East Clare progress in mixed foursomes

EAST Clare have qualified for the North Munster area final in the Irish mixed foursomes, following their success at their home course at the weekend.
They started their campaign with a 4-1 win over Woodstock and followed this with a 3-2 victory over Kilkee, which put them into the area semi-final, where their opponents were Lahinch. The home side were 4-1 winners here and this gave them a final date against Dromoland, whom they beat 3 and 2.
Dromoland had previously overcome Ennis and Kilrush, while they defeated Shannon on a 3.5 to 1.5 score.
In the North Munster final, they will play Charleville on Friday, July 1 at 4pm in Castletroy. Charleville beat Adare Manor in the area final at their own course at the weekend.
The members of the East Clare panel are Mike Whelan and Margaret McNamara; Enda Donnellan and Leslie O’Brien; Barry Hurley and Bríd Hayes; William and Kathleen O’Brien and Stephen Moloney and Heather Cullen. In their second-round match with Kilkee, Mary Mannion, Mike Stritch and Peg Hanrahan played, while other members of the panel are Siobhán Shanahan and Ger Hogan. The team is managed by Sean and Helen Ahern.
The annual Olive Fahy Memorial Cup open day was held in East Clare last Wednesday, when members of 17 clubs participated.
In the ladies’ section, Siobhán Shanahan was the winner with 44 points from Mary Brennan on 41 points, Charlene Conwell with 40 points and Eileen Donnellan with 39 points. Sue Casey and Anne Jones won the nines.
David Franklin won the men’s competition with 42 points from Larry Bowles on 41 points and Brendan Magill on 41 points. Shane Fahy and Paul Hayes won the nines.
In the men’s seniors’ competition last week, Jim Greene, Mick Ryan and Eamon Goode were winners from Batt Skehan, John Anglim, Terry Stevenson and John Brett.
The winners of the Friday scramble were Pat Williams, Tony McNulty and Nancy Starr from John S Kelly, Derek Kenny and Mary Joe Minogue.
The captain’s, William O’Brien, prize will be played for this weekend.

Pauric joins Pine Valley
PAURIC O’Rourke from Portumna has landed a job at the world-famous Pine Valley Golf Club in America. The club was founded in 1913 by a group of amateur golfers from Philadelphia and, coincidentally, Portumna was also founded in 1913. Pauric loved playing golf from an early age and was one of the talented junior golfers at Portumna in the mid to late ’90s. He worked hard at his craft and this helped him win the golfer-of-the-year award at Portumna in 1998, 1999 and 2000, along with holding the course record 65 (-7). He turned professional at +3 handicap. Since then, Padraic has gone on to have a successful playing career, playing in golf tournaments in America, Europe and Asia, along with competing on the Irish circuit.
Speaking last week to Jim Hynes, junior conveynor at Portumna, Pauric said, “As I am now at one of the best clubs in the world, the goal from here will be to achieve head professional at a top resort. Pine Valley will open a lot of doors for me as many of its members own golf clubs around the world. The members are made up of some of the most successful businessmen.
“The fact I am Irish and have played and worked in Ballybunion and on courses that the Americans play when they come to Ireland helps me to interact with the members. I have been very lucky to see and play some of the best courses in the world. A round of golf here must come by way of an invitation from a member,” he explained.

