Juniors to the fore in Lahinch

HISTORY was made at Lahinch at the weekend when the winners of the Saturday and Sunday singles competitions were two members of the junior section. This was the first time two juniors won the Saturday and Sunday competitions in the same weekend and their success is a further boost to the club’s highly rated junior section.
Fifteen-year-old, Cathal Hegarty (12) was the winner of the men’s singles Stableford competition on Saturday with 38 points. He had three to spare over John Dillon (6), with third spot filled by Paul O’Brien (3), with a similar score.
In a similar competition on Sunday, 14-year-old Conall Haugh (18) was the winner with 40 points from Michael Lynch (18) with 39 points and Vincent Leigh (11) with 39 points.

Clare-Galway seniors league
THE inclement weather of recent months has resulted in major disruption of golf competitions in most clubs. This has also been the case for the hugely successful and popular Clare-Galway Seniors Winter League.
It is hoped this league will resume next Wednesday in Portumna when the tee will be available from 9am to 1pm.
The Ennis outing has been rescheduled for Monday, February 27 with Kilrush on Wednesday, March 7, Woodstock on Wednesday, March 14 and Gort on Wednesday, March 21. The tee time will be 9am to 1pm at each outing.

Mid-West Alliance
THE opening round in this year’s Mid-West Alliance competition took place at Dromoland on Sunday when the winner of the gross section was Tony Cleary from the host club with 71. He had one shot to spare from Timmy Rice, Limerick, with Dave Foley from Dromoland a shot back in third.
In the nett category, Alan Neville was the winner with 70 from Nicky Duggan on 71 and Jason O’Leary, also on 71. All three are members of the host club.
Jason O’Donnell, Shannon, won the prize for nearest the pin at the seventh, while his clubmate, Philip Purcell, won the nearest-the-pin prize at the 13th. The prize for most birdies in the round was won by Pádraig McGrath with five.

Woodstock
LAST week’s singles Stableford competition at Woodstock saw Pat Keane (10) win category A (0-10) with 43 points, John Dempsey (13) win category B (11-15) with 45 points and Jarlath Fahy (19) with category C (16 plus) with 44 points.

East Clare
THE winners of the men’s two-ball scramble at East Clare were Brendan Foley (10) and Brian Lenihan.
The January phase of the winter league concludes this Tuesday and the team led by Jim Dunne continues to lead the way closely followed by William O’Brien’s team.
The February competition in the winter league is a two-ball scramble.
The men’s club’s competition for this week is a 14-hole singles with re-entry allowed.
The following week, from February, 6 to 12 inclusive, the men’s club competition is a 14-hole four-ball betterball.
Meanwhile, in the men’s seniors’ section, the winners were JJ Barton, Mick Ryan and Richard Keating from Jim Greene, Vinny Henchy and Jack Manly with third spot filled by Kieran Sheedy, Pat Browne and John Farrell.

Dromoland
IN week two of the winter league at Dromoland, Sean Burns was the winner with 39 points.
The winning team with 108 points comprised Declan O’Leary, Kieran McDermott, Martin O’Mahoney, Philip Naughton and Joe Moran. They were followed on 104 points by Sean Myatt, Paul O’Brien, Niall Geraghty, Michael Flannery and Dale Foley. In third spot on 102 points were Sean Burns, Aaron Duggan, John O’Neill, David Crowe and Michael O’Riordan. In fourth spot on 95 points were Sean Shanahan, PJ Hehir, Mark Lennon, Killian Howard and Damien Ryan.
The ladies’ winter league continues with great success. All women members are invited to the annual club information night in the castle this Thursday at 7.30pm.
The annual captain’s dinner takes place on Saturday, February 11.

Ennis
THE winners of the men’s four-ball at Ennis at the weekend were Paul Higgins and Tony Coote with 43 points followed by Gerry Gilligan and Sean Myatt with 41 points.
Ennis Seniors held a team-of-four competition on Thursday last when the winners, with 78 points, were Sean Fitzpatrick, Charlie McEnery, Tony Coote and Michael Torpey. They were followed by Johnny Cullinan, Pat Maguire, Dick Herbert and Dickie Pyne with a similar score. In third spot with 77 points were Sean Ryan, John Keane, John Guinan and George Dilger followed by Noel Ruane, Greg Fogarty, Eamon Murphy, Seamus Frehill and Paul Mockler with fifth spot filled by David O’Brien, Bill Leacy, Carl O’Neill and Tom Fox.

Gort
JOHN Rogers was the winner of the 18-hole singles Stableford competition at Gort at the weekend with 42 points. He was followed by Shane Keane on 39 and Eamonn Morrissey on 38, while Colman Cooney won the gross with 32 points. There will be a similar competition this weekend.
The ladies’ spring league is continuing.

Portumna
IN the 14-hole voucher competition at Portumna at the weekend, Matt Donoghue (7) won category 0-10 with 32 points. Damian Howe (12) won category 11-14 with 34 points, John O’Gorman (17) won category 15-18 with 32 points, Noel Kinsella (19) won the category 19 and over with 32 points while Peadar Ryan (13) won the seniors’ category with 31 points.  
Last Saturday, members of Portumna Golf Club turned out to do some voluntary cleaning and tidying up around the clubhouse entrance and car park. It is hoped to repeat this exercise several times during the coming year. This was the brainchild of John Harte, who is also chairman of the centenary committee. Portumna will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2013.
The captain’s and president’s drive-in will take place this Sunday at 12 noon and all members are invited to attend.

Shannon
THE open singles over 15 holes at Shannon on Wednesday last was won by Noel Purcell (17) with 39 points.
The weekend’s 15-hole singles competition was won by Kieran Carmody (15) with 35 points from Paul McElligott (12) with a similar score. Pat O’Rourke (19) was third and he also had 35 points.

Spanish Point
FOR the past few years, the number of juniors playing in Spanish Point has grown considerably and last year, over 60 young boys and girls took part in all the junior activities. Regular competitions took place during the year and the officers in charge provided coaching and individual tuition and at this stage, there are several highly promising golfers coming through the junior section.
The final matchplay of last year saw Ross Burke beating David Egan. In the semi-finals, Ross beat Donal Keane and David defeated his brother, Conor.
The Malbay Golf Society got their season under way in Spanish Point last Saturday when captain for 2012, Gerard McMahon drove in to office and joins twin brother, Noel, who is captain of the club, with both in office for the same year.
Last weekend, there was a team modified scramble competition for members and the winners were: Jim Marrinan (16), Gary Carroll (12), Michael Burke (23) and Kieran Madigan (19) with 80 points.

Kilrush
LAST week’s winner of the weekly singles competition at Kilrush was Tony McMahon with 31 points from John Robinson on 29 points. A similar competition is taking place this week.
The captains’ drive-in for 2012 (Declan O’Donovan and Mary O’Sullivan) will take place this Sunday at 1.30pm and will be followed by a scramble at 2pm.
The spring league will begin on Sunday, February 12 and will run for four weeks with a play-off in week five. There must be a minimum of one woman in each team.

Éire Óg society
THE annual general meeting of Éire Óg GAA Golf Society will be held this Friday at the Éire Óg clubhouse at 8pm. All members are asked to attend.

Pitch and putt
AT the Clare Road Pitch and Putt Club on Sunday, the strokeplay competition was won by PJ Considine from Gabriel Kerin with Gareth Kerin winning the gross.