ENNIS Golf Club enjoyed success over the last week as two teams progressed to the next stage in their competitions. At the weekend, the club’s Jimmy Bruen team qualified for the North Munster final, following a 3-2 win over East Clare in Sunday’s area final. Earlier, they had accounted for a fancied Shannon side.
The final went down to the wire with the pairing of Martin Daly and Kieran Ryan winning on the 19th to secure victory. The other winning pairings were Michael Corry and Michael Guerin, Pádraig McNicholas and Johnnie Kearse, while the Ian Myatt and Michael Geraghty, David Hoey and Tony Coote pairings lost on the day.
The JB Carr seniors’ side defeated Woodstock to qualify for a Clare final date against Lahinch. This was a tight match with Ennis winning on a 3-2 scoreline. The Ennis pairings were Michael Culliney and Noel Pyne, who won on the 16th; Brian O’Loughlin and Seán O’Gorman, who were beaten, Luke Coote and Larry O’Farrelly who were victorious, Aidan Lynch and Eamonn Corry who won while the final pairing of Jim Scully and George Dilger was called in.
On the local front, Kitty Morris won the bogey cup, a v par competition, with a score of three-up. Mary Glynn was in second place with two-up, followed by Jean Molony on one-down.
In the ladies’ seniors’ 14-hole competition, Ann Daly, Kate O’Ceallaigh and Carmel Warner were the winners from Angela Gough, Mary Leahy and Susan O’Brien with third spot filled by Mary Colton, Carmel Verling and Geraldine O’Mahony. All three teams scored 50 points.

Woodstock

LAST Wednesday’s open singles at Woodstock was won by Robert Loftus with 40 points from Joe Collins on 39 and Shane Fitzgerald on 39. The winners of the 14-hole mixed were Bobby Burke and Jenny McElhinney with 27 points from Matt and Bernie Power on 26.
Kilrush will host the North Munster section of the Irish mixed foursomes this weekend. The hosts will play Ennis with the winners going through to play Shannon. Dromoland will play Spanish Point, Doonbeg Links will play Kilkee, Lahinch will play Woodstock with the winners to play East Clare.

Shannon

THE recent open team-of-four competition at Shannon was won by a quartet of Mike O’Connor, Joe Hehir, Declan Carmody and William O’Brien with 113 points. In second place on 112 points were Andrew and John Pearse, Bobby Gleeson and Paudie Ryan.
The open singles saw Ian Fox pip Ian Richardson on the back six, both returning 40 points. Darren Long captured third with 39 points again edging out Brendan Healy by virtue of a better back nine. Darren Lynch was fifth with 38 points. The gross was captured by Ed Hickey with 34 points.
The weekly open singles Stableford saw Christy Coll capture the spoils with 42 points. Christy had one point to spare from Philip McPhilips on 41 while Paul O Connor was third with 40 points. The gross was won by Paul O’Neill with 35 points.
On Saturday, the lady captain (Marie Hogan) presented her prize to the men which saw a very tight finish with the first three over the line all returning 43 points with Jimmy Doyle just edging out fellow Cork man, Kevin McCarthy, on the back nine. Third place went to William Fealy. Once again, the gross was captured by Paul O’Neill with a level par round.
On Sunday, the Intermediate Scratch Cup was the competition and the back six was required to separate Brendan Fitzgerald from Ben Moylan with Brendan just getting the nod, both returning 83 gross. In third place was Tom Walsh who pipped Paul McElligott by virtue of a better back nine, both returning 84 gross. In the nett section, Cathal Gallagher got the better of Fergus Murphy and visitor Michael Cassidy from Woodstock, all three returning 70 nett. Hugh Heaney came fourth with 71 nett.
The ladies’ singles saw junior member lead the rest of the field a merry dance when returning 46 points to win by eight points from Jean Murphy Wright on 38 points. The back nine separated Sheila Treacy and Dympna Hogan, both returning 36 points to finish third and fourth respectively. The gross was captured by Naoimh McMahon with 32 points.
The highlight of the ladies’ golfing calendar, the captain’s (Marie Hogan) prize took place on Saturday with 74 ladies doing battle for the prize. When the dust had settled on Saturday evening, victory went to one of the stalwarts of the ladies’ senior section, Anna Ringrose with 67 nett. Anna had two strokes to spare from student member, Niamh Lynch. Margaret Hope was third with 70 nett, while Rose Doyle was fourth with 72 nett just edging out Liz O’Sullivan by virtue of a better back nine. Connie Corry was sixth with 74 nett finishing ahead of Catherine Vaughan also on 74. The gross was won by Naoimh McMahon on 81.
On the inter-club front, the Jimmy Bruen team, having defeated the host club Woodstock in the first round, were then beaten narrowly by Ennis in the second round. There was defeat also for the senior ladies’ foursomes team when they went down to Lahinch in Dundrum.
This weekend the men will play for the captain’s (Joe Sheehan) prize.