Shannon
THE ladies’ May Medal at Shannon last week saw Margaret Hope lead the rest of the field a merry dance when she had five shots to spare after returning 70 nett.
The back nine was required to separate Hillary Park and Linda Doherty, both returning 75 nett and occupying second and third places respectively. Christina Halpin just edged out Sheila Treacy, courtesy of a better back nine for fourth and fifth places, each returning 76 nett. The gross was won by Michelle Pyke with 88.
Scoring was exceptional in the Wednesday open singles when 43 points was required to finish on the podium. Seamus Duggan was victorious with 44 points. The highlight of his opening nine of 21 points was a birdie at the sixth. Seamus was rock steady on the back nine, returning 23 points to win by one from Diarmuid Hughes and Jamie O’Shea, both returning 43 points and occupying second and third places respectively. Visitor Diarmuid Hughes from East Clare returned nines of 21 and 22 with a birdie at the 11th being the highlight.
However, the round of the evening came from junior member Jamie O’Shea, who was around in four under par for 43 points. Jamie covered the front nine in three under, recording birdies at the first, second and eighth. His only concession to par came at the 14th but was offset by birdies at the 12th and 15th. Jamie was figuring in the Wednesday open singles for the fourth week in succession. The gross was captured by Ed Hickey with two under par on 38 points.
The captain’s (Paschal Regan) prize proved to be a tale of two days, with those playing on Saturday drawing the short straw in relation to the weather, borne out by the fact that the top nine scores were all returned on Friday. One of the earlier starters on Friday, Liam Hogan set a hot pace when returning 68 nett. Liam covered his opening nine in one over, highlighted by a birdie at the ninth. When he stood just two over with five to play, Liam looked to be in control but a finish of five consecutive bogies left him to rue his finish.
Try as they might, nobody could get near him apart from Paul Kilbridge, who came in late on Friday evening with 67 nett. Eighteen-handicapper Paul covered the opening nine in four over, recording five pars and four bogies. A steady back nine, despite a triple bogey at the 16th, was sufficient to see him home. The weather proved to be the winner on Saturday, when the best score returned was 71.
On Saturday, the ladies play for the Mary O’Brien’s captain’s prize.

Spanish Point
WITH most of the inter-club competitions completed for another season, all the activities for the next two months will centre on the main prizes of the year, starting with the annual parent club fundraiser, which will be held on Saturday and Sunday at Spanish Point. The format is team of four and a timesheet is available.
The weekly seniors’ open was won by Patrick O’Boyle (18) with 32 points, while the weekly Thursday open was won by promising junior Rory Sexton (26) with 42 points, while Conor Egan (11) was second with 38 points.
In the Holmpatrick Cup qualifier fourball betterball on Sunday, the winners were Sean McMahon (11) and Shane Fitzgerald (16) with 41 points from Páidí McGough (13) and Michael Hennessy (7) with 40 points.
Weekly junior competitions continue each Wednesday and lessons begin shortly with details available from Fergal Hehir.

Gort
IN the open week nine-hole mixed foursomes at Gort, Kevin and Phil Mulkerrins were the winners from Gerry and Sara Broderick, with third spot filled by John and Margaret Kelleher 37.
In the singles on Sunday, Niall Higgins won with 42 points from Colin Whelan with and Pat Fitzpatrick on 40 points. Enda Cradock won the gross with 35 points. In a similar competition on Saturday, Martin Anderson won with 36 points from  Seamus Burke on 34 points and Kevin Mulkerrins on a similar score. The gross was won by Trevor Cummins with 25 points.
The winners of the Friday scramble were Enda Cradock, Adrian Conway, Joe Beakey and Kevin Roche with 53 from David O’Dell, Pat Curtis, Matthew O’Halloran and Michael O’Dell, with third spot filled by Denis Healy, Adrian Healy, Marie Hannon Healy and Eoin McEvoy.
Aidan O’Boyle with 39 points was the winner of a singles competition on Thursday from Stephen Cunniffe with 37 points and Gerry Fahy with 37 points. John Grier won the gross with 32 points.
Andres Edler won the singles on Wednesday with 66 nett from Philip McNamara on a similar score and Eanna Melville on 69. Ian McLynn won the gross.
Last week’s ladies’ singles competition was won by Josie Cummins with 41 points from Helen McCormick on 40 points and Pat Wynne on 38 points. Siobhán O’Connor won the gross.
The lady captain’s (Sara Broderick) prize to the men will be played for on Saturday and Sunday.
Captain Kevin Mulkerrin’s prize to the ladies will be played for this Sunday and a timesheet will operate.

