Kilkee hosts Pierce Purcell Shield

Kilkee will be the venue on this Saturday and Sunday for the area competition in the Pierce Purcell Shield.
All Clare clubs will be participating and the eventual winner on Sunday afternoon will be through to contest the North Munster final.

 

Woodstock are the current holders of this title and they will be keen to make a winning start.
Meanwhile, in the Munster country clubs competition, Spanish Point will play Lismore at Doneraile on Sunday, July 1, in a quarter-final tie.

Already through to the semi-finals are Castlegregory, Glengarriff and Frankfield. The Munster semi-finals and final will be played at Lismore on Sunday, August 19. A win for Spanish Point in their game against Lismore will give them a semi-final date with Castlegregory.

The race for the Fred Daly Trophy commenced at the weekend and Clare clubs were in action at Woodstock in the North Munster section. Shannon beat Ennis, East Clare accounted for Spanish Point, Castletroy defeated Woodstock and Dromoland proved too strong for Lahinch.

Ennis

Ennis seniors held a team of three competitions last weekend when the winners, with 77 points, were Gerry Gilligan, Richard O’Connell and Michael Torpey from Dick Burke, Greg Fogarty and Joe McMahon on 72. In third spot, also on 72 points, were Peadar Cosgrove, John White and Charlie McEnery. They were followed by Pat McInerney, Denis O’Ceallaigh and Frank Sheedy on 71; Ollie Kenneally, Tom McGrath and John Keane (Tsg) on 70 and Don Ryan, Aidan Guilfoyle and Tony Blake on 69.

In the senior ladies’ competition the winners were Mary Leahy, Carmel Ui Ceallaigh and Anna Glynn on 62 5/6 from Claire Kennelly, Patricia O’Donnell and Betty O’Riordan on 63 1/6 with third spot filled by Brid Kelly, Carmel Verling and Alice Darcy on 64 1/2. In fourth spot on 64.7 were Mary Colton, Mary McMahon, Mary Glynn and Helen Brooks.

In the ladies’ 18-hole Stableford competition the winner was Anne Kelly with 40 points from Aideen Considine on 39 and Celia Reilly on 38.

Margaret Ann Killeen won the Friday open singles with 35 points from Anna Glynn on 32.

The winner of the Club Challenge Cup matchplay competition was Joan Murphy.

The annual Costelloe Cup fixture between Ennis and Woodstock took place last week at Ennis where the home side emerged victorious on a score of 231 points to 198.

The top five cards for Ennis came from Tony Coote and Paul Higgins with 49 points, Tom and Kieran Fox with 49 points, Michael Culliney and Michael Kenny with 45 points, Jason Woods and TJ Scanlon with 45 points, John Cullinane and John McNamara with 43 points.

Woodstock’s top five cards were provided by Tom Fogarty and Liam O’Connor with 41 points, Kevin Toner and Ollie McNamara with 40 points, B McMahon and BJ Ahern with 39 points, Colm Cooney and Kieran Cunnane with 39 points. Conor Brennan and Gareth Thompson with 39 points.

In the Friday open singles, Tony McInerney was the winner with 40 points from John Kelly on 38, Seamus Frehill on 36 and Diarmuid O’Connor on 36. Kieran Fox won the gross with 32 points.

Lahinch

Declan Downey was the winner of the men’s open singles at Lahinch last Thursday with 37 points.
In the monthly medal on Saturday Micheal Duffy (15) was the winner with 72 nett. He had a shot to spare over Sean Shanahan (11) with Walter O’Brien (12) a further shot back in third spot. Niall Morrison won the gross with 76.

In the ladies mixed foursomes for the Lakeside Cup, the winners were Eamon Connaire (11) and Marie O’Connor (16) with 47 points from Sean (11) and Bernadette Scanlan (26) with 43 points with third spot filled by Peter Hennessy (3) and Edwina O’Brien (19) with 42 points. Noel Pyne and Anne Vaughan won the gross with 37 points.

In the men’s foursomes on Sunday, Paul Ralph (15) and Gerry McMahon (22) were the winners with 37 points.

In the ladies competition for the Burns Lindow Cup, played on the Castle Course, the winner was Mary Lucas (36) with 41 points from Catherine McKenna (18) with 40 points and Linda Doyle (16) with 39 points. Jenny Hennessy won the gross with 33 points.

In the silver section, Anna Glynn (18) was the winner with 38 points from Fiona McCarthy (17) who was in second place. Brenda Fitzgerald (21) won the bronze section with 38 points from Liz O’Driscoll (21) with a similar score.

The Lady MacKenzie sixth gathering was held at Lahinch over the past week. Visitors from USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and England enjoyed the facilities and hospitality and the week was an enormous success for all concerned.

The timesheet for Sean Collins’ President’s Prize that will be held on Friday and Saturday, June 1 and 2, will open at 9am on this Friday, May 25.

