Shannon through to All-Ireland final

THE Munster finals of the ILGU Inter-club Championships were played in pleasant conditions at Clonmel on Saturday and Shannon won through to the All-Ireland finals when they won the Intermediate Cup. However, there was disappointment for Lahinch, Dromoland and East Clare in their finals. The national finals take place in Ardee from September 14 to 17.

Shannon had a 3½ to 1½ win over Thurles in their final. Mary Sheehan captured the first point when winning on the 12th. The scores were level when Suzanne McMahon, despite a brave performance, went down on the 16th. Shannon were back in front when Connie Corry won on the 16th. All eyes now turned to the remaining two matches on the course. Liz O’Sullivan was on the 21st when word filtered through that a superb par by Bridget McCaul on the 18th garnished the spoils for Shannon.
The team manager is Anna Ringrose and her panel includes reserves, Lynn Kelly and Mary Flynn, who played their part in earlier rounds.
In the Junior Cup, Lahinch lost to East Cork on a 3½ to 1½ score. Pamela Morgan was the Clare club’s winner, while Aideen McCarthy halved her match. Olivia Lucas, Mary Sadlier and Ann Vaughan were all beaten.
In the Minor Cup, Dromoland went down to Templemore on a 3-2 scoreline. Colette Colleran won her match on the 19th, while Yvonne Shanahan won two-up but Mary O’Donnell O’Brien, Julie Newman and Maria Nolan were all beaten.
In the Challenge Cup, Dromoland lost to East Cork on a 4-1 scoreline. Ann Murphy and Dorothea Maeen both halved their matches, while Mary Ann Shields, Majella Cotgreave and Katrine O’Neill all lost out.
In the junior foursomes, Tralee were 2-1 winners over East Clare. Mairéad Twomey and Eileen Donnellan were 6-4 winners but Heather Cullen and Margaret McNamara, as well as Mary Mannion and Catherine Minogue, were beaten on the 19th and 20th respectively.

Lahinch
LAST week’s ladies’ singles Stableford competition on the championship course was won by Gráinne Dalton (5) with 37 points from Rina Hanrahan (13) on 36 points. Jenny Cagney (14) was third on 35 points, followed by Bernadette Scanlan (25) with a similar score. Siobhán Conway won the gross with 24 points.
In the men’s monthly medal stroke competition, Cian O’Mahoney (8) was the winner with 72 from Greg Young (5) on 74 and Michael O’Loughlin (12) on 74. Diarmuid Leonard (3) won the gross with 78.
Sunday’s men’s fourball Stableford competition was won by Andy (15) and Bryan Curry (10) with 44 points from Paul O’Brien (5) and Thomas Nenan (1) with a similar score. Patrick (7) and Kevin Glynn (9) were next with 42 points.
Sunday’s ladies’ singles Stableford competition was won by Chloe Ryan (1) with 38 points from Gráinne Hennessy (16) with 37 points and Miriam Abernethy (7) with 36 points.
The men’s and ladies’ open singles resume on Thursday.

East Clare
THERE was a big turnout for the president’s (John S Kelly) prize at East Clare at the weekend when the winner was John Duffy (16) with 45 points. In second place was John Moloney (16) with a similar score and they were followed by Leo Mannion (8) 42 points; Brian McCarthy (13) and Michael O’Halloran (13), 41 points and William Hannon (13), 40 points. Val Donnellan won the gross, while other prizewinners were Martin Mason (seniors), Mick Ryan (27) with 34 points (past president), Dave Collopy (long drive) and Matt Long (guest).
In the ladies’ section, Evelyn Skehan was the winner with 41 points from Bríd Hayes with 39 points, Mary Bugler with 38 points, Mary Rogest with 38 points and Nancy Starr with 37 points. Tara Whelan won the gross and the long drive, while Bridie Hanrahan won the past presidents’ section. The nines were won by Mary Collins and Leslie O’Flynn, who also won the award for nearest the pin.
It was a good week for John Duffy as he also won the men’s singles matchplay, beating Enda Donnellan in the final. The match ended on the 17th. John had already won the fourball matchplay with Kieran Kennedy and they defeated Brian McCarthy and Brian Lenihan in the final.
The club will have a men’s fourball this weekend, while the ladies will have a golfer-of-the-year competition.
East Clare junior girls won the Clare Junior League last week.

