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Lahinch bow out in semi-finals


Bernard Hanrahan looks on as Ger Hanrahan puts a bit too much pace on his putt at Woodstock Golf Club.  Photograph by Declan Monaghan

Lahinch’s bid for the Irish senior ladies’ cup title ended at the semi-final stage at Cork Golf Club last weekend. They went out to eventual winners Royal Portrush, who won the title for the 24th time, beating Douglas from Cork in the final.

Helen Jones set Royal Portrush on their way to the final with a comfortable 7 and 6 over Valerie Shannon in the bottom match. The top two matches saw some excellent golf, with the talented Sinéad Sexton of Lahinch producing a birdie 3 at the 18th to force ties holes with former international Gemma McClenaghan. The match was eventually called in.
Linda Toomey also played some impressive golf during a tough battle with current international Charlene Reid and this match was also called in. Royal Portrush showed their strength when Lucy Simpson took the Northern side a step closer to the final as she slotted a 15ft putt on the 16th to defeat the experienced Valerie Hassett in the penultimate match. Royal Portrush then confirmed the win though Niamh Quigg, who beat Olivia Hayes 2 and 1. The Lahinch team was managed by Georgina Condon.
Meanwhile, on the home front, there was plenty of action on both courses. In the scotch mixed foursomes for the O’Neill Cup, Brian (20) and Eileen Coughlan (30) won with 39 points from Brian (3) and Fiona McCarthy (16) who had a similar score. In third spot, also with 39 points, were Kevin (5) and Miriam O’Keeffe (14). They were followed by Eamonn (2) and Barbara Foley (16) with 38 points, Kevin (16) and Una Moloney (34) with 38, Michael Power (6) and Rose Doyle (12), also with 38.
Imelda Gleeson (23) won the Lady Harley Cup with 38 points from Brenda Fitzgerald (21) who had 37 points. In third spot was Diane Hennessy (15) with 36 points followed by Connie Fahy (19) with 36 points. Valerie Shannon won the gross with 28 points.
Rose Doyle (12) won the silver division with 35 points while Catherine Feore (22) won the bronze division with 35 points.
In last week’s men’s fourball v par competition on the Castle Course, Peter (12) and Andrew Clooney (12) were the winners with 7 up. Bryan Curry (11) and Neilius Burke (16) were second with 6 up.
The Matterson Cup, a men’s singles Stableford competition, was won by Michael O’Grady (13) with 38 points from Stephen McCarthy (6) on 36 points, Terry McCarthy (15) with 36 points was third followed by David Grennell (9), also with 36 points. Enda Connolly won the gross with 30 points.
Maire Hanrahan (26) and Noel Pyne (2) won the McDonnell Cup mixed fourball with 43 points from Georgina (11) and Jimmy Condon (8) who had 43 points. Jenny Cagney (14) and Matthew Griffin (12) were next with 42 points followed by Mary O’Meara (12) and John Wood (11) with 41 points.
Kevin O’Keeffe won the Arnott Cup, beating Frank Keane in the final. The beaten semi-finalists were Colm McInerney and Sean Lynch and the leading qualifier was Jack Costelloe.
In Friday’s men’s fourball v par, Brendan O’Doherty (8) and Jimmy Condon (11) were the winners with 6 up from Stephen McCarthy (5) and Brian Whitaker (4) with 5 up. John Wood (11) and Darragh McDermott (13) were third with 4 up.
Mary O’Meara (10) and Frances Wood (16) were the winners of the ladies’ fourball v par with 4 up from Siobhán (14) and Sinéad Conway (24) who had a similar score. In third spot were Maeve (13) and Fiona McCarthy (16) and they also returned 4 up.
Enda Connolly (5) was the winner of the men’s singles Stableford competition last Saturday with 41 points from Colm Kennedy (11) on 40 points, James Quinlan (12) on 39 points and Michael Cronin (9) with 38 points. John D Smyth (4) won the gross with 36 points.
The competition on Sunday was the club development classic team of four and the winners with 90 points were Eugene Judge (4) Tony Molloy (10) Tim Hurley (13) and Fergus Blake (14).
They had one to spare from Richard Pyne (6) John (7) and Imelda Gleeson (22) and Maria Nolan (28) with third spot filled by Rose Nagle (5) Mary Powell (10) Roger Bannon (10) and Brid Cronin (11), who also had 89 points.
In a similar competition on the Castle Course the winners were Pat Tiernan (14) John O’Neill (14) Helena Tiernan (25) and Caitriona O’Neill (37) with 97 points from Michael O’Riordan (11), John Skerritt (11) Gus Hayes (14) and Donie O’Shea (16) with 96 points. In third spot were Paddy Caulfield (16), Martin Ryan (13) James Collins (12) and John Wallace (11) with 95 points.

