Great scoring at Spanish Point

 

LAST weekend, 98 members entered for the 2011 captain’s (Mike Hennessy) prize at Spanish Point. This was an 18-hole stroke competition with the top 15 and ties going to a play-off over nine holes on Sunday evening.
The current Par is 66 and 17 players qualified from 61 nett to 67 nett which was great scoring in fine but windy conditions. The course was in great condition with the greens, in particular, running fast and proving a good test, a tribute to green keeper, Denny Gallery and his team.
Leading in the play-off at five under nett were Eamonn McMahon and Pat O’Malley closely followed by John Meere on 63 and Joe O’Rourke and Brendan Sexton on 64. Highlights of the play-off were a great 31 gross (two under) by Eoghan O’Loughlin, a solid four over by Brendan Sexton, which moved both of them up the leader board but Eamonn McMahon (19) held on to win the prize with 90.5 nett.
He was followed by Brendan Sexton (15) with 93.5, Eoghan O’Loughlin (4) 96, Pat O’Malley (16) 96, Ross Burke (13) 97 and Brian O’Loughlin (11) 97.5.
The gross was won by Jason Skerritt (5) 70 and other prize winners were past captains, Tom Mernagh (6) with the seniors’ prize won by Gerry Meade (17). Nearest the pin on the sixth was won by Cathal Whelan (5).
In the captain’s prize to the ladies, Martina Skerrit won from Rose Kerrison with Della Malone in third spot.
In the captain’s prize to the juniors, Stephen Cunningham (18) won with 40 points, from Cian Moran and Niall Hickey.
The Thursday Open had an entry of 50 players and was won by Patrick Kyne (18) with 47 points from David Keane (10) with 42 points, Michael Studdert (19) 39 points and Eamonn McMahon (19) with 38 points.
The competition this weekend will be a scotch foursomes with a timesheet in operation.
THE Lancome breast cancer competition will take place on Sunday at Spanish Point. The winners of the Cogan’s open day were Aoife O’Malley (11) with a score of 40 points followed by Aileen Kyne ( 19) on 37 points and Val Shannon ( 7 ) on 36 points. The nines were won by Ellen Ryan and Ann Marie Sexton.

Lahinch
LAST week, Susan Coakley (13) and Gráinne Hennessy (16) won the fourball Stableford competition at the Castle Course in Lahinch with 34 points.
The Lady Harley singles Stableford competition for ladies was won by Muiriosa Connolly (11) with 40 points from Susanne Lynch (12) with 39 and Rhona Carmody (15) with 38 points. Pamela Morgan (8) won the gross with 29 points.
In the silver division, Anna Glynn (17) won with 38 points from Angela Cullinan (12) with a similar score. In third place was Siobhán Conway (12) with 37 points.
Carmel Burke (24) won the bronze division with 36 points from Ann Regan (30) with 35 points and Brenda Fitzgerald (21) with a similar score. 
The men’s fourball v par on the Castle Course was won by Darragh McDonagh and Jack Murphy (11) with 12 up from Colm McInerney (11) and John Conway (16) with 10 up.
The winners of the McDonnell Cup mixed foursomes Stableford competition on the Castle Course were Michael (13) and Jenny Cagney (14) with 38 points, from Peter (8) and Karina Doyle (24) with a similar score.
The Matterson Cup, a men’s singles Stableford competition, was won by Hilary Haydon (14) with 32 points from Kevin Glynn (8) with 30 points and Cormac O’Neill (12) with 30 points.
Tom Glynn won the Arnott Cup, beating Robert Browne in the final. The beaten finalists were Brian Whitaker and Bryan Curry. The leading qualifier was Cathal Whelan.
Jimmy Condon (12) won the Bogberry Cup, a men’s singles Stableford competition, with 41 points from Cyril O’Dowd (15) with 38 points, Cormac O’Neill (12) with 37 points and Cathal Whelan (5) with 37 points. Kevin O’Keeffe junior won the gross  with 32 points.
The Castle Course hosted a rumble last week in aid of the Chernobyl Project and the winners with 69 points were Shane Kelly (5), Jim Killeen (13) and Niall Price (20) from Michael Cagney (13), Michael McNamara (16) and Peadar Thynne (24) with 67 points. In third spot with 66 points were Caitriona O’Callaghan (15), Joan Nally (32) and Ailbhe Murray (32) with  66 points.
Peter Doyle (8) and Ger Maher (4) won the men’s fourball v par on the championship course with a score of seven-up.
In a fourball v par competition for the ladies, Ellen Stuart (28) and Oonagh Mee (25) won with four-up from Lynn Slattery (21) and Lourdes Gleeson (22) with three-up, with third spot filled by Maeve McCarthy (11) and Ina Nolan (13) with two-up.
In the Nancy Connole Trophy on Saturday, Mary O’Meara (12) was the winner with 40 points from Jacqueline Joyce (15) with 39 points and Frances Wood (16) with 39 points. Valerie Shannon won the gross with 27 points.
In the silver division, Barbara McAleese (18) was the winner with 37 points from Connie Fahy (18) with 35 points and Aedin McCarthy Junior (11) with 35 points.
In the bronze division, Edwina O’Brien (21) won with 39 points from Nicola Kenny (24) with 36 points and Anne Regan (30) with 34 points.
The winner of the men’s singles Stableford competition on the Castle Course on Sunday was Richard Meaney (16) with 42 points from Shane Duggan (9), with 41 points and Kevin Lynch (11) with 40 points. Stephen Doyle (6) won the gross with 33 points.
In the club classic on the championship course on Sunday, the winners, with 86 points, were Connie Fahy (18), Val Shannon (7), Karen White (22) and Alan White (9) from Danny McGrath (6), Michael Cullen (6), Richard Canavan (15) and Pádraig Moran (14) with 86 points. In third place were Willie Moore (10), Pat Duggan (20), Seamus Ryan (14) and Johnny Ryan (20) with 85 points.
In a similar competition on the Castle Course, Sheena (36) and Marese (24) Mannion Colin (22) and James (14) Gallagher won with 95 points from Helena (24) and Pat (14) Tiernan, John (13) and Caitriona (31) O’Neill with 93 points.
This Thursday, the annual classic in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind will take place.