Kilrush
THE senior captain’s (Tom Cleary) prize was played for last Wednesday at Kilrush. A big turnout on the day ensured very good scoring. Tom Prendeville won with a score of 44 points with Finbarr McMahon and Denis Hassett with 42 points, Michael Hemmings with 41 and Jimmy McSwiggan and Bill Murphy with 39.
In the ladies’ singles last Thursday, E Blake (18) won with 36 points from M Griffin (27) with 35, N Whelan (10) with 34 and A Brennan (10) with 33.
In the president’s (Gearóid Williams) mixed last Friday, the winners were D Zerafa and A Gallagher with 37 points from L Williams and H Williams. In third spot were PJ Hehir and M McSwiggan, followed by M Ryan and G Burke, with fifth place filled by D O’Donovan and M Bolton.
Kilrush Golf Club hosted its president’s prize on Sunday. On what was a pleasant day for golf, 120 players participated. Oliver McNamara won with a score of 43 points from Tom Prendeville on 42 points with James Murtagh in third place with 41 points followed by Tomás Prendeville.
The gross went to Greg Young on 33 points. Category 1 was won by Gearóid Kelly, category 2 by Tom Cleary and category 3 by Shane McGibney. The past presidents’ prize went to Jim Young senior with 35 points and the committee prize went to Michael Hogan, also with 35 points. The front nine went to D Byrnes with 21 points and the back nine to J O’Brien with 23 points. Jim Young Junior won both the nearest-the-pin and longest drive awards.
The Flynn Trophy, a men’s open singles competition, will be the attraction this Sunday.

Ennis
ENNIS Seniors’ Group had a team-of-four competition on Thursday last and the winners were Pat O’Reilly, Aidan Guilfoyle, Tim Kelly and Michael Vaughan with 76 points. In second place were Charlie McEnery, Sean Fitzpatrick, Johnny Cullinan and Colm McNevin with 73, followed by Michael Torpey, Jim McEnery, Sean O’Gorman and John Vaughan with 70. In fourth place were Jack Keane, Michael Considine and Joe McMahon, followed by Eamon Corry, Jim McNamara, Pat Cusack and Dick Herbert, all on 64.
The annual competition for the Kearse Cup will take place this Thursday.
In the ladies’ singles at Ennis last week, Sinéad Hegarty was the winner with 41 points from Hannah Bredin on 37, with Claire Ruane winning the gross with 24 points.
The winners of last week’s ladies’ seniors competition were Eileen Daly, Ann Casey, Carmel Verling and Mary Colton from Claire Carmody, Bernie Brooks and Nora Kelly. In the beginners’ competition, Mary Keane was the winner.

Dromoland
IN the men’s fourball competition at Dromoland at the weekend, the winners were Paul O’Brien and George O’Carroll with 40 points from Con Woods and Jimmy McManus with 39 points. In the ladies’ competition, the winner was Maeve McMahon.
This weekend, the men will play for the monthly medal, a stroke competition, while the ladies will play the autumn major on Saturday at 1pm.

Spanish Point
THE winner of the NBCRI Lancôme competition at Spanish Point was Martina Skerritt (20) with a score of 38 points, followed by Kathleen Twomey and Maura Burke. Val Ross (24) was the winner of the golfer-of-the-year competition with a score of 71 nett. A three-ball scramble will take place next Sunday.
One of the oldest Munster club competitions is the Country Clubs Championship, which is played for currently by all clubs in the province with less than 18 holes. Each year, it attracts an entry of 20 to 22 clubs. Spanish Point regularly enters and has won it a number of times. During the summer, some of these clubs and the Munster branch got together and introduced a new competition for this category of club and the inaugural Mocad Trophy for all nine-hole golf clubs in Munster was played in Ringenane Golf Club, Kinsale on Saturday, August 20.
All clubs commented favourably on the format of the competition, with teams made up of four players: Category 1: 0 to 7; Category 2: 8 to 14; Category 3: 15 to 21 and Category 4: 22 to 28.
Spanish Point sent a team made up of Tom Mernagh, Brian O’Loughlin, Pat Lorrigan and Michael Kelly and they finished in fourth place. Sean Wade, captain of the winning Frankfield Golf Club team said they are looking forward to defending their title next year when Spanish Point will be the host course.
On the domestic front, the seniors’ open on Thursday was won by John Moore (15) with 41 points from John Malone (10) with a similar score. Brian O’Loughlin (11) was next and he also scored 41 points.
In the weekly open, Sean McMahon (11) won with 43 points from Rory Sexton (22) with 39 points.
The weekend golfer-of-the-year singles stroke competition winner was Brian O’Loughlin (11) with 62 nett from Bernie O’Halloran (2) with 63 nett, Christy Mohally (15) with 64 nett and Joe O’Rourke (17) with 65 nett.
There will be a golfer-of-the-year Stableford competition this weekend.

Woodstock
JOHN Mulcahy (14) was the winner of the club competition at Woodstock on Saturday with 40 points from Joe Davis (12) on 39 points.
In the Senior Scratch Cup, Tony Cleary (scratch), Dromoland was the winner with 145 from Kieran Cunnane (0) from the host club with 146 and Ed Hickey (1), Shannon with 147.
Jason O’Donnell (2) from Shannon won the first 18 with 72 from Patrick Seery (scr) from Newcastle West with 75.
The nett was won by Brian Dore (6) with 145.
The August medal will be the competition this weekend.