Kilkee

THE winner of the singles Stableford competition at Kilkee was Michael Reidy with 43 points from Len Owens on 36 and Tom Carr on 36. The winners of the seniors’ team event were P Carey, V Collins and J Lowe with 50 nett.

Lahinch

CONAL Kavanagh (Galway) was the winner of the open singles at Lahinch last week with 37 points from Liam Slevin (Athenry), who had a similar score. Dermot Melody (Woodstock) was third and he also scored 37 points. Martin Ruane, Galway, won the gross with 30 points,
Audrey Quinn, Galway won the ladies’ competition with 35 points.
In the Kilcornan Cup for those with handicaps of scratch to 12, Murt McMahon was the winner with 67 nett from John Dillon on 71 and Thomas Neenan on 72. Declan McInerney won the gross with 71.
The Pretoria Cup was the prize on offer on Saturday for those with handicaps from 13 to 28 and the winner was Aidan Davidson with 71 from Bill Frazer on a similar score. Seamus Rush was third with 73.
The Intermediate Scratch Cup was played for on Sunday on the Castle Course and the winner was Michael J Ryan (Kilrush) with 80 gross from  Shane Curtin on 81 and David Keane on 81. In the nett category, Don Dillon won with 65 from Paul Ralph on 66 and Frank Doherty on 69.
Fergus Blake won the monthly medal on Sunday with 75 nett from Jim Young on 76 and Frank Keane on 76.

Kilrush

TOM Coffey was the winner of the singles at Kilrush on Sunday with 42 points from Edward Casey on a similar score with John McNeilis in third spot with 40 points. The category winners were Diarmuid Murphy with 36 points, Finbarr McMahon with 37 points and John Robinson with 38 points. The nines were won by Mike Benson with 19 points and John Lane with 20 points.
Open week continues at Kilrush this week.

Portumna

THE ever-popular husband-and-wife 18-hole competition was held on Sunday last in Portumna when the winners were Joe and Lillian Austin with 64 nett. In second place were Joe and Kay Slattery with 65 nett, followed by Seán and Mary McDonagh on 66 nett, Pat and Cathy Iders, Galway, on 67 nett, John and Sue Madden on 68, Des and Kay Keating Loughrea on 68.5 and Michael and Martina Casserly Tuam on 68.5.
The Joe Austin-captained Jimmy Bruen team, beat Roscommon 3/2 last Monday, while the mixed foursomes team, All-Ireland champions in 2009 , hoping to retain the title this year, made a great start by beating Ballinalsoe.
Mike Keyes’ Pierce Purcell team beat Curra West in the first round only to be disqualified from the competition due to the four-card rule.
Open week will get underway on Saturday week with a men’s fourball and a variety of competition will follow during the week.
The first junior competition of the summer was played last Friday and the winner was Niall Concannon with 43 points.
Judith Barry’s president’s prize will take place next weekend.