Kilrush

Ger Burke (20) was the winner of the ladies singles competition at Kilrush last week with 39 points. She had one to spare over Ursula Lineen (30) with Mary O’Sullivan (20), also on 38 points, in third spot. The category winners were Ailish Lorrigan with 35 points, Mary McCarthy with 36 points and Maura McSwiggan with 34 points.

Gearóid Williams (12) was the winner of the Flynn trophy, an open singles competition, with 41 points. He pipped Tony McMahon (17) who finished with the same score. John McGrath (17) was third with 39 points.

The categories were won by Neil Browne (6) with 37 points, John Saunders (16) with 38 points and Gavin Duffy (18) with 35 points. The winners of the nines were Declan O’Donovan (8) with 21 points and Pascal Looney (12) with 22 points.

In the Friday mixed the winners were John Hehir, Michael Hemmings and Agnes Shannon from Declan O’Donovan, Finbarr McMahon, Kieran Lillis and Margaret Hehir with third spot filled by Pat Shannon, John Robinson and Michael Lane.

In the senior men’s competition on Wednesday, the winners were Michael Horgan, Denis Hassett and Noel Cooney with 69 points from PJ Maher, Noel Thornton and Tom O’Dea with 66 points with third spot filled by Jim McSwiggan, Maurice Roche and Peter W Glynn with 63 points.

The draw for the Glynn Cup fourball matchplay has taken place and details are on the notice board. The

Friday mixed continues at 6.15pm while the junior, intermediate and minor scratch cup competitions will be played for on Sunday.

East Clare

Barry Hurley (12) was the winner of the men’s golfer of the year competition at East Clare with a score of 65. Eddie O’Rourke (20) was in second place with a similar score while Michael O’Halloran (18) was next, a shot back. The yellow markers winner was Donal Fleming (27) with 42 points.

The captain’s Kevin Mannion prize to the ladies was played for last week when the winner was Ann McInerney with 44 points from Tara Whelan with 42 and Mary Bugler with 40 points.
In the ladies seniors outing Pauline Nugent was the winner from Connie McKenna with Catherine Murphy in third spot.

In the nine-hole scramble Helen Downes, Tony McNulty and Margaret Lynch won from William O’Brien, Mary Hogan and Joan Kinsella. In third spot were Fergal O’Farrell, Margaret McNamara and Brendan Moloney.

The winners of the men’s seniors outing were Denis Collins, PJ Higgins and Ger Short from Jackie McHugh, Willie Roche and Finbarr Ryan.

There will be a men’s 18-hole singles competition this weekend when the ladies will have an 18-hole v par competition.

Portumna

In the mens 18-hole singles Stableford at Portumna at the weekend in aid of 3Ts the winner was David Solan (15) with 42 points from Alan Hayes (16) with a similar score. In third spot was John Moore (18) with 39 points. The gross was won by JP McLoughlin (0) with 37 points while the seniors winner was John Hynes (20) with 37 points.

In the ladies section the winner of the 3 T’s competition was Suzanne Corcoran (3) with 43 points from Anita Carey (13) with 36 points and Mary Nevin (31) with 35 points.

The junior foursomes team managed by Birget Daganhardt will play Athenry on this Saturday.

On this Saturday and Sunday there will be an open mixed scotch foursomes with a special prize for the best husband and wife combination.

In the seniors section the winner was Francis McClearn (12) with 38 points from Joe McCormack (21) with 37 points and Pat Craughwell (18) with 36 points.

The local mentally handicapped committee promoted a successful classic last week when the winners were Carmel Cunningham (15), Anne Fahy (17), Brid Kelly (25) and Pauline McEvoy (26) with 104 points. In second place were Eamon O’Grady (14), Padraic Moroney (20), Ollie Flanagan (14) and Alan Hayes (16) with 102 points and they were followed by Graham Carty (14), Stephen Madden (15), Mike Fallon (19) and Willie Carty (8) with 99 points.

Entries are now being accepted for the president’s (Mike Carty) prize that will be played for on June 9 and 10. The draw will be made this weekend.

The club is planning to run a golf programme for both junior boys and girls at the club over the summer months.

The facilitator this year is Mikey Horan from Birr Golf Club. From Thursday, May 31, there will be an 18-hole stroke competition from 8am to 10am for juniors who have a GUI handicap. The competition will open to other clubs from time to time.

A day trip to St Anne’s Golf Club Dublin in is planned for July. Further details are available from Jim Hynes (087 6411711).

Club member Sean Cleary won a golf scholarship two years ago to Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has had a phenomenal year with the college. They had a great spring season, winning three tournaments.

On the weekend of May 5 and 6 Kirkwood played in their regional tournament consisting of all the other schools in the area. The college won the team event and Sean Cleary was third individually shooting 72 and 77.

As a result the school has qualified for the national tournament. The team leaves this Saturday its in Swan Lake resort, Plymouth, Indiana. There are 20 teams competing and Kirkwood are currently ranked 8th in the country. Sean will be home on May 28 a couple of days after the tournament is over.

Dromoland

In the men’s foursomes competition at Dromoland at the weekend the winners were Brian Shally and Jason O’Leary from Flan Sheedy and Ronan Mullane.