Kilkee
IN the NBCRI Open Day at Kilkee, Liz Liddy (19) was the winner with 37 points from Bessie Lawlor (25), who had 33 points and Mary McGivern (17) with 33 points. The category prize was won by Margaret O’Sullivan with 30 points.
In the club singles, John Keane (19) was the winner with 35 points from Gerry O’Halloran (15) with 34 points and Leonard Mullane (12), also with 34 points.
In the Canon Breen v par competition, the winner was Michael Galvin (18) with plus six from Eddie Price (6) with a similar score. David O’Flynn (9) was third with plus three.
There will be a men’s open singles on Thursday, while the members’ cup will be played for on Saturday with four to qualify.

Lahinch
IN the ladies’ medal stroke competition at Lahinch last week, Ann O’Sullivan (24) was the winner with 73 nett from Jenny Cagney (14) with 75, while Angela Cullinan won the gross with 90.
In the men’s open singles on Thursday, Domhnall O’Mahony (11) won with 37 points from John McCrossan (18) with 35 and Colin Hester (6) with 34 points.
Declan Brougham (9) was the winner of the men’s monthly medal stroke competition on Sunday with 78 from Tom Saunders (6) with 81.
In a men’s singles stroke competition for the Kilcoran Lodge Cup, Adrian Lyons (12) was the winner of class A (scratch to 12) with 72 nett. In the Pretoria Cup (Class B for handicaps 13 to 28), J V O’Brien (15) was the winner with 72 nett from Tim Hurley (13) with 75 nett.

Kilrush
THERE was a good week of competition at Kilrush last week for the annual open week. In the singles on Monday, Tom Clarke (9) was the winner with 43 points from Michael Lillis (15) with 40 points.
In a similar competition on Tuesday, David Cronin (19) was the winner with 38 points from Brian Scanlon (13) with a similar score.
On Wednesday, the singles was won by Tom Mulhern (19) with 40 points. In Saturday’s singles, Anthony Garrihy (14) won with 36 points from Michael Studdert (22) with 36 points and Larry Byrne (19) with 35 points.
Cian O’Mahoney (11) was the winner on Sunday with 41 points from George Nolan (16) with 40 points and Eric Dore (14) with 39 points.
In the mixed on Friday, Ann Coen and Mick Lane won with 43 points from Deborah Glynn and Sean Rynne on 42 points, with third spot filled by Ursula Lineen and Tom Coffey with 42 points.
In the ladies’ competition on Saturday, Dympna Walsh (23) was the winner with 38 points from Geraldine Burke (20) with 32 points. The ladies’ singles in midweek was won by Niamh Whelan (12) with 40 points from Mary Keating (36) with 39 points.
In the fourball last Thursday, Anne Hogan (30) and Marion Brennan (19) won with 40 points from Mary Nolan (17) and Anne Coen (33) with 37 points, with third spot filled by Margaret Clune (32) and Kathleen O’Brien (25) with 36 points.
Vice-captain Declan O’Donovan’s prize will be played for this Saturday and members are reminded that a draw for opposites will take place on Thursday night.

Ennis
ENNIS made a winning start in defence of the national JB Carr title when they defeated Shannon at Shannon last week.
Ennis seniors held their annual PV McInerney competition with Ballinasloe last Thursday. The Ennis scorers were Pat Shannon on 41 points, Michael J Kenny, Tony Coote and Dick Herbert on 38; Val Bredin, Michael Nunan and Jim Hennessy on 37 and Andy Cregan, Pat Cahill and Jim Scully on 36. Ennis won the trophy on the score of 374 points to Ballinsloe’s 335.
In the club’s ladies’ fourball at the weekend, Claire Ruane and Edel Hehir won with 39 points from Kitty Morris and Bridget Hoey with a similar score. In third place, also with 39 points, were Della Burns and Maura Ryan.
The winners of the weekly ladies’ seniors’ competition were Mary Colton, Alice Darcy and Joan Murphy with 67 points from Carmel Verling, Kathleen Frehill and Jean Considine with 66 points.
In Friday’s open singles, the winner was Maeve O’Grady with 33 points, while the beginners’ competition was won by Patricia Russell with 58.
The men’s open singles on Friday was won by Frankie Vaughan with 40 points from Nigel Guyler with a similar score. Niall Howard was third with 39 points, followed by Roy Duggan with 39 points. Damian Casey won the gross with 34 points.
In the June monthly medal, Kieran Fox was the winner with 67 nett.
Jarlath O’Halloran won the Junior Scratch Cup on Sunday with 71 gross from Kieran Fox on 75 and Leo Mannion on 76. In the nett category, Leo Herbert won from Frank Considine, both on 69.
John McEntee won the Intermediate Scratch Cup with 76 gross from Frank Holly on 82 and Barry Conway on 83. In the nett section, Gerard Hannon was the winner with 67 from John Dempsey on 68.

