Keen competition for Greg Young Trophy

In the Greg Young Trophy, a men’s singles stroke event played over 36 holes at Lahinch at the weekend, Dermot Morris (4), Limerick, was the winner with 143 from Ger Vaughan (scratch), Lahinch on 145, Juan Fitzgerald (2), Limerick, with 145 and Brian Whitaker (5), Elm Park, with 148.

Ennis member Liam Pyne (6) won the nett with 140 from Tom Saunders (6), Ennis, on a similar score. Third was Sean King (9) Carlow, with 143 followed by Ger Maher (5) Castletroy with 144.
Noel Pyne (2), Ennis, won the gross on Friday with 69 while Richie Cummins (3), Limerick, won this section on Saturday with 77.
Stephen Goggins (9), Westport won the nett on Friday with 65 while Richard Pyne (8), Ennis, won the nett on Saturday with 71.
Other prizewinners included Pat Comerford (8), Killerig, who won the best nett for over 50s with 146, Jerry Keohane (9), Ennis, won the nett category for over 60s with 145 and Eamonn Connolly (7), Blainroe, who won the over 70s category with 147.
Last weeks’ ladies’ singles Stableford competition on the championship course at Lahinch was won by Geraldine O’Mahoney (20) with 34 points from Patricia Ramsey (22), who scored 30 points.
Last Thursday’s men’s open singles was won by Tom Doyle (13), Lahinch, with 39 points from Alastair Purdy (13), Galway, with 38 points and Cathal Keogh (15), Galway, with 37 points.
In Saturday’s men’s singles Stableford competition, Shane Duggan (9) was the winner with 42 points from Paul O’Gorman (11), with 41 points and Gary Lavelle (5), with 38 points.
In a men’s turkey singles Stableford competition on Sunday, Gary Lavelle (5) won with 38 points from Peter C Doyle (8) with 36 points, John Dillon (6), with 36 points and Tony Molloy (9), with 36 points.

Clare-Galway Seniors Alliance
More than 80 seniors played in the first round of the Clare-Galway Seniors Alliance at Gort last week.
Niall Finnegan (Gort) won category A with 37 points while category B was won by Pat Craddock, also from Gort, with 35 points from his clubmate Michael O’Grady on 34.
Owen O’Donnell, from Crusheen and a member of Gort won category C with 34 points from another Gort member, Paul Mohan, with 30 points.
Ennis member, Noel Pyne won the gross with 26 points on a day when other prizewinners were John O’Sullivan (Gort), Sean Fitzpatrick, and Seamus Hanrahan (Ennis) and Jim McMahon (Woodstock).
The next round of the league will be played on the Castle Course in Lahinch next Wednesday.

Ennis
Ennis Seniors Group held a three-ball 14-hole scramble last Thursday in which 66 played. The winners were Johnny Cullinan, Liam Roche and Dickie Pyne with a score of 46.4. They were followed by Ferdie O’Donoghue, Dick Herbert and Michael Ball on 46.5.
In third place were Tom Greene, John Keane and  TJ Kerins on 47.1 followed by Bernard Hanrahan, Michael Torpey and Tony Coote on 47.6. In fifth place were Paddy Lane, Larry Briggs and John Cullinane on 47.6 followed by Paddy Cahill, John Guinan and Pierce Cahill on 47.7, with seventh place filled by Denis O’Ceallaigh, Pat McInerney and Noel Pilkington on 48.
In the men’s hampers competition at the weekend, the winner was Michael Vaughan with 41 points. John McCarthy won the September monthly medal while the Friday singles was won by Brian Cooney (Lahinch) with 41 points from Dermot O’Donoghue (East Clare) on 40, James Ball (Ennis) on 39 and Gary Duggan (Ennis) on 37. Michael Sweeney (Kilrush) won the gross with 31 points.

Dromoland
Julie Fitzgerald was the winner of the Deirdre Fitzpatrick ladies’ competition at Dromoland on Saturday from Julie Newman and Joan Ryan. On Sunday, Yvonne Shanahan won from Mary Arthur.
In the men’s 18-hole Stableford competition Alan Woods won with 40 points from Jason O’Leary on 39 and Gerry Barrett with a similar score. Brian Meaney was the junior winner and he also scored 39 points.
This weekend’s competition is for the Fred O’Flanagan Memorial Trophy and it is an 18-hole v par event.
Members are asked to ensure games in the senior matchplay are played on time.

East Clare
In the men’s singles competition at East Clare at the weekend, Mike Carey (18) won with 40 points from Tom Larkin (24) on 39 points and Redmond Walsh (7) on 37 points.
In the ladies’ singles, Breda O’Loughlin was the winner with 44 points from Noreen Doyle on 39 and Nancy Starr on 36.
The ladies seniors’ competition was won by Barbara Lynch from Nancy Starr and Pauline Nugent.
East Clare’s men’s senior team had an outing against their Ballinasloe counterparts when the East Clare side’s winning team comprised John Farrell and John Stack (47 points), Martin Mason and Nick Ryan (47 points), Finbarr Ryan and Tom Larkin (45  points), Eamon Long and Vinny Henchy (45 points) and John Fielding and JJ Barton (45  points).
There will be a singles competition for both men and ladies this weekend while a new nine-hole mixed competition is running throughout the month of October.