Dromoland

LAST Saturday was lady captain Mary Arthur’s day at Dromoland and the winner of the 18-hole stroke competition was Joan Ryan from Ber McDermott with Carmel Kirby in third spot followed by Nicola Ronan and Maureen McKeogh.
Suzanne McConway won the gross and also the prize for the longest drive, while the nines were won by Majella Cotsgreave and Katrina O’Neill. Other prize winners on the day were Mairéad Bergin (past captain), Geraldine Ryan (nearest the pin) and Alan White (men’s prize).

Spanish Point

TUESDAY’S seniors’ open at Spanish Point was won by Tony Duffy (18) with 33 points from Gerry Meade (17)with 31 points.
The Thursday open was won by Eamonn McMahon (20) with 44 points.
Friday’s nine-hole open scramble was won by Eoghan O’Loughlin (4), Martin Dormer (18), Pat Greene (17) and Michael Looby (28) with the near perfect score of seven-under gross, which was highlighted by a finishing eagle at the par five, ninth from Eoghan’s drive, nine iron and six foot putt.
In second spot were Gary Carroll (11), Gary Merrill (24) and Gerald O’Loughlin (18) with five under gross. The timesheet is now open for the club fundraising competition on July 3 and 4.

Shannon Chamber Classic

GOLFERS who take part in the Shannon Chamber’s annual Cclassic at Shannon on Monday will compete for the prizes on the longest day of the year, midsummer’s day. Over 120 golfers have already signed up for thie popular event.
The classic is the chamber’s main annual fundraising event and, once again, is attracting entries from chamber members, their business associates and clients from Clare, the Mid-West and other parts of the country.
Further details are available from Cathy O’Brien at Shannon Chamber 061 360611/061 708 341 or by email at cobrien@shannonchamber.ie.

Ennis seniors

THERE was a huge turnout for the Ennis seniors’ memorial day last Thursday. The winner of the singles event was John White with 40 points from Seán Fitzpatrick on 38, Jim Scully on 37, John Keane (Teagasc) on 37, Cyril Kelly on 36, Pat Cusack on 36, Brian Higgins on 36, Johnny Cullinan on 36 and Eamonn Corry on 36. Noel Pilkington won the gross with 27.

Gort

DAVID Quirke was the winner of the Junior Scratch Cup at Gort with 70 from Martin Colohan on 74 and Mike Conway on 75. Conor Shields won the nett with 70.
In the Intermediate Scratch Cup, Tommy Lawless was the winner with 76 from John Melville on 77 and John Skehill on 80. Paddy Jordan won the nett with 65.
The winner of the Minor Scratch Cup was Eanna Melville with 84 from Tommy Glynn on 89 and Kevin Roche on 89. Gerry Cahill won the nett with 50.
Last week’s ladies’ singles was won by Geraldine Lynch with 37 points from Marie Hannon Healy on 36 and Carmel Murphy on 33.
Open week is taking place this week with competitions daily.

East Clare

DAVID Phillips won the men’s singles at East Clare last week with 39 points from Richard Cullen on 38 and Batt Skehan on 36.
In the men’s seniors’ section Tony McNulty, Mairéad Twomey and Ann McInerney were the winners.
In the Eileen Murphy qualifier, Mary Mannion and Patricia Browne were the winners from Margaret McNamara and Catherine Murphy.
The ladies’ team-of-three winners were Leslie O’Flynn, Mairéad Twomey and Ann McInerney.
The men will have a singles v par competition this weekend when the ladies will have a team-of-three event.
The club’s Jimmy Bruen team reached the area final at Woodstock last Sunday where they were narrowly beaten by Ennis. Earlier, they beat Kilrush and Dromoland.
The club’s mixed team will compete in Kilrush this weekend.

Clare Teachers

THE Clare Teachers captain’s (Seamus Frehill) prize will be played for at Ennis on Monday, when the tee will be available from 3.30pm to 5pm. Times can be booked by contacting Joan at 086 3167365.