Shannon
THE Men’s Wednesday open singles at Shannon saw Ben Coady victorious with 40 points. Ben returned 20 points for each nine with a birdie at the short fourth being the highlight. The back nine was required to separate John P Healy and Keith Buckley, both recording 39 points. The gross was won by Jim O’Grady with 35 points.
The Club Development Classic was played over 36 holes and a full timesheet was the order of the day with 60 teams participating. After day one, just five points separated the top 12 teams with a quartet of Mike Deasy, PJ Moroney, Colm Reidy, Pat Madden leading the way on 75 points. The leaders were out early on Saturday morning and when they returned 89 points for a total of 164, they set a tough target for all other teams. They reigned supreme until late on Saturday evening when a quartet of Eamon Fanneran, Maurice Murphy, Aidan O’Brien and Dermot Murphy returned a superb 99 points, which coupled with their first-round score of 69 points for a total of 168 points. This put them in pole position, which they were to maintain despite a gallant effort by Mike O’Connor, Paudie Ryan, Andrew and John Pearse who also returned 99 points that coupled with their score of 65 points from day one to give them a grand total of 164 points. This was sufficient for second place just edging out the first-round leaders into third place.
In fourth position on 162 points were Jimmy Doyle, Michael Corry, Mick Moore and Morgan Whelan who just edged out a quartet from St Paul’s Soccer Club. Mike Reddington, John Hayes, Joe Hanley and Albert Shanahan also returned 162 points. The best score on day one came from Brendan Fitzgerald, John Burns, Donal Walsh and Denis Quinlan with 74 points, while best score on day two came from Seamus Doyle, Gerry Breen, Declan and Kieran Carmody with 93 points. Nearest the pin was won by Bridget McCaul and the longest drive was won by John McPhilips.
On Sunday, the club hosted a men’s open 18-hole singles, which saw John O’Connell victorious with 41 points. John led the rest of the field a merry dance as he had three points to spare from a trio of Michael Mulqueen, Peter Hegarty and Joe Finlay all on 38 points. In fifth position was Lewy Halpin junior on 37 points, while the gross was captured by Daniel Brennan with 35 points.
The ladies’ August medal saw Lynn Darcy capture the spoils with 68 nett. Lynn had two shots to spare from Niamh O’Callaghan on 70. The back nine was required to separate Vie Leahy and Marian Boyce who both returned 72. In fifth place was Anne Casey on 73 and the gross was captured by Jean Murphy Wright with 81.
This weekend, the men will play for president’s (Bernie Ryan) prize while the ladies will play for the Calcul team of three.