Ennis
The president’s (Vera Madden) prize will be played for this weekend at Ennis and a full timesheet is expected for both days.
In last week’s ladies’ fourball the winners were Della Burns and Margaret Anne Killeen with 38 points from Monica Finnerty and Ann Casey with 36 points.
In the ladies’ seniors competition the winners were Mary McMahon, Eileen Corry and Angela Gough with 49 points from Bridget Hoey, Betty O’Riordan and Teresa Fell, who had a similar score.

Woodstock
Kevin Toner (12) won the Wednesday open singles at Woodstock with 41 points from Brian Sheedy (17) on 40 points and Gerry O’Malley (20) on 38 points.
In the monthly medal, Jason Dormer (11) was the winner with 63 nett from Bernardo Kelly (10) on 67 and Paddy Meehan (11) on 69. Kieran Cunnane won the gross with 71.
In the weekly seniors’ competition, Tom Dormer, Pat Quinn and Michael Cullinan were the winners of the team-of-three competition played over 16 holes. They scored 61 points.

Portumna
The open three-ball betterball competition at Portumna last weekend was won by John O’Gorman, Des Clarke and Niall J Kelly with 48 points from Audrey, Noel and Ross McGrath, who had a similar score. In third place were Matt Donoghue, Joe Slattery and Pat Healy and they also had 48 points. They were followed by Frank Kilkenny, Gene McEntee and Tom Moloney with 46 points.
Last Monday’s open competition was won by John Harte (6) with 41 points from Kevin Kelly (9) on 39 points and Franny Quinn (12) on 38 points. Joe Lyons (plus 1) won the gross with 33 points.
In the Jack O’Sullivan Trophy, Portumna, captained by Mike Carty, beat Castlebar last Thursday by 3 1/2 to 1 1/2 in the Connacht semi-final. Portumna now go on to play Ballinamore in the final.
The format for the final is five matches played in Portumna and five matches played in Ballinmore. The first leg will be played in Portumna on Saturday, August 28, with the second leg to be played in Ballinamore on Saturday September 4. Portumna last won this title in 1988 when they beat Ballina in a close match in the final.
There will be an 18-hole men’s and ladies’ singles this weekend.
During the month of August Portumna Golf Club will host the Musgraves Crumlin Children’s Hospital All-Ireland Club Challenge.
The format is nine-hole rumble (team of any three combination). The competition is played over the first nine holes with one score to count on holes 1 to 3, two scores to count on holes 4 to 6 and three scores to count on holes 7 to 9.
The winning team qualifies for Connacht final at Lough Erne Golf Resort on September 8. The winners from there qualify for the All-Ireland final, to be played in Portugal in October.

Shannon
The ladies’ August Medal saw Lyn Darcy achieve a runaway victory when returning 67nett to win by three shots from Anne Jones on 70 nett. In third place was Debbie Reddan with 72 nett while the back nine was required to separate Pauline Kilmartin from Mary Flynn in fourth and fifth respectively, both returning 73 nett. The gross was captured by Jean Murphy Wright with 81.
The Wednesday open singles saw Paul O’Neill capture the spoils when he returned a two-under par gross 70 for 39 points. Paul covered the front nine in two over but came home in four under, commencing with four pars before recording back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th. A dropped shot came at the 16th before a grandstand finish saw a birdie at the 17th followed by an eagle at the 18th. His tremendous back nine just edged out John Morrissey, who also returned 39 points. Seamus Hanley was third with 38 points while junior member Jamie O’Shea captured the gross with 33 points.
The sixth annual course development am-am was held last weekend, with 54 teams participating. At the end of play there were clear winners when a quartet of local members, Willie O’Brien, Jarlath O’Looney, Jody O’Connor and Sean Cleary, who were joint leaders after day one, proved runaway winners with rounds of 77 and 96 for 173 total. They had six to spare from Declan Carmody, Jerry Breen, Mick Wall and Seamus Doyle with rounds of 72 and 95 for 167. In third place with rounds of 75 and 91 for 166 were Liam Hogan, Maurice Murphy, John Gubbins and Michael Mulcahy. In fourth place with scores of 77 and 88 for 165 were visitors Mike Reddington, Albert Shanahan, John Hayes and Anthony Nash. Another visitors’ team comprising Tom Ryan, Brendan Moloney, Billy O’Doherty and Tony Byrnes were fifth with scores of 74 and 90 for 164 total. Best score on day one came from Billy Grimes, Louis Upton, Graham Culleton and Jim McNamara with 73 while best score on day two came from Eugene Logan, Mick Moore, Michael McInerney and Noel Morgan with 91. Longest drive was won by Paul O’Neill while Tony Connolly won nearest the pin.
On Sunday there was an 18-hole open singles, which saw David Kirby capture the honours with 44 points. Visitor Andrew Jones from Kilrush was second with 42 points by virtue of a better back nine from Dave Heffernan. Visitor John McCarthy was fourth with 41 points, just edging out Peter Power Jnr on the back nine. Darren Keane won the gross with 35 points.
The president’s (Bernard Ryan) prize to the men will be the competition this weekend, while his prize to the ladies will also be played for. There will be a ladies’ team-of-three competition next Tuesday.

