Ennis edge closer to another Munster JB Carr title

 

HEADING into the second leg of the JB Carr seniors’ final this Thursday, Ennis are in a strong position as they carry a 4-1 lead to Kenmare.

Before a big attendance at Ennis last Thursday, the Clare club, winners of the national title two years ago, took a giant step towards winning back the provincial crown.

Patrick Murphy and Matt Flynn won a great match on the 20th, with Murphy almost holing out his tee shot. Tony Kehoe and Eamonn Corry won on the 17th, Luke Coote and Sean O’Gorman were winners on the 16th, while Paul Higgins and Tony Coote won on the 15th. Noel Pyne and Johnnie Cullinan were beaten on the 18th.

Ennis need just two wins at the Kerry venue this week to seal victory and move on to the all-Ireland series.
Meanwhile, Ennis seniors’ club held a team-of-three competition last Thursday. The winners, with 45 points, were Eamon Murphy, Frank Sheedy and Terry Hughes from Tim Kelly, Aidan Guilfoyle and Frank Coffey on 44, Michael Neylon, Pat McInerney and Michael Torpey also on 44,  Peadar Cosgrove, Frank Landy and Michael Carmody on 43 with fifth spot filled by Brendan Colton, Michael Kenny and Tom Pilkington on 42.

The Bell Trophy was played for at Ennis on Sunday, when the winner was Barry Hynes with 65 nett from Michael Hally with 66 nett and Tony Kinnevane with 67 nett. The gross was won by Jarlath O’Halloran with 75. In the open singles on Friday, the winner was Val Bredin with 40 points from James Ball with a similar score, Joe Finlay (Shannon) with 39 points and David Pender with 38. The gross was won by Alan Butler with 33 points.

In the ladies’ section, the winner was Joan Malone with 36 points from Anne Casey, also with 36, Ann A Gallery with 35 and Margaret Cooney with 35. Della Burns won the gross with 20 points.

The winners of the foursomes were Flor Coffey and Joan Barrett with 42 points from Helen and Ann Gallery with 41, Margaret Lacheiner and Bríd Cunningham with 41.

In the seniors’ scramble, the winners were Mary Gardener, Joan Malone and Vera Griffin with 49 points from Monica Gallagher, Mary McMahon and Kathleen Pyne with 50 points.

Lahinch
THE lady captain’s (Nollie McCarthy) prize was played for at Lahinch at the weekend when Kitty Morris (13) emerged as the winner with 40 points. She had one to spare over Fiona McCarthy (15), who had 39 points.

They were followed by Yvonne Morrison (18) with 38 points, Niamh Whelan (11) with 37 points, Barbara McAleese (18) with 37 points, Edel Lernihan (30) with 36 points, Trish Kelleher (23) with 36 points, Catherine McKenna (18) with 36 points, Marguerite Maher (21) with 36 points and Mary Malone (11) with 36 points. Eileen Rose Power won the gross with 30 points.

In the silver section, the winner was Angela Cullinan (11) with 36 points from Mary O’Doherty (13) with 35 points, Miriam Abernethy (8) with 35 points and Jenny Hennessy (6) with 35 points.

The bronze division was won by Mary O’Brien (21) with 35 points from Johanna Doyle (21) with a similar score. Mary McDonnell (22) was third with 34 points followed by Carmel Burke (25) with 34 points.

The past captain’s prize was won by Barbara McEvoy with 33 points, while other prizewinners were (30-36 handicap) Bridget Abernethy, (longest drive), Marjorie Aherne; (nearest the pin): Elaine Doyle;  (front nine): Rachel Maher with 19 points; (back 9) and Chloe Duggan with 21 points.

Mairéad Greene won the ladies’ senior captain’s prize on the Castle Course with 31 points from Joan Nally who had a similar score. Anne Murphy won the prize for nearest the pin, while Lu Cussen won the longest drive. Phil Collier was the winner of the nine-hole competition with 19 points.

The winners of the men’s fourball Stableford competition on the Castle Course on Tuesday last were Paddy Ryder (12) and Gavin Whitaker (12) with 46 points from Willie Moore (11) and Tom Greene (22) on 45 points.

In third place were Ronan Cooney (4) and Brian Cooney (11) also with 45 points.

In the ladies’ fourball on the same day, the winners were Mary O’Doherty (13) and Michelle Carey (27) with 44 points from Patsy McCarthy (12) and Niamh Carey (29) with 39 points, Jean Basheer (17) and Miriam Hillery (21) with 38 points, Aoibheann (20) and Clodagh Barry (23) also with 38 points. The gross was won by Maeve Byrne and Jo Heffernan with 26 points.