Ennis
PETER Quinn won the Bell Trophy, a singles stroke competition, at Ennis at the weekend. He won from Joseph O’Brien and Joe Kelleher, all three returning scores of 65. Alan Butler won the gross with 70
In the Friday open singles, Alan Ball was the winner with 42 points from Andrew Whelan on 41, Fergal O’Neill on 40 and Martin O’Neill on 40. Damian Casey, Shannon, won the gross with 36 points.
Ennis Seniors’ Group held a team-of-three competition last week in which 69 played. The winners with 53 points were Tim McAllister, Paul Higgins and Jimmy McNamara, from Paul Mockler, Paddy Lane and Ferdie O’Donoghue with 50. In third spot were Tony Coote, Michael Torpey and Sean O’Gorman, also with 50 followed by Colm McNevin, Luke Coote and Michael Considine with 47. In fifth spot with 46 points were  Pat Shannon, Noel Ruane and Pat Cahill.

Woodstock
PADDY O’Malley (20) won the open singles last Wednesday at Woodstock with 40 points from Rory Callinan (12) with 38.
In the club singles at the weekend, TJ McNamara (14) won with 43 points from Cathal O’Connor (2) on 38 points.
Next weekend’s competition is for the junior scratch cup (handicaps 5 to 11), the intermediate scratch cup (handicaps 12 to 18) and the minor scratch cup (handicaps 19 and over).

Portumna
KATHLEEN Lynch, playing off 16 handicap, won Lillian Austin’s lady captain’s prize with a score of 74 nett at Portumna at the weekend.
In second place was Ann S Carty (31) with 75 nett followed by Anne Fahy with 73 nett, Birgit Degenhardt with 75 and Mary F Madden with 75 nett.
Suzanne Corcoran (3) won the gross with 81. Mabel Conroy won the seniors’ section with 76 nett, Kay Slattery won the past captain’s with 77, Suzanne Corcoran had the longest drive and Anita Carey won nearest to the pin. Lilly Sullivan won the nine-hole Stableford competition and Amy Austin was second. Pat Tobin won the ladies’ Visitors’ 18-hole Stableford with 39 points while Philip Austin won the gents’ visitors 18-hole Stableford. The nine-hole Stableford for men was won by Tom Moloney with 23 points from Ronan Nevin 23 points and PJ Hogan with 22 points. 
Club president, John Harte was the main organiser of the inaugural left handers’ event at Portumna, which was very successful.
The winner in the men’s category was Brian McGrath (19), Nenagh, with 42 points, from Jamie Conboy (10) with 41 points, Pat Healy (11) with 38 points and Barry Dunne (15), Templemore GC, with 38 points. The gross was won by John Harte (7) with 29 points. Other prize winners were John Hynes (20) 35 points (visitor), Mary Madden (20) 34 points (ladies) and TJ Egan, Portumna, (nearest the pin).
In the Connacht seniors’ final, Portumna defeated Claremorris by three matches to two at Portumna last weekend and they now travel to Claremorris for the second leg this week.
In the men’s three-ball Stableford competition on Sunday, the winners with 50 points were Leslie O’Meara (9), Brian Grogan (17) and Joe McCormick (21) from Shane Duffy (19), Dave Burnett (17) and Joe Doyle (23) with 49 points. In third spot with a similar score were Francis Cummins (20), Barry Murphy (19) and Billy McLoughlin (14) followed by John Moore (17), Sean Moore (24) and Cyril Lowry (14) with 48 points.
The club’s Cecil Ewing team take on Connemara Isles in the Connacht semi-final this Saturday. Portumna have three matches at home and two away. The team captain is Kevin Donnellan.

Dromoland
THE singles Stableford competition at Dromoland at the weekend was won by Joe Cronin with 43 points from Tim Killeen with 39 points and Michael Bolton with 38 points. Frank Travers won the over 18 handicap category with 34 points, while the junior winner was Eoghan McNeill with 40 points.
Next weekend’s competition is V par and is a golfer-of-the-year event. The scotch foursomes commences this Monday and the Claret Jug is in its final stages. Dromoland’s Open Week is taking place this week and a timesheet is available at 061 368444.

Gort
THERE were big entries for competitions at Gort’s open week last week. In the singles’ competition, the winner was Seamus Noone with 41 points from Patrick Fitzgerald with 40 points and Kieran Reddy with 40 points, while David Quirke won the gross with 34 points.
In a similar competition on Saturday, the winner was Tommy Madden with 41 points from Tristan O’Connor with 40 points and Rory O’Donnell with 40 points. Jason McLynn won the gross with 31 points.
The winners of the three ball rumble were Padraic Linnane, Bernard Gillane and James Fahy with 89 points from Michael Cunningham, Philip Dunne and Gerry Cahill with 83 points. In third spot with 83 points were John Fordham, Finbar Gantley and Brendan Dolan.
Michael Cunningham won the open singles on Thursday with 44 points from John Skehill with 41 points and Ryan Boyle with 40 points. Enda Cradock won the gross with 36 points. 
Tuesday’s singles was won by Tom Fahy with 42 points from Lawrence O’Loughlin with 41 points and Damian Hanniffy with 41 points. Ryan Boyle won the gross with 36 points. 
The ladies’ singles’ competition at the weekend was won by Ellen Dolan with 38 points, from Ruth Naughton on 37 and Mary Hall on 36. Elaine Kelly won the gross with 19.
In the mid-week open singles, Marie Hannon-Healy won with 36 points from Kathleen Sands on 35 and Josie Cummins on 34. Maura Hanrahan won the gross with 23 points.
The last nine-hole mixed scramble of the current season takes place this Friday.
John Murray’s president’s prize qualifier will be the competition this Saturday and Sunday.

