New course record set at Spanish Point

WITH the very good weather during the past week, all competitions were well supported and scoring was high. Over 60 played for the men’s Easter Hamper which was a singles stroke event against the par of 66.Eoghan O’Loughlin, off five handicap, returned 64 gross (nett 59) to establish a course record for the current layout.
In second place was Harry Crowe (17) 59 nett. followed by Ross Burke (17) 59 nett, Conor Egan (12) 63 nett and Gerry Gallagher (22) 64 nett.
In the seniors’ open last week, Willie McNamara (18) was the winner with 41 points from Gerry Meade (16) with 35 points.
In the weekly open, the winner was David Egan (13) with 43 points from Ross Burke (17) with 40 points. The Friday evening team-of-four nine-hole scramble was won by Joe O’Rourke (21), Conor Egan (12), Ross Burke (17) and Stephen Cunningham (25) with five under gross. The lady captain’s prize to the men will be the competition this the weekend with an open singles on Bank Holiday Monday.

Woodstock
IN the Wednesday open singles, Cormac Walshe (14) was the winner with 46 points from Eugene Maher (11) on 43 points and Noel Kelleher (18), also with 43 points.
In the Saturday and Sunday scramble, the winners were Joe Collins and Michael Reen with 61 nett from Kieran Cunnane and Robert Dormor on 61.7 nett.
Monday’s singles was won by Tony Nugent (5) with 44 points from Alan Barrett (11) on 42 points and Brian Ahern (5) on 41 points.
In the ladies’ April medal, Joan Barrett won category A with 75 while Jenny McElhinney was the winner of category B with 78.
There will be an open four-ball this Saturday and Sunday with an open singles on Monday.

Ennis
THE Ennis ladies’ seniors’ competition at the weekend was won by Mary Walshe, Francis O’Reilly and Gertrude Finn with 56 points from Susan O’Brien, Bridie Keane and Ann Casey on 54 points.
In the silver medal section, Maura McNicholas was the winner from Maura Ryan and both scored 75 nett. Maureen Moloney won the bronze medal section from Bernie Brooks, both returning 73 nett.
Anthony Garrihy from Kilkee was the winner of the Friday open singles with 48 points from Colum Devine on 42, Richard Lynch on 42 and Sean Herbert on 38. Darragh Burke, Nenagh, won the gross with 33 points.
The men’s seniors’ section hosted a modified four-ball last week in which 80 members played. The winners with 40 points were Sean Fitzpatrick and Tony Coote from Joe McMahon and Conor Murphy on 38 points with third spot filled by Bill Leacy and Tom Fox, also with 38 points. John Guinan and Paul Mockler were next with 38 points followed by Tim Ryan and Pat Rutherford on 37 points. In sixth place with 37 points were Tom Greene and Ned Ryan followed by Sean O’Gorman and Ollie Kenneally with 37, Pat Cahill and Aidan Lynch with 36, Gerry O’Brien and Joe O’Neill with 36, Frank Whyte and Johnny Cullinan with 36, Tom Pender and Noel Pilkington with 36, Willie Walsh and Pádraig Ryan with 35.
In the club classic at the weekend, the winners with 106 points were Luke and Tony Coote, Paul Higgins and Tim McAllister. They had two to spare from Tom Greene, Brian O’Gorman, Adrian Rushe and Richard Keane. In third place with 103 points were K Dromley, Jim Carmody, Nicky Ryan and Joe Collins followed by John Guilfoyle, Sean Fitzpatrick, Tony Blake and John Cullinan with 101, John Cullinane, Eddie Glenny, Liam Glenny and John McNamara with 101 points with sixth spot filled by Michael Connolly, Bernard O’Loughlin, Kieran and Tom Fox.

East Clare
THE winners of the open team-of-three competition at East Clare at the weekend were Breda O’Loughlin, Catherine Murphy and Terry Mulvihill with 65 points from Ger Hogan, Catherine Minogue and Siobhán Shanahan on 63 points. In third place with 62 points were Mary Nolan, Niamh Whelan and Liz Blake.
Thomas Dormer (12) was the winner of the men’s open singles with 40 points from Tim McNamara (15) with a similar score. Paul Gratton was third with 39 points.
In the men’s seniors’ competition, the winners were Liam Nolan, Jim Greene and Chris Davis from Charles Stuart, Michael Gough and John Fleming with third spot filled by Tim McGillicuddy, Batt Skehan and Richard Keating.
In the ladies’ seniors’ competition, Nancy Starr, Mary Stritch and Iris Benson were the winners from Pat Williams, Mary Bugler and Anna McGillicuddy.
There will be an open men’s four-ball competition this weekend as well as an open team-of-two competition for ladies. Both events running from Friday through to Monday.