Portumna
The Portumna Connacht Shield team came back from a 4/1 first leg deficit the previous week to beat Gort by 6/4.
Portumna had to win all of their five matches at home to pull off this remarkable feat. The last time Portumna won the elusive trophy was in 1952.
The team was Matt Donoghue, Ronan Nevin, Brendan Naughton Jnr, Albert Kelly, Brendan Naughton Snr, Leslie O’Meara, Mike Flanagan, Mike Kiley, Dan Hogan, Peader Ryan, Pat Healy and they are managed by Martin Kennedy.
Meanwhile, in the weekend open fourball competition, the winners were Robert Murphy (8) from Faithlett and Austin Brownrigg (9) from Mountain View with 43 points. They won by one from John Caddon (2) and Jack Kearney (10) from Creggmore, with third spot filled by Basil Kennedy (6) and Oliver Callinan (15), who had 41 points. John Cleary (4) and JP McLoughlin (2) won the gross with 33 points.
In the open three-ball for September the winners were Patrick (7), Ross (16) and Gavin Moons (21) from Woodstock with 53 points. In second place on 50 points were Alex Heaton (19) Joe McMenamin (7) and Rory O’Connor (19).
Paul Conlon, Ballinasloe, won the Monday open singles with 39 points from Jimmy Cunningham (15) with 39 points and Noel Durack (10) with 36 points. Keith Daniels (3) won the gross with 36 points. 
The club celebrates its centenary in 2013 and are in the process of compiling a book on the history of the club. John Joe Conwell, a local historian, has been given the task of writing the history of the club.
The club has appealed to anyone who might have old photographs or documents pertaining to the club to make them available. Contact 0909 741059, any committee member or email the club or Jim Hynes at jfhynes@mac.com

Spanish Point
Val Shannon (7) won the Christmas hamper on a score of 34 Points. Geraldine Reddan (25) was second with 33 points. The 2011 golfer of the year is Martina Skerritt (20). There will be a 14-hole competition next Sunday.
This year’s winter schedule got under way last weekend with a big entry for the first turkey competition, despite the poor weather. It was played as a team of four in modified scramble format and the combination of youth, led by vice-captain Noel McMahon, played very well to win.
The other members of the winning team were Cathal Whelan (5), Diarmuid Whelan (6) and Niall McMahon (18), with 10 under gross 56.
In the seniors’ open last Thursday,  Gerry Meade (17) was the winner with 36 points from Tony Crowley (18) on 33 points. The club winter four-ball classic continues.

Clare lefthanders
The annual competition for the Tom Mannion Trophy has been re-scheduled for Saturday, October 15 at Ennis, when the tee will be available from 11.30am to 12.15pm.
As a tribute to the late Tom, who founded the association in 1996, the organisers are hoping for a big turnout. Details are available from Maurice Walshe at 065 6820045 or 085 7754996.

Woodstock
In the weekly singles at Woodstock, Mike Kelly (15) won with 38 points from Alan Garrihy (13) with 37 points.
In the club singles at the weekend, Adrian Coleman (14) won with 47 points from Thomas Barrett (20), on 42.
There will be a club singles Stableford competition this weekend.

Gort
In the men’s singles competition at Gort at weekend, Colman Cooney was the winner with 40 points from Colin Hynes on 39, Bob McInerney with 39 and Sean Hanbury with a similar score. John Greer won the gross with 34 points.
In the Monday open singles, Niall Finnegan was the winner with 42 points from Brendan Coyne on 40 and John Melville on 39. Tony Kenny won the gross with 28 points. There will be a singles golfer-of-the-year competition this weekend.
In last week’s ladies’ competition, Anne Kerins was the winner with 36 points from Josie Collins on 33 and Judith McGann on 33.

Bridgetown
Bridgetown Golf Society held their captain’s (Tom Hannon) prize last Saturday, when 23 members took part at Portumna. Francis Moloney was the overall winner from TJ Burns and Tom Buckley. Dominick McArthur was the winner of category A from Ollie McCoy while Mike O’Brien won category B from Pa Duggan. In category C Mike Leonard was the winner from Tom Hannon while the nines were won by Joe McArthur and Paudie Murray.
TJ Burns won the nearest-the-pin and long drive prizes while Seamus Madden was the winner of the guests’ section.
The society’s next outing will be to Nenagh on Saturday, October 22.

Sixmilebridge
David Purcell returned 37 points to win last Saturday’s outing of Sixmilebridge Golf Society to Castletroy. Second was Ian Mulready with Eamon Healy in third place.
The winners of the nines were John Collins and Greg Deegan while the handicap winners were Richard Hayes and Vinny Purcell.

Clarecastle
The society will hold an outing at Nenagh this Saturday. First tee is reserved from 9am. Members and guests intending to play should text 086 3246015 for their preferred tee time between 9am and 9.30am or 9.30am and 10am. Exact tee times will be confirmed by text on Friday evening following an open draw for playing partners.

Pitch and Putt
At the Clare Road Pitch and Putt Club on Sunday, the stroke play competition was won by Garath Kerin from PJ Considine, with Marty Fawl winning the gross.
There will be a club competition this Sunday.