Munster title for the ladies of Lahinch

LAHINCH were crowned the Munster Ladies’ Senior Cup champions at Tralee on Sunday, beating top seed Douglas in a thrilling final. The Lahinch side will now go forward to the Irish finals in Cork on August 13-14.

In an all-Clare semi-final, they scored a 4-1 win over Ennis while Douglas won an all-Cork semi-final, beating Muskerry.
Representing Lahinch in the final were Linda Twomey, Sinéad Sexton, Valerie Hassett, Olivia Hayes and Val Shannon.
Lahinch defeated Limerick in the semi-final when Valerie Hassett clinched victory with a win at the second tie hole over Mary Conlon. Ennis booked their ticket to the semi-final with a win over Mitchelstown. In the first round, Ennis defeated last year’s winners Bandon while Lahinch accounted for Tralee.

Ennis
JAMES Mulqueen won the  Friday open singles at Ennis with 43 points from Joe Cronin on 38, Colin Tuite on 36 and Liam Behan on 35. Noel Whelan won the gross with 30 points.
In the ladies’ section, the winner of the St Flannan’s PPU 18-hole competition was Kitty Morris with 39 points from Aideen Considine on 38, Bernie Browne on 36, Mary Walshe on 35 and Monica Finnerty on 35. Barbara Foley won the gross with 36 points.
The ladies’ seniors’ 14-hole competition was won by Kathleen Frehill, Frances O’Reilly and Phil Butler with 53 points from Claire Ruane, Mary Colton and Mary McMahon on 49. In third spot were Angela Gough, Vera Griffin and Joan Murphy, also with 49.

Shannon
OVER the May Bank Holiday weekend, Shannon hosted an open team-of-four which saw runaway winners in a quartet of PJ Moroney, Michael Casey, Joe McGrath and Tim Crowe with 100 points. They had four to spare from C Creed, L and J O’Donoghue and John O’Connell. In third place on 95 points were J Gubbins, M Murphy, M Simpson and Liam Hogan. In fourth place, also on 95 points, were Ronan O’Reilly, Tim Danaher, Dick Crowe and Pauline Danaher.
The Wednesday open singles saw Walter Walsh capture the spoils with 42 points. Walter had one point to spare from Michael Kilmartin, who in turn had one point to spare from Liam O’Mahony on 40 points. The gross was captured by Daniel Brennan with 33 points.
One of the highlights of the golfing calendar, the professional’s (Arty Pyke) prize to both men and ladies took place at the weekend. The winner with 65 nett was John McPhilips. John covered the opening nine in five-over with a birdie at the sixth being the highlight. John laid the foundation for victory on his back nine when, despite a double bogey on the 10th, he covered the remaining eight holes in level par with a birdie at the fourteenth being offset by a dropped shot at the seventeenth. John had one shot to spare from Gerard Flanagan, who returned 66 nett, edging out Seamus Doyle by virtue of a better back nine. Pat McCarthy, Billy Grimes and Jim Ryall occupied fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, all returning 68s. Harry Grew, Jeremiah O’Connor and Chris Maguire returned 69s to occupy seventh, eighth and ninth places respectively. The gross was won by Ed Hickey with a one-over 73. The presentation of prizes will take place together with the April medal next Thursday at 9.30pm.
In the professional’s prize to the ladies, the youngest competitor, 11-year-old Lisa O’Shea, captured the honours with 69 nett. Lisa, who recently represented the club with distinction in Scotland and who is, in the view of club members, an Irish international in waiting, had one shot to spare from Bridget McCaul on 70 nett. In third place was Eleanor O’Brien, who just edged out Carmel Regan on the back nine, both returning 72s. Laura Hogan and Lynn Kelly were fifth and sixth respectively, both returning 74s.
The gross was captured by Rose Doyle with 83.
The competition this weekend will be the Holmpartick Cup qualifier, a men’s fourball event, while the ladies will play for the May medal.