Shannon
THE ladies’ competition at Shannon saw Connie Corry victorious with 72 nett. Connie had two strokes to spare from Hilary Park. In third place was Sheila Forde on 76 while Christina Halpin was fourth on 79. The gross was captured by Jean Murphy-Wright with 89.
The Wednesday open singles saw Tony McNulty from East Clare victorious with 43 points. Well-known GAA referee Mike O’Connor was second on 41 points courtesy of a better back nine from Mike Deasy, who occupied third place. The gross was won by Gary Purtill with 34 points.
The Bank Holiday Weekend competition was an open team-of-four, which saw Adrian Tracey, Mick Wall, Tony O’Brien and Rory McMahon victorious with 100 points. They had three to spare for visitors from Charleville Gary Kelly, Dermot Whelan and Tommy Irwin. They were accompanied by Ian Irwin from Castletroy whose better back nine relegated Andrew and John Pearse who were accompanied by Paudie Ryan and John Morrissey, both groups returning 97 points. In fourth place were Mick Moore, Eddie King, Jim Kierans and Noel O’Sullivan with 95 points.
On Easter Monday, there was a men’s open 18-hole singles, which saw David O’Brien victorious with 42 points. David had two to spare from visitor Michael Laverty from Rathbane who edged out Patrick Cassidy by virtue of a better back nine, both returning 40 points. The gross was won by Ed Hickey with 34 points.
The men’s April singles will be the competition this Saturday with the club development open team-of-four on Sunday and an open men’s singles on Monday. The ladies will play for the Eileen Murphy foursomes on Tuesday.

Kilrush
THE arrival of Easter and the mild temperatures saw many people flock to the West Clare Peninsula and this ensured a large attendance on the golf course.
Kieran Lillis recorded his first ever hole-in-one on the eighth in the weekend singles’ competition.
In the Friday mixed, the winners were Geraldine Burke, Freda Moran and Kieran Lillis from Kitty McNamara, Sean Moran and John Stapleton.
In the open singles at the weekend, Noel Thornton (17) with 40 points won from Nevan Prendeville with 38 points with third spot filled by Michael Hemmings 38 points.
In a similar competition on Monday, Martin Bourke (Shannon) was the winner with 40 points from Gearóid Williams on 39 points.
In the ladies’ open singles, Noreen Campbell (27, Rathbane) was the winner with 40 points from Anne Brennan (11) on 38 points, with Caroline Murphy (32) third on 38 points followed by Marie Costello (26, Rathbane) on 37 points.
Last Thursday’s ladies’ competition was won by Liz Blake (19) with 35 points from Imy Kerrigan (16) on 34 points and Margaret Clancy (14( with 34 points. The category winners were Anne Brennan (11) with 32 points, Joan O’Malley (20) with 34 points and Ursula Lineen (33) with 33 points.
This weekend the annual club fundraiser will be played for over Saturday and Sunday. The format will be a team-of-four, any combination, with two scores to count at each hole.
The Friday mixed continues with the draw at 6pm sharp.

Lahinch
JOHN Herlihy (9) from Killarney was the winner of the men’s open singles Stableford competition at Lahinch on Thursday last with 37 points from John Cronin (6), Kanturk who had a similar score. In third spot with 36 points was Paul Montgomery (12), Cork.
The Holmpatrick Cup, a men’s four-ball Stableford competition, was the attraction on Friday when the winners were Gerard Dunworth (7) and Harry Eakins (13) with 42 points. They won from Dermot Morris (3) and James O’Gorman (12) who had a similar score. In third spot, also with 42 points, were Jerry Foley (8) and Tony Molloy (10).
In the ladies’ four-ball Stableford competition on Friday, the winners were Angela Cullinan (13) and Connie Fahy (19) with 45 points from Rachel Maher (19) and Liz O’Driscoll (20) with 39 points.
In a similar competition on the Castle Course, the winners were Jean Basheer (16) and Miriam Hillery (19) with 40 points from Ann Vaughan (24) and Anne Kirby (28) with 38 points.
The ladies’ singles’ competition on Saturday was for the JK Brice Trophy and the winner was Yvonne Morrison (18) with 42 points from Aedin McCarthy (14) who had a similar score. Miriam Abernethy (7) was next with 40 points followed by Della Malone (17) with 37 points. Eileen Rose Power won the gross with 33 points.
The Ennistymon House Cup, a men’s singles’ competition on Saturday was won by Tommy Malone (4) with 41 points from Barry Cudmore (16) with 40 points followed by Parry Mandal (18) with 39 points, Kevin O’Keeffe (5) with 38 points and Paul Usher (15) with 38 points, while the gross was won by Michael O’Kelly with 38 points.
There was a team-of-four competition on the Castle Course on Sunday when the winners, with 104 points, were Máire and Pat Falvey, Martin Scales and Des Hanrahan from Denis and Angela Cullinan, Jerry Foley and Michael Cagney with 101 points. In third spot with 100 points were John, Yvonne, Niall and Susan Morrison.
In a similar competition on the Championship Course, the winners with 93 points were Eddie, Eileen Rose, Mark and Kevin Power followed by Ger McMahon, Declan Brougham, Dave Foley and Richard DeCourcey with 91 points with third spot filled by Jimmy Doyle, Eamon Foley, Martin Moroney and Paul O’Gorman with 88 points.
The Mick O’Loughlin Memorial Trophy was played for on Monday and this was a singles stroke competition. The winner with 67 was Shane Duggan (10) from Niall Naughton (18) on 69 and they were followed by Oran Murphy (10) on 69, Liam McDonnell (5) with 70 and Liam Dalton (12) with 70. The gross was won by Niall Morrisson with 72 points.
The Castle Course hosted a ladies’ invitational four ball on Monday when the winners were Catherine McKenna (12) and Joan Barrett (19) from Mary Sadlier (13) and Olivia Lucas (10) with third spot filled by Ann Heskin (19) and Oonagh Fitzpatrick (20).