In the ladies section, the Crystal competition was the attraction and the overall winner was Yvonne Shanahan with 68 from Mary O’Donnell with 64.

The gross winner was Mairead Bergin with 33 while the first day winner was Maria Nolan with 34 with Katrina O’Neill winning on day two with 37 points.

Shannon

The Junior Scratch Cup was played for at Shannon last week when Tom Cooney (6) from the host club emerged as the winner with 149 (70 and 79). In second place on 152 (77 and 75) was Chris Maguire (8), followed by Michael Hickey (9) with 154 (83 and 71) with Gary Purtill (5) in fourth spot with 154 (77 and 77).
Ronan Hehir (6) was the winner of the first 18 with 73 while Bryan Dore (5) won the second 18 with 77.

In the nett section Stephen Fenlon (6) was the winner with 140 (70 and 70) from Chris Harrigan (8) on 142 (75 and 67).

In the Wednesday open singles Alex Costello (25) was the winner with 42 points from Daniel Brennan (3) on a similar score. In third spot was Jer Lonergan (20) with 42 points while the gross was won by Jamie O’Shea (2) with 39 points.

In the ladies 18-hole Stableford competition Maura McMahon (16) was the winner with 35 points from Vie Leahy (22) on a similar score. Anne Casey (17) was third, also with 35 points while Michelle Pyne (10) won the gross with 23 points.

Woodstock

The winners of the Australian spoons competition were Joan Barrett and Fran Feighery with 36 points. They will represent the club in Roscrea in August.

The Ladies Miele fourball team had a good win over Ennis last Monday when four players played at home with another four playing away.

Playing in Ennis were Anne Marie Russell and Joan Barrett, Mgt. Ann Killeen and Mairead Carroll while playing in Woodstock were Bernie Power and Una Patton, Aine Burke and Maura Umlawski. Castletroy are Woodstock’s next opponents.

John O’Dwyer (20) was the winner of the men’s club singles at the weekend with 41 points.

The mixed scramble continues on this Thursday with a draw at 5.40pm. The monthly medal will be played for on this Saturday and Sunday while president’s (James Meade) prize will be played for on Saturday and Sunday week, June 2 and 3, and the timesheet is now open.

Kilkee

There was a good entry for the singles competitions at Kilkee at the weekend.

On Saturday the winner was Tony Cusack (21) with 39 points from Len Owens (17) with 36 points. In third spot was Seamus Walsh (21) with 34 points. On Sunday the winner was Ger Hackett (8) with 38 points from Frank Murnane (11) with 37 points.

Gort

Niall Finneran (9) was the winner of last week’s open singles at Gort with 39 points from Ray Quinn (12) who had 38 points and Ryan Boyle with 37 points. Enda Cradock (1) won the gross with 37 points.

The weekend fourball Stableford competition was won by Seamus Noone (11) and John Melville (14) with 47 points from John Kelleher (10) and Ronnie Killeen (18) with 45 points. In third spot with 44 points were Niall (8) and Frank Higgins (13).

This week’s open singles was won by Paul Mohan (21) with 37 points from Pat Boyle (13) with a similar score.

This weekend the men will play for the Bob Forde trophy and this will be a golfer of the year competition.

Spanish Point

The captain’s (Noel McMahon) prize to the ladies will take place next Sunday.

In the ladies 18-hole stroke competition last weekend, the winner was Kathleen Toomey (26) with 70 nett from Evelyn Kelly (27) and Fiona O’Boyle (16) on a similar score. The winners of the Granard foursomes competition were Maura Burke and Val Ross.

Doonbeg

Ita Mangan won the lady captain’s (Mary Arthur) prize at Doonbeg on Sunday from Elizabeth Blake with Mary O’Sullivan in third spot.

Geraldine Burke and Mary Nolan won the nines while the prize for the best 36 handicapper was won by Carmel O’Flaherty. Gerry Baggott won the visitor’s prize with the past captain’s prize going to Veron O’Connor.

Timmy Killeen won the men’s captain’s (Seamus Griffin) prize from Dara Flaherty with Seanie Nealon in third spot and Maurice Nugent fourth. The nines were won by Shane Igoe and Diarmaid O’Donnell. David Tubridy won the gross with Joe Russell winning the guests section. Kevin Hayes won the prize for nearest the pin while John McGuire won the long drive.

The summer league and annual fourball will be starting in the next two weeks.

O’Dea Cup

Members of the Doonbeg society will play for the O’Dea cup at Kilrush on Sunday when the tee will be available from 11am. Those wishing to book a team time should contact Tom O’Dea at 086 2799254.

Clare teachers

The Clare Teachers society will hold a re-scheduled outing to East Clare on Saturday when the tee will be available from 10am. The format will be 18-holes Stableford.

Pitch and putt

Paddy Sheedy was the winner of the strokeplay competition at the Clare Road club on Sunday from Gareth Kerin with Timmy Sullivan winning the gross category.

The club’s scratch cups will be played for on this Saturday with the tee available from 9am to 1pm.