In the ladies’ singles on Wednesday, Shirley Halpin (23) was the winner with 38 points from Georgina Condon (16) with 37, Orlaith McCarthy (36) with 37, Janet Hanly (24) with 37 and Maeve Doyle (17) with 36 points. Siobhán Conway won the gross with 27 points.

On Wednesday, the Shaw Cup, a men’s singles v par competition was played for on the championship course where the winner was Michael Gilmartin (15) with four-up from Gary Lavelle (5) with a similar score. Neil McCarthy (13) was third with three-up followed by Hugh O’Neill (15) with three-up. Stephen McCarthy won the gross with a score of all square.

In a men’s Stableford competition on the Castle Course, the winner was Conor Fitzgerald (10) with 45 points followed by Bobby Fleming (16) with 44 points and Gavin Browne (10) with 41 points. Andrew Cloonan won the gross with 33 points.

The competition on Thursday was a men’s fourball Stableford aggregate and the winners were Peter (12) and Andrew Cloonan (6) with 83 points from Jimmy Doyle (12) and Richard Meaney (15) with 74 points. In third spot were Micheal Duffy (12) and Cian O’Gorman (18) also with 74 points followed by Gary (5) and Eric Lavelle (16) with 73 points.

The mixed foursomes for the Moy Cup was won by Ger and Rachel Maher from Diarmuid O’Siocháin and Jacinta O’Siocháin. The beaten semi-finalists were John Maher and Marguerite Maher and Patrick Malone Jnr and Ailbhe O’Reilly. Aidan and Katherine Feore were the leading qualifiers.

In the ladies’ foursomes for the Dunally Cups, the winners were Eadaoin Furey and Nicola Kenny with 40 points from Siobhán Conway and Helena Tiernan with 37 points with third spot filled by Marie O’Connor and Anne Connaire with 36 points. Jenny Hennessy and Valerie Hassett won the gross with 29 points.

The Munster Cup, a men’s foursomes Stableford competition, was won by Michael Gilmartin (9) and Paul Chamberlain (15) with 37 points. They had one to spare over Kevin O’Keeffe (5) and Brian Hanly (15), who were followed by Paddy Caulfield (16) and Martin Ryan (12) with the same score. In fourth spot were Stephen McCarthy (3) and Kenny Johnston (8) with 35 points.

Last Saturday’s men’s singles Stableford competition on the Castle Course was won by Micheal Duffy (12) with 44 points. He had two to spare over Andrew Cloonan (6) with Finbarr Quinlan (9) next on 41 followed by John Dillon (6) with 40 points.

Paul O’Brien won the gross with 35 points.

Sunday’s men’s singles Stableford competition on the Castle Course was won by Gerry McMahon (16) with 42 points from Daire J Crowe (18) with 38 points.

In Sunday’s team-of-three Champagne scramble on the Castle Course, the winners were Michelle (27) and Niamh Carey (29) and Isobel O’Grady (36) with 58 points.

Woodstock
IN the club singles competition at Woodstock at the weekend, the winner was Colm Mullen (7) with 42 points from Kevin Toner (12) with 38 points.

The ladies’ fourball during open week at Woodstock was won by Áine Burke and Sheila O’Grady (Kilrush) with 35 points from Mary Sadlier and Connie Fahy (Lahinch) with a similar score.

In a similar competition for the men, the winners were Tony Nugent and Michael O’Brien with 43 points from John O’Connor and Frank Doherty with 42 points. 

In the team-of-three rumble, the winners were Luke Coote, Tim McAllister and Declan Coote with 86 points from Donal Kenny, Nicky Ryan and Tony Kenny (Gort) with a similar score. In third place, also 86 points, were Hugh McGrath, Michael Reen and Liam O’Connor. The ladies’ team prize was won by Teresa Sherlock, Liz Dinan and Bernie Power with 69 points.

The ladies’ singles on Sunday last was won by Mary Gleeson.

Kilrush
THE winners of the open fourball at Kilrush last week were Pascal Looney and Noel Normoyle from Diarmuid Murphy and Eric Dore with third spot filled by John and Cian O’Mahony.

Denis Hassett (23) won the open singles with 41 points from Tony McMahon (16) on 39 and Noel Kilkenny (18) also on 39.

In Wednesday’s open singles, Brendan Healy (15) Shannon won with 41 points from Brian Scanlan (13) with 40 points and Brendan McNamara (21) with 39 points.

The seniors’ singles on Wednesday was won by John Donnelly from Brendan McNamara with John Robinson in third spot.