Kilkee
THE open singles held on Thursday last was won by Limerick businessman Eric Hackett who won with 39 points. This is Eric’s second win this year having won the Conyngham stroke play competition with nett 58 in July. In second place, one point behind, was John Randle, playing of a handicap of 18 and in third place was former captain John Keane (18) with 36 points.
The Fr P Malone Memorial saw a large field compete in the straight mixed foursomes competition. The winners were husband and wife, Kathleen and Kevin O’Connor with a net score of 62.5. In second place on a net score of 63 were Marie McGuire and Mike Mullane. In third place on 65.5 were Castletroy’s Helen Morrissey and Gerry O’Mahony.
The open singles played on Sunday was won by Liam Browne (17) with 38 points. In second place was Seamus Walsh (21) followed by Michael Reidy (16), both on 35 points.

East Clare
EAST Clare regained the Spancillhill Shield when they defeated Woodstock at the weekend in East Clare.
The winning team for East Clare was Brendan McInerney, John Duffy, Mike Whelan, Jim Greene, Brendan Moloney, John Moloney, Martin McInerney, Enda Donnellan, Brigid Minogue and Nancy Starr.
This week, two junior members of the ladies’ club, Tara Whelan and Ciara Magill are representing Munster in the Girls’ Inter-provincials in Cahir Park.
The East Clare Ladies’ Junior Foursomes won a further two rounds at Thurles on Sunday last. They have now progressed to the Munster final to be played in Clonmel at the end of the month. The panel includes Heather Cullen, Margaret MacNamara, Mairéad Twoomey, Eileen Donnellan, Siobhán Shanahan, Terry Mulvihill, Catherine Minogue and Mary Mannion. The team is managed by Bríd Hayes.
In the Friday scramble, the winners were Brendan Moloney, Sue Casey and John Fahy, from Tony McNulty, Marie Kelly and Maurice Costelloe.
In the ladies’ seniors’ competition, Ina Reddan won from Marie Moloney and Patricia Kerr.
The men’s seniors’ team event last week was won by Bill Cullen, Conor Tuohy and Chris Davis from Brendan Moloney, Michael Quigney and Kevin Grimes with third spot filled by Jackie McHugh, Kieran Sheedy and Liam Skelly.
This Sunday, the club will host the senior and junior scratch cup competitions, while the ladies’ club will have an 18-hole stroke event.

Sixmilebridge
NOEL Flannery was the winner of the Sixmilebridge Society outing to Charleville last week. In second place was Jody McDermott followed by Ian Mulready. The nines were won by John Collins and Tommy Liddy while the category prizes were captured by Mike Purcell and John Chaplin.

Connolly Celtic classic
THE annual Connolly Celtic FC classic will take place at Woodstock on Thursday and Friday, September 8 and 9. Further details are available from Michael Hehir at 087 2689484.

Rynne third in Munster
LAST weekend, the Munster girls and boys’ pitch and putt championship was held in Bruff where Freya Rynne form the Cill Na Mona club finished in third position. Freya, along with her twin brother Barry, and younger brother, Colin, are involved in the ongoing coaching sessions being held at the club.
In the boys’ championship, Austin Kearns recorded a very impressive score of level par for 36 holes. Other youths from the club who qualified for the finals were Ian Kearns, Cillian Roughan, Owen Hegarty, Padraic Keane, David Hegarty and Sean Clancy.
Coaching sessions continue at the club on Wednesday evenings.

Captain’s day at Clare Road
THE captain’s (Tony Clancy) will take place at the Clare Road this Sunday. The strokeplay will start at 10am with the open scramble at 2pm and this will be followed by a putting competition.
Last Sunday’s stroke play was won by Tommy Kelly with the gross won by Kenneth Kerin.
The club’s annual outing will take place on Saturday, August 27 and this year, the venue is Fermoy. The bus will depart at 8am.