Mid-West alliance title for Foley

DROMOLAND’S Dave Foley won the Mid-West Spring Alliance.

 

He had six birdies in a round of two under par 70 for an overall four under total. After eight holes in the final round, he was level par. Around Dromoland’s ‘Amen corner’ (holes 9, 10, and 11) he had consecutive birdies leaving him three under on the day. He also birdied 13 and 15 but he bogeyed the next two before finishing with a par.
He won the title with rounds of 71, 71 and 70 and he was followed by Paudie McGrath with rounds of 70, 72 and 73. In third spot was Eddie McCormick from Galway with rounds of 74, 72 and 72 followed by Seamus McEnery from the host club with rounds of 71, 71 and 76.
Helped by the support of current senior internationals such as Pat Murray (Limerick), Joe Lyons (Galway) and Eddie McCormick (Galway), the 2011 Alliance was a tremendous success.
The winner is hoping to use his victory as a springboard in his challenge for next week’s regional professional championship at Bandon. Going into the final round, he is in fourth position.

Mike Mac Memorial
www.ennislusc.com has announced that The Mike Mac Memorial Golf Classic will take place on April 9 in memory of well-known local man Mike McNamara (known as Mike Mac) who sadly passed away last summer. Originally from Newmarket-on-Fergus, Mike spent most of his working life in Ennis where he worked with Anton Angers in Beech Park and became widely known over a long number of years. Mike played soccer for Newmarket Celtic and Lifford among others, and also starred for Ennis RFC on many occasions. He was a keen sportsman and a lifelong follower of all things Leeds United.
A memorial golf classic is to be held in his honour with the intention of raising much-needed funds for local causes. It is hoped that in excess of 50 teams will take part resulting in a tidy windfall for Cahercalla Hospice and The John Giles Foundation, who are this year’s intended beneficiaries. The John Giles Foundation was launched recently to provide financial support to local community programmes and schoolboy football clubs.
As an added bonus to the prestige of the event, it has been confirmed that Johnny Giles, who was one of Mike’s idols over the years, has offered to play on the day and attend the presentation of prizes that evening in the clubhouse. The event will be followed by a night of music and dancing in Ennis Golf Club.
Teams of four can be booked by contacting Kieran Ryan on 087 8055306 or 087 2340378. Tee boxes can also be sponsored on the day, which would add greatly to the overall total raised by this event. Tee box sponsorship can be booked by calling Paul Nihill (086 8346091) or Cyril Corry (087 1221920).

Ennis
ENNIS seniors held a modified three-ball scramble last week in which 83 members played.
The winners with 81 points were Jimmy McNamara, Tom Fox and Jim Scully from Peadar Cosgrove, Gerry Kelly and Michael Kenny on 76. In third spot, also with 76 points, were Sean O’Gorman, John White and Tom Purcell followed by Sean Fitzpatrick, Johnny Cullinan and Michael Cummins on 75. In fifth spot with 74 points were Tom Pender, Seamus D’Arcy and Bobby Burke and they were followed by Kevin Murray, Luke Coote and Tim McAllister with a similar score. In seventh spot were Tim Kelly, Pat Cusack and John Keane.
A week earlier, the seniors hosted a team-of-four competition in which 84 members played. The winners were Peadar Cosgrove, Bernard Hoey, Bernard Hanrahan and TJ Kerins with 84 points followed by Ger Hanrahan, Matty Molyneaux, Dickie Pyne and Colm McNevin with 82 points. In third spot were Bobby Burke, JJ Keane, Charlie McEnery and Michael Torpey with 81 points followed by Seamus Hanrahan, Pat Cahill, Ned Ryan and George Dilger with a similar score. In fifth spot were Dick Burke, Pat O’Reilly, John Guinan and Johnny Guerin with 79 points followed by Bill Leacy, James Ball, Michael Butler and Dave Dillon with 79.
The Ennis ladies’ seniors’ section held a 14-hole scramble and the winners were Mary McMahon, Nuala Guinan, Margaret McEnery and Kathleen Frehill from Mary Leahy, Ann Casey and Mary Glynn.
Saturday’s club scramble was won by Sean O’Gorman, Jo Dilger and Luke Coote with 45 points from Carmel Cummins, Tim McAllister and Michael Connolly with 42 points.