The ladies’ open fourball, winners were Martin Brennan and Mary Bolton with 41 points from M Skerrit and Breda Murphy on 39 points.

In the Howard Perpetual Mixed on Friday, Jim and Mary Young were the winners from Tom Prendeville and Marion Brennan with Sean and Freda Moran in third spot. Noel McMahon and Ger Burke won the gross.

There was a big turnout on Sunday for the lady captain’s (Mary O’Sullivan) prize when the winner was Stephanie Roughan (26) with 67 from Gere O’Byrne (36) with 65. Mary Bolton (23) was third with 67 followed by Lucy Blake (32) with 68, Anne Coen (16) with 68 and Geraldine Burke, also with 68. Niamh Whelan (11) won the gross with 79 while the nines were won by Maura McSwiggan with 31 and Anne Hogan with 34.

The winner of the lady captain’s prize to the men was Michael Coghlan (18) with 40 points from Tom Prendeville (15) with 39 and John Stapleton (18) with 38 points.

The president’s mixed will be the competition this Friday, with the draw for partners at 6pm. The competition will be followed by a barbecue. The Hospital Cup, a men’s open singles, will be the competition on Sunday and a timesheet is in operation.

East Clare
THE winner of the 18-hole stroke competition at East Clare was Mike Carey (14) with 69 nett from Jim Greene (8) and Ger Beatty (13) also with 69.

In the men’s Stableford competition, the winner was Jack Hogan (25) with 38 points. In the ladies’ Stableford competition, the winner was Tara Whelan with 42 points from Brigid Minogue with 40 points and Ina Reddan with 39 points.

Ciara Magill and Tara Whelan have been selected to represent Munster in the upcoming girls’ inter-provincials to be played in Ballinrobe.

The ladies’ junior foursomes team were beaten in the Munster quarter-final in Thurles on Sunday by Castletroy. The team on the day was Bríd Hayes, Margaret MacNamara, Eileen Donnellan, Siobhán Shanahan, Mary and Marese Mannion.

Bríd Hayes and Margaret MacNamara won their match on the 15th but the other pairs were beaten.
The club’s Jimmy Carroll team failed to progress at Ballykisteen recently. Having qualified to represent Clare in the Munster final, they finished third behind Adare and Nenagh.

There will be men’s and ladies’ 18-hole stroke competitions this weekend.

Dromoland
THE Tom Delaney president’s prize was played for on Saturday and Sunday and attracted 162 participants.
The winner with 55 points was PJ Hehir from Sean Donnellan on a similar score with Stephen O’Mullan in third spot on 54 followed by Paul Cunningham and John Hourigan, both also on 54 points.

Mark Reynolds won the gross, while other prize winners were Paul O’Brien with 53 points (past president), John Collins with 50 points (over 18 handicaps), Brian Kelly with 39 points (best 18 holes), Willie Fuller with 20 points (first nine), Jimmy McManus with 20 points (second nine), Declan O’Leary with 36 points (student).

In the junior section, the winner was Brian Meaney with 40 points from Sean Myatt with a similar score. Patrick Duggan was third with 39 points followed by Ben Mungovan, also with 39 points.

Sheila Kent won the president’s prize to the ladies with 38 points from Mary O’Donnell with 34 points, Dorothy Brennan with 32 points and Joan Ryan with 31 points. Mairéad Bergin won the gross while the junior winner was Dervla O’Neill.

This weekend the men will have a singles Stableford competition. The draw for the club scotch foursomes has been made and participants are asked to adhere to dates of play.

The club’s mixed foursomes team will compete in the Munster semi-final in Youghal this Saturday.
The club’s junior and senior scratch cups will be played for this Sunday.

The club’s open week will continue until this Friday and timesheets are in operation for all events.

Kilkee
THE junior scratch cup for the Gavin-Cronin Cup was played for at Kilkee, where the winner was Michael Ryan (5) with 72 from Michael Mullane (10) on 74 and Eddie Price (5) on 75. The winner of the nett category was Liam Dooley (9) with 67.

In the intermediate scratch competition for the Eddie Tuite Cup, the winner was Tom Cronin (15) with 80 from Declan Griffin (13) who had a similar score and Michael O’Brien (14) on 81. The nett was won by John Spillane (17) with 65.

In the Clancy Cup foursomes, the winners were John McGuire (10) and Joan Eakins (24) who beat Eddie Clohessy (17) and Ann O’Leary (19) by three and two.

Gort
IN the men’s singles Stableford competition at Gort at the weekend, the winner was Martin Whelan (21) with 44 points from Tommy Glynn (20) with 41 points and Conor Shields (10) with 39 points. The gross was won by Alan Minogue (6) with 26 points.