Gort
THE open 18-hole singles at Gort at the weekend was won by Michael Whelan with 43 points from Aidan O’Donnell with 40 points, Len Baker with 40 points and Andreas Edler with 40 points. The gross was won by Jason McLynn with 35 points.
The open singles on Good Friday was won by Colman Cooney with 40 points from Eanna Melville on 38 and Kieran Grimes on 37 with the gross being won by Jason McLynn on 33 points.
Last Monday’s open singles was won by Tony Sheehan with 39 points from Colman Cooney on 38, Cyril Lyons, Ennis, with 33 and Eamonn Morrissey with McLynn also winning the gross on this occasion. 
There will be a team-of-four competition this weekend.
In the ladies’ singles last week, Josie Collins was the winner with 38 points from Patricia Skehill on 36 and Maura Hanrahan on 36 points.
In the ladies’ open singles on Monday, Patricia Skehill was the winner with 37 points from Siobhán Forde on 35.
This weekend, the ladies will play for the Bob Forde Trophy, an 18-hole singles Stableford event.

Portumna
THE winners of the men’s Easter four ball at Portumna were Pat Kearney (13) and James O’Meara (14) with 45 points from Pat Healy (11) and Fergal Conneely (14) (Curra West) on 45 points. In third spot with 45 points were Gerry (9) and Ronan Madden (14), while the gross was won by Sean (2) and John Cleary (4) with 39 points.
In the ladies’ singles’ competition, Birgit Degenhardt was the winner with 39 points from Miriam Hynes on a similar score with Claire Callanan on 36 points.
The annual Open Club Classic takes place this week and continues until Sunday. The J B Stronge Cup Open Competition will take place on Sunday, May 8. 
The final of the open three ball will take place on Saturday, May 7.
The Portumna branch of Ability West are holding an open three-ball at Portumna in May it runs from Tuesday, May 17 to Friday, May 20.

Dromoland
THE ladies’ competition at Dromoland on Sunday was won by Maria Nolan from Julie Newman with third spot filled by Colette Colleran.
In the summer nine-hole competition, Joan Ryan was the winner from Ber McDermott.
The winner of the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend singles Stableford competition for men was Nicky Duggan with 43 points from Willie Fitzgerald with 42 points with third spot filled by Brian Shally with 42 points. The 18 and over handicap category winner was Mick Shinkquin with 35 points with the junior winner Jason Ronan with 41 points.
The club’s juniors were third in the junior foursomes competition at Castletroy on Friday and the members are Ryan O’Neill, Aidan O’Mahoney, Sean Shanahan, Killian Howard with substitutes Aaron Duggan and Ronan McCarthy.
This May Bank Holiday Weekend, there will be a Stableford competition with re-entry.

Kilkee
IN the Spring League at Kilkee at the weekend the winners were G O’Flynn (11), P Harte (13), J Garvey (15), M Galvin (17), P Costelloe (20), A O’Connell (17) from B Harte (11), L Mullane (12), G Reidy (18), T Carr (18), C Clancy (20), and M Daly (25).
In the captains’ drive-in scramble, the winners were P Clancy (7), G O’Halloran (15) and A Linehan (33) from M Mullane (9), B McNamara (17) and A McCarthy (36) with third spot filled by N Daly (7), G Carr (19) and M O’Connell (36).

Sixmilebridge
NOEL Flannery was the winner of the Sixmilebridge Society outing to Portumna from David Purcell and Chris Wason. The winners of the nines were Brian Casey and Mike O’Halloran, while the category prizes were won by Johnny McInerney and David Purcell.

Pitch and putt
AT the Clare Road Pitch and Putt Club on Sunday, the winner of the stroke play competition was David McElligott from PJ Considine with Timmy O’Sullivan winning the gross.
Monday’s scramble was won by Joseph McElligott and Tony Clancy from Denis McElligott and PJ Considine.