Spanish Point
Spanish Point men’s club captain’s (Gary Carroll) prize was played for last weekend and more than 90 members, together with guests, took part. The format was an 18-hole stroke with the 15 best scores and ties to qualify for a nine-hole play-off on Sunday evening. The qualifying scores came at par or better with Pat Greene (16) leading at 60 nett and Mervin Hehir (15) close behind on 63 nett. A big crowd followed the nine-hole play-off and Pat, despite a stuttering last three holes, held on to win by half a shot. One of the outstanding results was the gross win by 16-year-old Diarmuid Whelan who, having started the season off a nine handicap, has now got it down to five. He won the gross with a score of 73.
Second to Pat Greene was Michael Talty (15) with 94.5, followed by Sean McMahon (11) with 95.5, David Keane (11) with 98.5, Fergal Hehir (15) with 98.5 and Cathal Whelan (11) with 99.5. The nines were won by Mervin Hehir (15) with 28nett and Conor Egan (11) with 31nett.
Other prizewinners were nearest the pin: Tony Crowley (17); guests 1. Michael Kenny (8) 38pts, 2. Pat Forde (18) 35 points.
In the captain’s prize to the ladies the winner was Valerie Shannon from Aoife O’Malley, with Evelyn Kelly in third spot.
In the ladies’ nine-hole competition the winner was Valerie Ross from Mary Kenny. The captain’s prize to juniors over 18 handicap was won by Eoghan Sheehy (27) with 42 points. The under-18 handicap was won by Cathal Whelan (11) with 39 points.
In the junior matchplay for the Robin Bolster Cup, the winner was Sarah Kyne, while the junior golfer of the year is Eoghan Sheehy.
In the Tuesday open senior competition the winner was Seamus Cleary (19) with 37 points from Willie McNamara (17) with 36 points with third place filled by David Fitzgerald (14) 35 points.
In the Thursday open, Garry Carroll (12) was the winner with 42 points from Fergal Hehir (15) with 38 points and Cathal Whelan (11) with 37 points.
Bernadette O’Gorman was the winner of the ladies’ open day competition, with a score of 42 points. Fiona Coffey was in second place on 41 points followed by Sarah Kyne on 37 points and Val Shannon with 35 points. The nines were won by Martina Skerritt and Sheila Manning. The NBCRI charity competition will take place next Sunday and the draw is at 2.30pm.

Kilkee
In the Fr Pat Malone memorial competition at Kilkee, the winners were Kevin (16) and Catherine O’ Connor (27) with 60.5 from Gerry O’Mahony (8) and Helen Morrissey (27) 62.5. In third spot were Noel Roche (12) and Marian Kennedy (28) with 63.
In the singles competition Ger Lowe (11) was the winner with 40 points from Declan Griffin (14) with 39 points and Ger Hackett (8) with 39 points.
In the seniors’ section Michael Culligan (16), John Keane (18) and Len Owens (19) won with 49 points from Dave Acton(21) John Varley (16) and Jim O’Riordan (22) on 48 points with third spot filled by Jim Lowe (26), Kevin  Kelliher (22) and Declan Lynch (22) with  47 points.

Kilrush
The winner of the singles Stableford open competition at Kilrush last week was David Egan (15) from Spanish Point with 38 points.
Saturday’s rumble in aid of Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin was won by Michael Miniter (17), Kieran Quinn (14) and Pat Curtis (13) with 95 points, who will now represent Kilrush Golf Club at the provincial final to be held at Newcastlewest on September 6.
In the lady president’s (Loretto Maher) competition last week, Mary Lyons (18) was the winner with 67 from Geraldine Burke (24) with 68, Petrine Keane (3) with 69, Mary Nolan (16) with 70and Mary Bolton (25) with 70.
Anne Brennan (10) won the gross with 84, while the nines were won by Mary O’Sullivan (21) with 32.5 and Martina Walsh (21) with 31.5. Other prizewinners were: committee prize: Anne Hogan (32) 72 nett; past president’s prize, Marion Roche (34) 81 nett; best 36 handicap, Mary Keating.
The lady captain’s (Imy Kerrigan) prize will be played for this Sunday.
In last week’s seniors team-of-three competition, the winners were Senan Carrig, Noel Enright and John O’Neill with 58 points from John Donnelly, Tom Prendeville and Tom O’Dea with 58 points, with third spot filled by Michael Lillis, Paddy Carmody and  PW Glynn with 52 points. The senior president’s (John Stapleton) prize will be played for next Wednesday.