Dromoland
THE winner of the weekend v par competition at Dromoland was Tim Killeen from Jason O’Leary and Mick O’Shea, all returning scores of three-up.
The over-18 handicap winner was Philip Hehir, while Eoin McNeil won the junior section with five-up.
The captain’s, William Fitzgerald, prize will be played for this Saturday and Sunday. This is an 18-hole stroke play competition, with the leading 27 qualifying for a final nine-hole play-off on Sunday afternoon.

Liscannor
LISCANNOR Golf Society will have an outing on Saturday to Kilkee, where the tee has been reserved at 1.30pm.

Fred Daly Trophy
ENNIS Junior Club recorded a great win at Shannon recently when they defeated the 2010 Munster Fred Daly champions, Adare on a 4/3 scoreline. They now play Castletroy in the Munster quarter-finals on June 30 at Dromoland. In another first-round game, Castletroy defeated Shannon.
Meanwhile, the first round of the Clare Junior Golf League was staged at the Castle Course in Lahinch, where the home team recorded a great victory with a combined team total of 200 Stableford points. Each team has seven players, with the best five cards to count.
The next outing of the league takes place at Ennis next Monday. On Friday, July 1, the Clare Boys’ Championship will take place at the Castle Course in Lahinch.
The Munster Junior Golf League, which runs the inter-county matches between the county leagues of Clare and Limerick and maintains their website munsterjuniorgolf.net, are staging a parent-and-child open golf tournament at East Clare on July 8 and 9. This event is a fundraiser for the first match between a Clare League selection and a Limerick League selection. This event will take place at East Clare on Wednesday, July 27.
In 2005, five clubs in Clare came together at the Castle Course in Lahinch for the first outing of the U-16 Clare Junior Golf League. Then in 2006, the Clare League added to its competition the Clare county championships for boys and girls, which is broken into three categories, U-14, U-16 and U-18. In 2007, Limerick formed a similar league and at the end of each league, the two winning clubs play each other for the inter-county shield. The co-operation of the two county leagues has led to the formation of the Munster Junior Golf League.

Woodstock
IN the Wednesday open singles at Woodstock, Michael Reen (10) was the winner with 44 points from Thomas Gleeson (12) with 41 points and Thomas Dormer (12) with a similar score.
In the monthly medal, Alan Garrihy (18) won with 66 nett from Jimmie Kelly (14) with 66 and Kieran Cunnane (scratch) with 68 nett.
There will be a singles’ Stableford competition on Saturday with the annual Costelloe Cup fixture between Woodstock and Ennis at Woodstock on Sunday.

Portumna
ALBERT Kelly (9) won the president’s (John Harte) prize at Portumna with 104.5 from Vincent Treacy (14) with 106, James O’Meara (18) with 107 and Michael Kennedy (13) with 107.5 James P McLoughlin (2) won the gross with 115 from John Cleary (2) on 119.
Mary McDonagh won the president’s prize to the ladies with 112 nett from Anne Fahy on 113.5, lady captain Lillian Austin with 113.5 and Mabel Conroy with 114. Anne Cassidy (4) won the gross with 127. The senior’s prize went to Mary Jo Kelly with 80, while Helen Holohan had the longest drive.
Open week gets underway on Saturday with a men’s fourball and continues for the week with a selection of competitions. Timesheets will operate for all events.
Portumna GAA’s annual classic will take place on July 7 and 8 and a timesheet is available through Michéal Ryan at 09097 41059 or Celia Keane at 087 1342148.
Portumna beat Roscommon in the Jack O’Sullivan Competition last week and now meet Curra West in the next round.