Shannon
THE men’s Wednesday 15-hole singles saw the ever consistent John Gubbins capture the honours with 38 points. John had one point to spare from Fintan Ward while a strong back nine was sufficient for Mal Roberts to edge out a number of players who all returned 36 points.
Last weekend, over 130 teams played in the Milford Hospice Classic in memory of club member Bill O’Shea. The event raised €15,300.
A quartet of visitors – John Chawke, Eamon McGrath, Danny Halpin and Willie Donegan – just pipped local members, Jason O’Donnell, James Bullman, Keith Buckley and Richard Murphy, by virtue of a better back three, both returning 70 points. In third place, also on 70 points, were Tim Ryan, Pat Griffin, Gerry O’Malley and Denis Bartley.
Those involved in the running of the tournament were acknowledged at the presentation as well as the O’Shea family for their sponsorship of all the prizes.
The ladies’ weekly 15-hole competition saw Yoka Walsh victorious with 30 points followed by Vie Leahy on 28 points.
There will be a men’s foursomes qualifier for the McCavana Cup this weekend.

Woodstock
THERE was a great turnout for the captain’s (lady captain Joan Barrett, captain Eugene Quinn, and seniors’ captain Tom Dormer) drive-in at Woodstock. There was a front and back nine-hole scramble in conjunction with the drive in.
Front nine winners were John O’Connor Jim McMahon, Kieran Cunnane and Mairéad Carroll while the back nine winners were Tommy Timspon, Therese Sherlock, Fran Feighery and Sean Rynne.
After Round 2 of the winter league, James Carmody’s team leads with 107 points from John O’Connor’s team on 106 and Kieran Dromey’s team, also with 106 points.
In the singles’ competition, John O’Connor (11) was the winner with 41 points from Alan Dunne (13) who had a similar score. The third round will take place this week when there will also be a club singles Stableford competition.
In the seniors’ weekly competition, Michael Cullinan was the winner with 33 points from Bobby Burke on 32 points.
The ladies’ 14-hole Stableford competition was won by Teresa Sherlock with 24 points.
A nine-hole singles’ Stableford competition for ladies has been running each week since January and winners to date include Mairéad Carroll (three wins), Joan Barrett (two wins) and Fran Feighery.

Spanish Point
WITH the weather so good for the past week, the various competitions at Spanish Point have been well supported and scoring has continued to be consistent. Len Wilson, playing in the seniors’ open on Tuesday, March 1 was a very convincing winner when off 16 handicap, he had a great score of 41 points. Gerry Meade (16) was second with 36 points.
On Friday last, Thomas Hehir (12) was the winner of the open singles with 33 points.
In the weekend singles, Bernie O’Halloran (20) won with 38 points from Noel McMahon (18) 37 points and Gerry Meade (16) 36 points. The Hillery/Lynch Shield takes place in Ringenane GC, Kinsale on April 2 and the details are on the notice board. Anyone interested in travelling should put their name on the list.
The Munster Towns Cup team (handicaps 10 or above) start their campaign with a home match against Listowel on April 9. This is singles matchplay off scratch with seven players per team and managers Noel McMahon and Eoghan O’Loughlin are arranging the preparations with details on the noticeboard.
There will be a singles’ Stableford competition this weekend with a timesheet in the clubhouse.

Lahinch
PÁDRAIG Hayes (10) was the winner of the men’s singles Stableford competition on the old course on Sunday with 40 points. He had two to spare from Paul O’Brien (6) with Declan McInerney (1) in third spot with 37 points.
In the ladies’ singles v par competition on the Castle Course, Niamh Whelan was the winner with three-up.
Saturday’s men’s singles Stableford competition was won by Gerard Dunworth (8) with 41 points from Stephen Byrne (14) with 39 points and Michael Harty (15) with 38 points.
Last week’s ladies’ singles Stableford competition was won by Valerie Shannon (7) with 38 points from Emmanual McMahon Senior (29) with 37 points and Patricia Kelleher (27) with 37 points. The gross was won by Gráinne D’Alton (5) with 26 points.