In the three-ball rumble on Friday, the winners were Rob Boyce Jnr (16), Rob Boyce Snr (19) and Kevin Sexton (15) with 85 points. In second place were David (14) and John Daly (19) and Mary Fahy Coen (15) with 84 points. Third place was filled by Frank Higgins (14), Michael  (19) and Maura O’Grady (30) with 81 points.

Thursday’s singles Stableford was won by Adrian Conway (8) with 41 points from Philip McInerney (14) with 40 points and Dara Smith (8) also with 40 points. The gross was won by Anthony Sweeney (3) Woodstock with 34 points,

In a similar competition on Wednesday, the winner was Aidan O’Donnell (13) with 43 points from Patrick Ryan (16) with 41 points and Jerry Leahy (10) with 40 points. Chris Murphy (9) won the gross with 31 points.

The president’s (Pat Cradock) prize will be played for this Saturday and Sunday.

Last week’s ladies’ competition was won by Ann Nolan (30) with 36 points from Hannah McInerney (8) with 35 points and Margaret McMahon (30) with 34 points. The gross was won by Siobhán O’Connor (9) with 20 points.

In the open singles last Thursday, the winner was Catherine Clancy (25) with 34 points from Carmel Scally (24) with 32 points and Margaret McMahon (30) with 32 points. Hannah McInerney (8) won the gross with 26 points.

Phil Mulkerrins recorded a hole-in-one last week.

The ladies will play for president’s (Pat Cradock) prize this week.

Portumna
THE men’s 18-hole fourball at Portumna at the weekend was won by Jamie Conboy (5) and Dean Cox (13) with 44 points.

In the seniors’ competition last Wednesday, the winner was Pauric Flynn (19) with 36 points from Francis McClearn (12) and John Hynes (19), who had similar scores.

Last Tuesday’s ladies’ competition was won by Siobhán O’Connor, Gort, (10) with 38 points from Paula McClearn, Athlone, (28) with a similar score and Patricia Costelloe, Rathbane who was a point behind. The gross was won by Ann Cassidy, Portumna, (3) with 34 points.

The Portumna senior ladies will be representing the club in the All-Ireland semi-final against The Island at The Grange Golf Club, Dublin this Thursday.

The Miele team have got through to the regional final where they will play Dunfanaghy in Limerick on Monday, September 10. The managers are Mary Madden, Judith Barry and Bridget Broderick.

The Pierce Purcell team reached the Connacht final at Claremorris over the weekend. They were beaten by Gort in the final. The team was managed by Mike Keyes.

Cooraclare-Cree
COORACLARE/Cree society members played for Clare Pyne’s captain’s prize in Kilrush last week. Over one hundred golfers took part.

In the ladies’ section, the winner was Mary Bolton (21) with 36 points from Peggy Mulqueen (21) with a similar score, Margaret Donnelly (20) was next with 32 points followed by Mary McCarthy (26) with 32 points, Nicola O’Leary (32) with 31 points and Ailish Lorrigan (15) with 29 points. Margaret Clune (31) and Clare Pyne (21) won the nines with 15 and 17 points respectively.

In the lady visitors’ section, the winner was Marian Brennan (21) with 36 points from Agnes Shannon (21) with 33 points. Peggy Mulqueen won the prize for nearest the pin, while the long drive was won by Bernie Eastham.

In the men’s section, Michael Lillis (13) was the winner with 37 points from Pascal Looney (12) with a similar score. Gabriel Looney (12) was third on 36 points followed by John Donnelly (16) with 36 points, Eamon Vickers (11) with 35 points and Martin Morrissey (12) with 35 points. The nines were won by Ross Townsend (18) with 20 points and Eoin Corry (18) with a similar score. Denis Nagle won the gross.

The overall winner was Shane Cosgrove (11) with 40 points.

In the men’s guests’ section, the winner was John O’Dea (15) with 37 points from Paul Coleman (2) with 35 points and Noel Normoyle (11) with 31 points.

Kieran Lillis won the men’s nearest the pin, while the longest drive was won by Tony McNamara.
In the Monday competition, Jude Pyne won from Niall Murphy and John Robinson. The juvenile section winners were Shane and Harry Lillis while Noel Lillis won the special prize.

The new captain for the coming year is Ross Townsend.

Pitch and putt
LAST weekend’s strokeplay competition at the Clare Road venue was won by Garath Kerin, with PJ Considine taking the gross.

The two-ball scramble was won by Tommy Kelly and PJ Considine from Denis McElligott and Gerry Kierse.
This Sunday is captain’s (Niall Reynolds) day at the club and the tee is available from 10am.