Corofin

DARREN Kierse won his first competition as a member of Corofin Golf Society on Saturday last and he picked a great occasion to do so as he emerged as the winner of Paddy O’Dell’s president’s prize at East Clare.
Willie McNamara was pipped for the top spot while Pat McCarthy finished third. Noel Williams and Pat Curtis were the other prize-winners on the day, while Michael Ryan, Kilnaboy, and John Whelan won the nines.
The July outing of the society will be to Nenagh.

Nora Daly Society

DROMOLAND was the venue for a recent outing for the Nora Daly Society when the winners of the team event were Noel Casey, Vincent Hennessy, Mick O’Connor and Alan Frawley. In second place were Alan Markham, Diarmuid McMahon, Michael O’Reilly and Eanna Murphy with third spot filled by Noel Moloney, James O’Rourke and David Lynch.
The next outing will be the president’s (Jer D Griffey) prize, which will be played for on Saturday, July 3 at Woodstock.

Spanish Point

THERE was huge turnout for ladies’ day last Monday when the winner was Áine Burke (Spanish Point) on 35 points followed by Val Shannon (Lahinch) and Geraldine Reddan on a similar score. Kathleen O’Brien (Adare) was fourth with 32 points. Sinéad Sexton (Lahinch) won the gross prize. The winners of the 18-hole competition at Spanish Point last week were Bernadette O’Gorman and Patricia Quigley. Kathleen Haugh was the winner of the nine-hole weekly competition.

Clooney-Quin

FIFTY teams took part in the Clooney-Quin GAA Club golf classic held in East Clare on Friday and Saturday last. The winning team consisted of Vinny Henchy, Mary Hogan, Brege Scanlan and Tara Whelan, from the East Clare Club with a magnificent score of 102 points. This earned them the Suzanne Conheady Perpetual Cup. The ladies’ prize was won by Eileen Donnellan’s team.
They were followed by Patsy Kett, Kieran Kennedy, Declan Hannon and Mike Stritch with 100 points, Martin Coffey’s team with  98 points, Seán Colleran, Pat Corry, Danny Minogue and Liam Nolan with 96 points, Brian Rochford, Pat O’Brien, Brendan O’Brien and Ben Rettweger with 95 points, Malachy Hassett, Noel O’Loughlin, Eamonn Fahy and Kieran Kennedy with 95 points.
Eileen Donnellan’s team won the ladies’ competition with 97 points from Eileen Corry’s team on 87 points.
The winners of the longest drive were Eileen Donnellan and Richard Crowe while the nearest-the-pin award went to Seán Ward.

 

Woods confirms his place at Adare Pro-Am

TIGER Woods, the world’s number-one ranked golfer, has confirmed his participation in the JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am tournament, which takes place at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort on July 5-6.
Tiger, who has led the Official World Golf Rankings for the past 261 weeks and for a total of 603 weeks in his career, confirmed he will join the world-class field for the charity tournament, which supports charities and groups in the Irish Mid-Western Region. On its last staging in 2005, the tournament raised over €30 million for nominated charities.
Twelve of the world’s current top-15 ranked players have confirmed they will play in next month’s event: Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Jim Furyk, Ian Poulter, Ernie Els, Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer, Robert Allenby, Padraig Harrington (2005 champion) and Camilo Villegas. These players will be joined by a list of celebrities who are also committed to playing in the tournament including film stars Samuel L Jackson, Michael Douglas, Hugh Grant, Kyle MacLachlan and pop stars Westlife.
With just under four weeks to go to the tournament, the excitement is building and to date, 24,800 entrance caps have been sold with only 5,200 remaining. Spectators are urged to buy their caps as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. The two-day entrance caps for the 36-hole tournament can be purchased by choosing from eight different coloured caps representing Ireland, Munster Rugby and each of the six Munster counties. They can be bought from the website ww w.jpmcmanusproam.com or at selected retail outlets.