Clare Teachers
ENNIS hosted the Clare Teachers society captain’s (Peter Quinn) day last week, when the winner was Mary Glynn with 37 points. She had one to spare over John Doyle with Jim McMahon in third spot on 35 points, followed by PJ Garry on 34, Michael Cummins, Joe Griffin and Sean Daly on 33 and Con Woods on 32.
Seamus Frehill won the front nine with 17 points, while Mark Hogan won the back nine with 20 points. The category winners were Pat McNamara with 29 points, Fintan McEvoy with 31 points and Eileen Daly with 29. The golfer-of-the-year awards were won by John Doyle and Mary Glynn.
The outing was followed by the annual general meeting at which Fintan McEvoy was elected as captain for the coming year. Joan Murphy is the secretary and Sean Daly is the treasurer, with Joe McMahon the public relations officer. Elected to the committee were Kathleen Frehill, Pat McNamara and Tim McGillicuddy.

Castletroy Scratch Cup
THE Castletroy Senior Scratch Cup will be played for on Saturday, July 2. It is the oldest scratch cup in the country and is one of the most prestigious club events of its type countrywide.
Last year, Castletroy hosted the Irish Senior Amateur Open and many of the players were loud in their praise for the course and pledged to return for the Scratch Cup. In 2008 and 2009, the cup was held in May and June respectively but with a slightly later date this year, club captain Kevin Argue is confident Castletroy’s course and the new practice facilities recently opened by Solheim Cup captain, Allison Nicholas, will be at its challenging best for all competitors.

Sixmilebridge
SIXMILEBRIDGE Golf Society held an outing to Nenagh last Saturday when the winner was Mikey Corbett from Bobby Deegan and Brian Casey. The nines were won by Kevin Whelan and Mike Ryan, with the category prizes won by John Chaplin and Dessie McDermott.

Doonbeg
PAT Harte retained the Tom O’Dea Cup with 37 points when the Doonbeg society held their outing to Kilrush at the weekend. He also won the long drive. Pat Killeen was second with 32 points, followed by Declan Conway with 31 points. The nines were won by Kevin Harte and Derek Garvey. Michael Carigg won the prize for nearest the pin. In the ladies’ section, Ann Carrig won from Marie McGuire. The society’s next outing will be in August.

Clarecastle
CLARECASTLE society members will play for the captain’s (Joe Green) prize at Portumna on Saturday, where the first tee has been reserved from 9am. A timesheet will operate on the day. Members and guests intending to play should text 086 3246015 with their preferred tee time.

Cranny-Coolmeen
TWENTY-nine members of the Cranny-Coolmeen society played in the captain’s (Ollie McNamara) prize at Westport last week. The winner was Michael Donnelly from Mary McNamara, with Pat Murtagh in third spot.
In category 1, Ollie McNamara won from Tommy Coffey and PJ Hehir. Category 2 was won by Brendan McNamara from Michael Daly and David McMahon, while category 3 was won by Deirdre Daly from Pat Shannon and Michael Murphy.
Agnes Shannon and Dermot Connolly won the front and back nine respectively. Chrissie Daly and Paul Kenny won the nearest-the-pin prizes, while the long drive winners were Michael Meaney and Ray Shannon.

Avenue classic
AVENUE United FC will host their annual golf classic for the Eddie Ryan Memorial Cup at Ennis on Saturday, July 2. The competition will be for teams of four and a timesheet will operate with details available from Kieran Ryan at 087 8055306.

Pitch and putt
THE regional qualifying round of the Munster gents’ strokeplay was held at the Clare Road Club on Sunday. Kenneth Kerin was the winner in the senior section, with Ger Hanrahan and Niall Reynolds winning the intermediate section, while Gareth Kerin and Conor Hanrahan were the winners in the junior section.
The handicap matchplay competition will take place on Saturday with the draw at 10am.
Meanwhile, Cill na Móna will host the regional qualifying round of the national gents strokeplay competition on Sunday at 10am.