Woodstock
JIM Carmody’s team won the winter league at Woodstock, beating Hugh McGrath’s team in the final. McGrath beat Carmody by one-up but then Mike Kelly put Carmody’s team into the lead when he beat Brendan Arthur seven-up while Nicky Ryan beat Jimmie Kelly two-up. Dermot O’Neill from McGrath’s team had a five-up win over Matt Power but it wasn’t enough to prevent Carmody’s team from winning by three-up overall.
In the Wednesday open singles, Michael Sullivan was the winner with 44 points from Noel Mulcahy on 40 points and Paul Hayes on 39.
Nicky Ryan won the Saturday singles with 39 points from Joe Collins, who had a similar score.
Woodstock won the Spancilhill Shield on Sunday when they overcame East Clare. Woodstock’s top five scores were returned by Mike Kelly and Eoghen O’Loughlin on 45 points.
Seamus Kelly and Nick Germaine scored 44 points with Adrian Coleman and Tom Hanrahan (44 points), Jim Carmody and Kevin Toner (44 points) with Áine and Mary Burke on 41 points.
This weekend’s competition is singles Stableford.

Clare Lefthanders
NOEL Normoyle won the annual Clare lefthanders championship at Ennis last week.
Mike Shinners from Shannon was second with third spot filled by Tulla man Danny Halpin. 
The competition’s main sponsor, Tom Mannion, is a member of the lefthanders’ club, as are the other sponsors, Barry Smythe and Seamus Durack.

Dromoland
DROMOLAND ladies held a two-day event at the weekend when the winner was Sue Cash from Siobhán Dyar with third spot filled by Julie Newman followed by Sandy Smyth. The gross was won by Maire McMahon.
Mairéad Bergin was the winner on day one with Ann Nix the winner on day two.

Spanish Point
MARTINA Skerritt was the winner of the president’s prize to the ladies at Spanish Point at the weekend with 37 points. Della Malone was second with 34 points followed by Maura Burke on 33. Mary Cleary won the prize for nearest the pin.
Austin Kelly was the winner of the men’s singles with 39 points from Christy Mohally on 38.
The May Sunflower competition winners were Evelyn Kelly, Geradine Reddan and Maura Burke. There will be an 18-hole competition next weekend.
In the seniors’ open, the winner was John O’Sullivan with 33 points from Gerry Meade on 31.
The fourball better-ball competition was won by Eoghan O’Loughlin and Martin Dormer with 45 points from Liam Ryan and Raymond Ward with 43 points. In third spot were David Keane and Michael O’Brien on 42 points.

East Clare
EAST Clare hosted an open team-of-three competition last week which attracted a large entry. The winners in the ladies’ section were Margaret MacNamara, Siobhán Shanahan and Bess Fennessy with 61 points. The winners in the men’s section were
Derek Kenny, Ger Beatty and Tom Browne with 62 points while the winners in the mixed section were Mike Whelan, Jim Greene and Tara Whelan, also with 62 points.
Tara Whelan won the ladies’ open singles with 40 points from Brid Hayes on 38.
The winners of the club scramble were William O’Brien, Mary Bugler and Mary Joe Minogue from Margaret MacNamara, Siobhán Shanahan and Catherine Murphy.
In the men’s seniors’ section, the winners were Kevin Burke, Willie Roche, Donal Fleming and John Fleming while the winners in the ladies’ seniors’ competition were Margaret MacNamara, Mary Collins, Georgina Wright and Marie Moloney from Brigid Minogue, Annette Rowan and Helen Conway.
Woodstock defeated East Clare in the Spancilhill Cup and the East Clare scorers were Flan and John Clune, Denis Scanlon and John MacNamara, Tony Stuart and Martin Crotty, Brendan McInerney and TJ McNamara, while the best ladies’ score was from Mary Beatty and Mary Fagan, who shot 43 points.
On Sunday, there will be a men’s foursomes competition while the ladies will have a golfer-of-the-year outing.

Lahinch
GARY Orison won the open singles Stableford competition at Lahinch last week with 37 points from Vivian Killeen on 33 and Ian Morrison on 31.
In the ladies’ open singles, Jenny Cagney was the winner with 33 points.
Greg Young was the winner of the men’s monthly medal, a singles stroke competition, with 74 nett from Alan Donegan on 75 and Declan Butler on 78.
John Cogan and Michael Hennessy were the winners of the men’s fourball Stableford competition on Sunday with 40 points from Paul O’Brien and Aaron McNulty on 38 with third spot filled by Gerry McMahon and Pat Meaney, also with 38.
Patricia Kelleher was the winner of the ladies’ singles Stableford competition on the Castle course on Sunday with 34 points.

