 74 ahead of Daniel Brennan, who also returned 74.
On the inter-club scene, the Ladies Junior Cup  Intermediate teams advanced to the third round of their respective competitions when they both defeated East Clare at the weekend. They are now in action in Ennis on Sunday, June 26. The junior management team comprises Rose Doyle and Catherine Vaughan while the intermediate team manager is Anna Ringrose.
The June open four-person scramble will take place this weekend.

Lahinch
In the men’s open singles Stableford competition at Lahinch last Thursday, Joe O’Sullivan (12) from Douglas was the winner with 29 points from his clubmate Dermot McHugh (15) who had 26 points.
On the same day, the ladies held a national breast cancer research fourball on the Castle Course and the winners with 34 points were Maria Nolan (Lahinch) and Dolores Brennan (Dromoland) followed by Mona Davis and Barbara Foley (Lahinch) with 33 points. In third spot with 32 points were Mary Morgan (Nenagh) and Betty Quilter (Dunmore) and they were followed by Teresa Felle and Ann Kehoe (Ennis) with 31 points.
In the men’s singles Stableford competition on Saturday, Derek O’Neill (6) was the winner with 35 points from Niall Morrison (1) on 33 points and David Sheedy (6) with 31 points.
Aidan and Katherine Feore were the winners of the Lakeside Cup, a scotch mixed foursomes competition played on the championship course on Sunday and they scored 34 points.
In a men’s scotch foursomes on Sunday, David Conway and David Conway junior were the winners with 36 points.

Kilrush
The junior, intermediate and minor Scratch Cups were played for at Kilrush on Sunday. Jim Young junior (6) won the junior title with 76 from his father Jim Young Senior (5) with 77.
In the Intermediate Cup, the winner was Robert Prunty (12) with 81 from Eoin O’Brien (12) with 82.
In the Minor Scratch Cup, Michael Studdert (23) was the winner with 92 from Michael Carigg (23) with 95.
In the seniors’ outing last week, Kieran Lillis, CP Walsh and Denis Hassett were the winners with 36.2 from A O’Connor, Michael Hemmings and Tom O’Dea with 38.4.
In the mixed on Friday, ­Ailish Lorigan, Kieran Lillis and John Normoyle won from Claire Pyne, Michael ­Hemmings and Pat Shannon.
The ladies’ competition on Thursday was won by Mary Nolan (17) with 37 points from Kathleen O’Brien (27) with 34 points and Mary G Nolan (20) with 34 points.
The category winners were Ailish Lorigan (15) with 28 points, Margaret Donnelly (19) with 32 points and Stephanie Roughan (33) with 33 points.
The competition this weekend will be the Shannon Ferries fourball on Saturday and singles on Sunday while there will be an open singles on Monday.

Spanish Point
Evelyn Kelly and Maura Burke were the winners of the Granard Foursomes competition at Spanish Point. Martina Skerritt (20) was the winner of last week’s competition with a score of 69 nett. The Mayflower competition will be held next weekend. The timesheet for the Nozomi open day on June 13 is now open and bookings can be made by phoning 065 7084198.
Last weekend saw the third of the golfer-of-the-year singles competitions played for at Spanish Point and there was a big entry.
David Keane was the winner with a great score of 41 points off a 12 handicap. Second was Brian O’Loughlin (10) with 40 points and in third place was Jason Skerritt (5) with 38 points. The Tuesday seniors’ open was won by John Moore (15) with 38 points.
This Saturday, the first reunion of past captains and presidents will tee off at 10.30pm, with a prize-giving reception afterwards.
The Jim Finnerty Memorial singles is on this weekend and there will be an open singles on Bank Holiday Monday. Timesheets for all events are in the clubhouse.