East Clare
Last week’s ladies’ golfer of the year competition at East Clare was won by Tata Whelan with 37 points from Terry Mulvihill on a similar score, with Mary Beatty in third spot on 36. Tara will represent Munster this week in the girls’ inter-provincials in Roscommon, while Ciara Magill will play in the Munster girls’ competition this week.
This Saturday, the ladies’ minor team will contest the Munster final in Youghal, while there will be an 18-hole singles Stableford competition for those not involved.
In the men’s section last week, Vinny Henchy was the winner with 43 points from Brian Tobin on 40 and Michael Murphy on 39. Paddy Walsh won the juniors section with 45. The club will host the senior and junior scratch cups this Sunday.

Gort
Ruth Naughton won the ladies’ singles at Gort at the weekend with 37 points from Josie Cummins on 36 and Carmel Murphy on 36. Maura Hanrahan won the gross with 23 points.
Last Thursday’s singles was won by Siobhán O’Connor with 41 points from Siobhán Forde on 39, Geraldine Lynch on 38 and Josie Cummins on 37. Judith McGann won the gross with 26 points.
Helen Shaughnessy was the winner of last Wednesday’s singles with 41 points from Siobhán Forde on 38 and Helen McCormack on 38. Judith McGann won the gross with 27 points.
The president’s prize qualifier for the ladies will be the competition this Sunday.
Last Sunday’s men’s competition was won by Mike Frawley with 45 points from Joe Geoghegan on 39 and Kieran Reddy on 37. Enda Cradock won the gross with 36 points. 
In Saturday’s singles, Brian Murtagh was the winner with 45 points from Robert Hynes on 43 and Shane Diviney on 38. Trevor Cummins won the gross with 34 points.
The four-person scramble winners were Enda Cradock, Gavin Lally, Pádraig Cradock and Fiona Kelleher with 56.9 from Kieran Healy, Noel Geoghegan, Frank and Niall Higgins with 58. In third spot were Gerry Broderick, PJ Healy, Martin Kerins and Sara Broderick on 58.1.
In the Thursday 18-hole stroke competition, Niall Higgins won with 65 from Alan Fogarty on 66 and Dermot McDermott on 67. Gavin Lally won the gross with 74.
In the singles Stableford competition on Wednesday, John Kelleher was the winner with 43 points from Eddie Lee on 40 and Eoin O’Ceallaigh on 39. Enda Cradock won the gross with 33 points.

Ennis seniors
Last week, Ennis seniors held a team-of-three competition, which was won by Michael Kenny PP Cahill and Ger O’Brien with 50 points from Luke Coote, Don Ryan and Willie Moloney on 49. In third spot with 47 points were Pat Deegan, Peter Daly and Pat Cahill and they were followed by Ned Ryan, Charlie McEnery and Jimmy McNamara on a similar score. Fifth spot was filled by Pat Cusack, Pat McInerney and Tom Fox and they also scored 47 points.

Clarecastle
Colin Higgins was the recent winner of a Clarecastle Society outing at Woodstock. Tom Coughlan was second with John Casey in third place. The annual Sutton Cup challenge was contested with Éire Óg and Friends of Éire Óg Society at Woodstock. The Éire Óg contingent produced some excellent golf to retain the cup.

Dromoland
Julie Newman and Sheila Kent won the Eileen Murphy Foursomes at Dromoland last week.

Liscannor
Liscannor Society will hold an outing to Spanish Point this Saturday, when the tee will be available from 9am.

Nora Daly Society
Ballykisteen was the venue for an outing by members of the Nora Daly Society from Magowna House Hotel last week. The winners were Alan Markham and Brendan Hennessy from Micheál Neylon and Vincent Hennessy, with third spot filled by Noel Moloney and Michael Lynch.
The next outing will be the captain’s (Freddie Markham) prize day and it will take place at Athlone golf club on Saturday, September 4.

Pitch and Putt
The winner of the strokeplay competition at the Clare Road Pitch and Putt Club last Sunday was Niall Seery, from Denis McElligott, with Kenneth Kerin winning the gross.
The captain’s (Gabriel Kerin) day takes place this Sunday, with the tee time from 10am.

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