Kilkee
THE winners of the fourball at Kilkee last week were Ger Hackett (8) and Liam Browne (17) with 46 points from Tom (18) and Glen Carr (19) with 45 points. In third spot were George Roche (13) and John Garvey (14) with 45 points.
The winners of the scramble were Eddie (7) and Mary Price (35) and Martin Collins (24) with 55 points.
The winner of the ladies’ singles was Ann Cronin (24) on 41 points from Gráinne Forde (23) on 40 points with Marie McGuire (22) in third spot on 37 points.

Kilrush
PARAIC Cotter was the winner of the Monday open singles at Kilrush with 39 points from Vincent Hodge on 38 and Seán Lyons, also with 38. Pat Murtagh and Tom Clancy won the nines.
In the seniors’ modified scramble, the winners were Michael Horgan, Noel Enright and Paddy Carmody with 73 points from TJ Lyons, Tom Cleary, P Murrihy and John Robinson on 69 points. In third spot were J McSwiggan, M Hemmings, Barry Taylor and M Lane with 67 points.
In the ladies’ Australian Spoons competition, the winners were Imy Kerrigan (15) and Margaret Griffin (28) with 41 points from Peggy Mulqueen (33) and Mary Bolton (25) with 39 points.
IN the Finches team-of-four competition on Sunday the winners with 97 points were Mike Mullane (9), Pat Sheahan (16), Neil Higgins (16) and Tom Carr (18).
In second place were Dermot (21), Carmel (32) and Gerry McKeon (Limerick) (15) and Joe Chambers (12) with 93 points and they were followed by Mary Bolton (26), Peggy Mulqueen (33), Robert Prunty (16) and Kieran Lillis (13) with 92 points.
There will be an open singles this Saturday while the Leadmore Trophy, an open singles competition, will be the attraction on Sunday.

Gort
ANNE Kerins won the Bob Forde Trophy at Gort last week with 42 points from Madeline Donohue on 39. Olga Price on 39 and Patricia Skehill on 38.
The winner of the 18-hole singles was Geraldine Lynch on 39 from Josie Collins on 38.
There will be an 18-hole singles Stableford competition this weekend while the weekly open will continue on Monday.

Portumna
THE JB Stronge Cup was played for on Saturday and Sunday when Matt Donohue was the winner with 63 nett from Seán Hogan on 65, John O’Donnell on 66 and Michael Donnellan on 67. Joe Lyons won the gross from Martin Kennedy.
Matt Donoghue’s score represented a level-par round and was the best winning score in the competition.
In the winter open threeball, the April qualifiers were Matt Donoghue (10), Leslie O’Meara (10) and Brian Grogan (20) with 55 points from Evan Talty (11) (Portlaoise), Michael Talty (17) (Woodstock) and Eric Murrihy (17) (Portlaoise) with 54  points.
The competition continues for the month of May. 
The annual Ability West Golf Classic was held over the weekend at Portumna.
The winners were Willie (8), Graham (16) and Mike Carty (14) and Mike Fallon (19) with 100 points from Vincent Treacy (12), Tom Moloney (10) Sharon Moloney (24) and Bernie Treacy (29) with a similar score.
In third spot were Mary McElroy (27), Audrey McGrath (27), Carmel Cunningham (14) and Emer O’Rourke (16) with 99 points and they were followed by Carmel Cunningham (14), Mary Conwell (25), Anita Carey (12) and Abe Kennedy (16) with 98 points. In fifth place were Kevin (13) and Michael Donnellan (18), Joe (12) and Ivan Austin (15) with 97 points.
The winner of the ladies’ 18-hole competition on Sunday were Miriam Hynes with 70 nett from Anita Carey on 71.
The masters’ 18-hole Stableford will take place this Sunday and it will be a golfer-of-the-year event.
The May Special Olympics three-ball will be the competition on Sunday, May 23.

Sixmilebridge
THE next outing for members of the Sixmilebridge Society is on Saturday in Roscrea. The tee is reserved from 10.30am.