Portumna
Donal and Inesa O’Gallagher won the open husband-and-wife competition at Portumna with a score of 68 nett from Jimmy and Carmel Cunningham with 68.5 points with Dan and Kathleen Lynch in third spot with 68.5.
Des and Mary Madden, Ballinasloe, won the gross with 81.
There will be an open fourball on Saturday and Sunday, with an open singles on Bank Holiday Monday. 
The club president’s (John Harte) prize will be played for on Saturday and Sunday, June 18 and 19. 
The Jimmy Bruen team beat neighbours Curra West Golf Club last week in an exciting match.
In the first round of the Cecil Ewing team event, Portumna will play Castlerea and anyone interested in taking part in trials should contact Kevin Donnellan at 086 2532337.
In the seniors’ outing to Oughterard last week, the winner was TJ O’Callaghan(27) with 34 points from John Hynes (19) with 32 with John Kennedy (17) in third spot with 31 points. 
Category A/B was won by Frank Kilkenny (10) with 28 points from Padraic Flynn (17) with a similar score, with Pete Gibbs (13) in third spot with 26 points. 
Category C was won by Denis Ring (17) with 28 points from Pat Craughwell (18) with 27.5 points, with Paddy Kelly (21) in third spot with 23 points.
Category D was won by Michael Harney (10) with 30 points from Daithí Frawley (16) with 29 points with third spot filled by Des Lynch (18) with 26.5 points. 
To honour the memory of Maura and Pauline Felle there will be a golf classic in Portumna this Friday and further details are available from Paraic Felle on 087 9775364.

Dromoland
In the weekend foursomes competition the winners were Mark Hogan and Brian Shally with 44 points.
They were followed by Brian Arthur and Tony Kelly with 37 points while third spot was filled by Jimmy McManus and Con Woods with 36 points.
The junior winners were Aaron Duggan and Sean Shanahan with 38 points.
Over the June Bank Holiday Weekend there will be a two-person rumble competition. Proceeds are in aid of the Clare Branch of the Cystic Fibrosis.
Members should note entries are now being taken for the Dromoland Claret Jug competition.
In the ladies’ Bumper Medal Stroke competition last Saturday, Sandy Smyth was the winner from Ann Nix with Dorothy Brennan in third spot. 
The Minor and Challenge Cup teams have qualified for the next round of the ILGU Leagues in Ennis on June 26.

Gort
There was an 18-hole singles golfer of the year competition at Gort last weekend when the winner was Adrian Whyte with 38 points from Noel Ruane on 37 points, Noel McFadden on 37 points and Kevin Fahey with 36 points. Jason McLynn won the gross with 32 points.
This weekend the men’s junior, intermediate and minor scratch cups will be played for. The Josie McInerney ­Memorial Trophy will be played for on Bank Holiday Monday and this is an open 18-hole singles.
Last week, the ladies played for the Cummins Trophy and the winner was Patricia Skehill with 39 points from Ruth Naughton on 37 points and Siobhán Forde on 36 points. Siobhán O’Connor won the gross with 23 points.
East Clare
The men’s singles competition at East Clare last week produced some good scoring. Mike Whelan (3) won the blue tees category (0-5 handicap) with 35 points with Mike Rochford (8) leading category 6-12 with 34 points.
In the white tees, category 12-16, Tony McNulty (12) was the winner with 37 points while Batt Skehan (19) won the category 17 and over section with 44 points.
The ladies’ Australian Spoons competition was won by Siobhán Shanahan and Eileen Donnellan with 41 points from Eileen Donnellan and Breda O’Loughlin with 39 points. In third spot with 39 points were Brid Hayes and Heather Cullen with 39 points.
In the 18-hole singles, Heather Cullen won with 38 points from Leslie O’Flynn on 36.
The winners of the Friday three-ball scramble were Tony McNulty, John Stack and Helen Downey from Jim Greene, John Farrell and Margaret O’Brien.
There will be an open team-of-three competition for ladies this weekend as well as a men’s open singles.
Adult beginners lessons will commence on Tuesday next at 6pm and these will run for the next four Tuesdays.

Clare lefthanders
The annual Clare lefthanders competition will be held at Ennis on Saturday, June 18, when the tee will be available at 2pm.
Details can be had from society secretary Maurice Walsh at 085 7754996.

Cooraclare
The Cooraclare-Cree Golf Society will hold their next outing this Saturday at Kilrush. Tee time is 10am and further details can be had from society captain Michael Studdert on 087 2299476.

Pitch and Putt
The Munster Ladies Matchplay was played over last weekend in Cork, where Kitty Murphy from the Cill Na Mona club came out winner in her section.
Having defeated three players from Waterford in previous rounds, Kitty faced Jacinta Nugent from the Tipperary Hills Club in the final.
Being five holes down with seven holes to play, Kitty’s experience stood to her when she fought back to eventually win her first major title on the 37th hole.
In the other section, Teresa Fitzgibbon from the same club narrowly missed out on a final place when she was beaten on the 36th hole in the semi-final. Both players continue to represent Clare in National and Inter-County competitions.