Shannon
LAST Wednesday’s open singles saw Pádraig Cahillane make a welcome return to the winners’ enclosure when he was around in three under par gross for a superb 44 points. Pádraig’s only concession to par came at the 16th but this was offset by birdies at the fifth, 11th, 14th and 18th.
Pádraig’s back nine was sufficient to just edge out Sean Murphy, who had nines of 25 and 19, highlighted by a birdie at the seventh. Visitor Brian Mahony from Loughrea was third with 42 points, highlighted by a birdie at the 10th. The gross was captured by Jason O’Donnell with level par 36 points.
The September Medal saw Bobby Cleary capture the honours with 64 nett. Bobby covered the front nine in a consistent seven over but came home in just three over, recording seven pars in the process.
Bobby had two shots to spare from Michael Mulcahy on 66 nett highlighted by a superb front nine, which saw him out in one over par highlighted by a birdie at the seventh. Finbarr Keyes was third on 67 nett. Next came a trio on 68, Eamonn Cregan, Jason Hogan and David O’Brien. Jody O’Connor was seventh with 69 nett.
The gross was captured by Ed Hickey with 73 from Jamie O’Shea with 76. The men’s and ladies’ masters will take place this Saturday, while the ladies’ September medal will also be played.

Corofin
COROFIN Society held its August outing to Kilrush recently. John Daly emerged as the winner, with Mary Coen in second place and Pat McCarthy third. The nines were won by Brendan Kearney and Margaret Whelan.
The next outing of the society will be Willie McNamara’s Captain’s Prize at Gort on Saturday, September 10.

Gort
THE winner of the men’s singles competition at Gort at the weekend was James Fahy with 42 points from George Fahey on 40 points, Jason McLynn and Niall Finnegan on 39. Colman Cooney won the gross with 35 points.
In the final of John Murray’s president’s prize last Friday, Stephen Moylan emerged as the winner with 82 points from Ronnie Killeen on 80 points, Seamus Noone and John Ryan on 78 points, Sean Hansbury and Michael Whelan with 77 points and Dermot McDermott with 76 points. Colman Cooney won the gross with 35 points, while Michael Moroney won the nett with 44 points. Other prize winners included Bernard Gillane (past president) with 43 points, Michael O’Grady (seniors), John Cunningham (nearest the pin), Pat Flanagan (long drive), Tony Kenny (distance member) and James Murray (visitor).
In the Monday open singles, Alan Rynne was the winner with 45 points from Denis O’Dea with 44 points, Paudie Grealish with 42 points and Malcolm Reeves with 41 points. Enda Cradock won the gross with 38 points.
In the president’s prize to the ladies, Bernie Diskin was the winner with 78 points from Mary F Coen on 74, Teresa Gill on 73, Phil Mulkerrins on 70, Brenda Morrissey on 63, Ann Jordan on 59 and Regina Malone on 57. Ellen Dolan won the gross with 59 points, while the nett was won by Olivia McFadden on 67 points.
In the Monday open singles, Gabrielle Warnock was the winner with 40 points from Kathleen Sands on 35 points. The scotch foursomes on Tuesday was won by Ann Kerins and Bernie Diskin with 36 points.
The Rockfield Cup, an 18-hole singles Stableford competition, will take place this weekend.

Portumna
PORTUMNA held a ladies’ and gents’ singles open in aid of Breast Cancer Research. The men’s winner was Jamie Conboy (9) with 43 points from Michael Coniry (17) with 42 points and David Burke (12) with 41 points. The gross was won by JP McLoughlin (2) with 33 points.
Delia Carroll from Thurles won the ladies’ singles with 40 points from Siobhán O’Connor, Gort with 40 points and Aideen O’Sullivan from Thurles with 39 points.
The gross was won by Marian Finn, Thurles, with 28 points.
In the Monday open singles, Michael Keyes (12) was the winner with 41 points from James J McLoughlin (9) with 40 points and Jamie Conboy (10) with 40 points. James P McLoughlin (2) won the gross with 34 points.
There will be an open three-ball competition this Sunday.

Avenue FC Classic
THE annual Avenue FC golf classic will take place on Saturday, September 10 at Ennis. The event is for teams of four and there will also be a category for juvenile teams. A timesheet is in operation and details are available from Kieran Ryan at 087 8055306.

Pitch and putt
NOEL Cuddihy, Gabriel Kerin and Marty Fawl won the three-ball scramble at the Clare Road Pitch and Putt Club on Sunday.
There will be a club competition on Sunday.