Gort
MARTIN Flaherty was the winner of the weekend’s singles at Gort with 42 points from David Quirke on 39, Barry O’Driscoll on 38 and Oliver Curtin on 38. Jason McLynn won the gross with 35.
In the previous week’s four-ball competition, Barry Heaney had a hole-in-one at the 16th.
The winner of last week’s open singles was Seamus Hynes with 41 points.
The ladies’ four-ball competition in aid of the blind was won by Mary Geoghegan and Regina Malone with 31 points.
There will be a men’s singles competition this weekend while there will be a similar competition on St Patrick’s Day.

Friends of Clare
THE 21st annual golf classic promoted by the Friends and Supporters of Clare GAA in Dublin, will take place on Thursday, June 2 at Newlands Golf Club.
Funds from this annual event go to support the development of hurling and football in Clare. Since the organisation was founded, €450,000 has been contributed to Clare GAA, which has been used for the promotion of the games in schools, clubs and county teams. The Dublin organisation has also provided special funding for the Munster minor hurling champions and the All-Ireland finalists in 2010.
The organisation’s patron is Dan McInerney while Jimmy Smyth is president, Christy Killeen (chairman), Pat Nihill (secretary), Anne Greene (treasurer), Myles Clancy (PRO) and Sean O’Laoire (vice-chairman).
The event will again be for teams of four with two to score and there will be a long drive and a nearest-the-pin competition. North Clare man Sean Hegarty will again be the main sponsor of the event.
Further information is available from Christy Killeen 01 2881732 or 087 2581228/ killeec@iol.ie, Pat Nihill 01 4516247/086 4090766/patnihill@yahoo.com.au or Pat Breen 01 8420328/087 9683222/ pbreen@regtel.ie

Portumna
IN the men’s 15-hole competition at Portumna, Albert Kelly (9) was the winner of the 0-10 category with 34 points while other winners on the day were Oliver Flanagan (13) in the 11-14 handicap section with 36 points, Phonsie Ryan (17) in the 15-18 handicap section with 37 points, Henry Torpey (19) in the 19 and over handicap section with 37 points and Joe Slattery (14) who won the senior category with 36 points.
In the ladies’ 14-hole Stableford competition, Geraldine O’Reilly was the winner with 29 points from Mary Jo Kelly with 28 points.
In the open three-ball competition, the February winners were brothers Gene (14), John (12) and Kevin McEntee (12) with 51 points from Kenneth Doyle (12), Pat Mulvihill (14) and David Solon (17) with a similar score.
The seniors 14-hole competition on Wednesday was won by Daithi Frawley (16) with 32 points from Mick Keyes (11) with 31 points and Francis McClearn (12) with 30 points.
The junior section annual general meeting, scheduled for last weekend, was postponed and will go ahead on this Saturday at 11am in the clubhouse.
There will be an open three-ball on St Patricks’s Day.

East Clare
MARTIN Crotty (20) was the winner of the men’s 18-hole singles at East Clare at the weekend with 46 points from Brian McCarthy (12) who scored 44 points.
In the men’s seniors’ outing last week, Michael Fitzpatrick, Flan Mullane and Tom Moloney were the winners from Liam Skelly, John Kelly and Willie Roche.
In the ladies’ seniors, Margaret McNamara, Pat Williams and Trish Kerr were the winners from Frances Gaffney, Bernie Bohan and Kathleen Reddan.
The final of the winter league will take place this Sunday.

Clarecastle
CLARECASTLE Golf Society will hold its 2011 AGM in Power’s, Clarecastle on Wednesday next, March 16 at 9pm. The first outing of the year will be played at Galway Bay Golf Club on Saturday, March 26.

Scariff College
SCARIFF Community College held a very successful team event at East Clare on Saturday to raise funds for their pitch development.
The winners with 94 points were Gerry Nugent, Martin Mason and Paul Madden followed by Shane Collins, Sean Daly and Eamon Concannon with 90 points. In third spot with 89 points were Redmond Walsh, Teddy O’Hallahan and Pat Carey followed by Pat Thornton, William Hannon and Frank O’Meara, also with 89 points. Pat Mulvihill won the prize for nearest the pin at the eighth.