Ennis seniors
SEVENTY-four members played in a three-ball modified scramble promoted by the Ennis seniors’ club last week.
The winners with 87 points were Jim Felle, Brian Warner and Paul Mockler. They had two strokes to spare from George Dilger, Willie Moloney and Bernie Hoey, with third spot filled by Don Ryan, Cyril O’Dowd and Frank Landy, who were a further three shots back.
Also on 82 points were Seamus Hanrahan, Bill Leacy and John Keane followed by Pat Cahill, Noel Pilkington and Mike Butler on 81, John Keane (Teagasc) Jim McEnery, Seán O’Gorman on 81, Seán Fitzpatrick, Peadar Cosgrove, Tim McAllister on 80, Greg Fogarty, Dick Herbert and Ollie Kenneally on 78.

St Flannan’s PPU
MARTIN Corry won the St Flannan’s PPU outing at Ennis on Sunday with a score of 41 points from Bob Loftus on 40 points, Liam Behan on 37, Brian O’Gorman on 37 and Kieran Cosgrove on 37. Jason Woods won the gross while other prize winners were: staff prize, Peter Quinn (35 points); parent of pupil, Con Woods (35 points); visitor, Alan Dunne (37 points); guest, Pádraig Ryan (34 points), parent and pupil, Kieran and Aaron Nugent.
In the Ennis members’ section, Steve Burns was the winner from Leo Herbert with Michael Irwin in third spot and they all had 41 points.

Feakle GAA
MUIRNE Donnellan became the first lady to win the McCafferty Cup, a Feakle GAA promotion. She returned 45 points to win after former winners, Seamus Durack, defending champion, and Stephen Moloney had returned 38 and 42 points respectively. Nick Ryan was in fourth place and he also returned 38 points.
Muirne’s score also helped in the team event, where she joined forces with Ronan McGuinness and Mark Clune. McGuinness shot a round of one-over on the day. The score from the winning team was 58 points, one better than that returned by Tim McGillacuddy, Seamus Bohan and Kieran Sheedy.
In the junior nine-hole competition, Regan Conway, James Noonan and Diarmuid Bane were the winners. Stephen Moloney won the long drive while Ronan McGuinness won the prize for nearest the pin.
The event is organised by Feakle GAA as a social event to encourage Feakle people and former residents to get involved in parish activities.

Clarecastle
CLARECASTLE Society will hold its next outing (Founder’s Day) at Ennis on Monday. The first tee has been reserved from 2.30pm to 4pm and a timesheet will operate on the day, with details available from 086 3246015.

Clare Teachers
THE Hillery Cup will be played for this Saturday at East Clare. This competition is open to all Clare teachers and the tee will be available from 9.30am. A timesheet will operate and details can be obtained from Joan at 086 3167365.

Bridgetown
BRIDGETOWN Society held its April meeting in Adare last Saturday, when 32 members took part.
Joe McArthur was the overall winner with 36 points from Dominick McArthur on a similar score, Francis Moloney was third on 34 points.
In category A, TJ Burns won with 33 points from Eoin O’Brien on 32 points while Category B was won by Liam Hession on 26 points from Shane O’Brien on 24 points.
Louis Daly won category C with 30 points from Tom Hannon on 26 points. The nines were won by Tom O’Shaughnessy and Tim Jones while Pat Fitzgerald won the prize for nearest the pin.
The society’s next outing will be this Saturday to East Clare when the tee will be available from 11am to 12 noon.

Nora Daly Society
MEMBERS of the Nora Daly Society held an outing to Portumna last week when Mike Hehir was the winner from Alan Markham, with Mick O’Connor in third place. The society’s next outing will be to Dromoland on Saturday, May 29.

Cranny Coolmeen Golf Society
FIRST with 79.8 points was Ray Shannon (9), Chrissie Daly (23), Agnes Shannon (22), Carmel Shannon (35); second with 79 points were Michael Daly (19), Michael McMahon (27), James Clancy (25); third with 79 points were Hugh Talty (26), Michael Farren (28), John Kennelly (28); fourth with 77 points were  Gerry McMahon (15), Mary McNamara (22), Niall Gavin (28). Nearest pin was Gerry Bredin.

Pitch and putt
THE winners of the three-ball scramble at the Clare Road Pitch and Putt Club on Sunday were Niall Seery, PJ Considine and Joseph McElligott.