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Tag Archives: golf

Clare golfers to tee off in LA Special Olympics

TWO Clare-based athletes are busy preparing for the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles next July. Seventy-two-year-old Patrick Rutherford is very excited to have been selected as a playing partner for 29-year-old Paul Kirrane from Ennis. Apart from being “shocked and surprised” at being selected for the games, Patrick is also “very happy”. “At my age it is marvelous,” he said. With seven centrally planned events, Patrick won’t be taking his foot off the pedal and will be training four times a month at Ennis Golf Club. Not content with just playing golf, which he has been doing for over 25 years, Patrick also enjoys triathlons and athletics. When he’s not on the golf course or completing triathlons, widower Patrick is kept busy with his family of two sons and six grandchildren. Paul is very excited to be competing in this year’s Special Olympics as part of Team Ireland. The moment Paul heard the news that he had been …

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Marie sinks a golden putt

There was more good news for Clare at the European Transplant & Dialysis Games in Krakow this Wednesday. In golf, Marie O’Connor from Lahinch was delighted to win a gold medal in the singles event and her teammate, Eoghan O’Neill from Newmarket-on-Fergus (now living in Limerick) also secured gold in the men’s singles (gross). Richard Costello from Limerick city won a bronze medal in the Golf (nett) event.

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Trump makes weekend visit to Doonbeg

DONALD Trump was back in Doonbeg at the weekend, inspecting Trump International Golf Links & Hotel. While an earlier visit saw Trump welcomed to Ireland by musicians on the runway at Shannon and the Minister for Finance, last weekend seems to have been more low key. On Monday Managing Director Joe Russell said; “He (Trump) arrived on Saturday evening, he was here on Saturday and Sunday night and left on Monday morning and went on to Scotland. As you know he has acquired Turnberry and he’s there now and going on to Aberdeen for the rest of the week.” Regarding the time spent by Trump at Doonbeg, Mr Russell said; “On Saturday evening we did a tour of the golf course for a couple of hours. We had Martin Hawtree who’s working on our golf course design, he has done a lot of work on Lahinch over the last number of years. Martin was with us, head pro Brian Shaw, …

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Shannon tees up for Ryder Cup

Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Stobart Air, announced this Wednesday the addition of over 2,000 seats to Scotland to facilitate golf fans for the Ryder Cup in September. The airline has added 15 extra flights to Edinburgh from Shannon, Cork and  Dublin for Ryder Cup week, September 22 to 29. Shannon-based passengers can avail of an extra seven return flights which amounts to an extra 1,008 seats, double the normal capacity. The airline has seen a huge demand from US-based passengers. Over a thousand passengers flying into Dublin are connecting to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen on the week of the Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup takes place at Gleneagles, Scotland on Friday, September 26  and will conclude on Sunday, 28. The Gleneagles Golf Resort is about a 55 minute drive from Edinburgh Airport.

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Trumps to revisit Doonbeg

FOLLOWING their short visit to the newly re-branded Trump International Golf Links Ireland in Doonbeg last week, the new owners will be back in West Clare next week. Donald Junior and Eric Trump held talks last week with golf club management as they outlined their plans for their new purchase. However on Wednesday a golf club spokesperson said that “nothing firm” has been decided upon, with regard to adding to the facilities at the five star resort. However, speaking last Thursday morning, while the Trump brothers were at the Doonbeg resort, general manager, Joe Russell said that, in his view, the golf club will be added to. “For me, we expand our facilities. I don’t have the definitive yet as to what they’re thinking about doing. But there will be things put in to grow the business. I know from my experience what’s needed to grow the business,” Mr Russell told The Clare Champion. “We’re going on to the field …

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Valerie president-elect of ILGU

By Seamus Hayes WELL-known Ennis golfer Valerie Hassett has been appointed president-elect of the Irish Ladies Golfing Union. She will take over as president in January 2015 when current president, Mary McKenna, will have completed her two-year term. Valerie is currently lady president at Lahinch Golf Club and her appointment is well deserved, following a successful career as player, official and administrator. She is a past captain of both Lahinch and Ennis golf clubs. After being introduced to the game by her parents on summer holidays in Skerries, Valerie’s love for the game grew under the expert tuition of Bill Kinsella Snr. She was a regular on the nationwide tour of Ladies’ championships and Scratch Cups and represented Munster at inter-provincial level for 25 years before retiring in 1999. She made her senior ladies’ international debut in 2003 and represented Ireland for a further seven years. A past team captain of the Irish International Girls’ team in the late 80s, …

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Michael in no rush to hang up his golf clubs

ALTHOUGH he has lived and worked in Nottingham since 1966, the love of golf Michael Rush picked up in his native Lahinch has had a profound effect on his life. Now almost 72, Michael or ‘Smiley’, which he says he is better known as, was the centre of attention at Lahinch Golf Club earlier this month when the exploits of the 1963 All-Ireland Junior Cup winning team were recalled at a golden anniversary celebration. Lahinch Golf Club won the same competition in 1961 but according to Michael, the cupboard has been bare since. “I wasn’t even in Clare in 1961, I was in London. My brother, Tommy, was part of the 1961 squad. He was a radio officer and he won a vital game but he had to go back to sea and he missed the last two rounds. When we had won it twice, you think, ‘this is easy enough’. You could think different now. Lahinch hasn’t won any …

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Golf Sportsvan Concept to be unveiled at Frakfurt

New Volkswagen concept takes on Golf Plus mantle

Volkswagen will unveil their Sportsvan concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week. It’s the successor to the Golf Plus. At 4,338 mm long, the new Sportsvan is 134 mm longer than the Golf Plus, and 83 mm longer than the Golf.  Its 2,685 mm wheelbase is 48 mm longer than that of the Golf, helping to generate more interior space, while the Sportsvan is also 80 mm wider, at 1,870 mm, and 126 mm higher, at 1,578 mm (excluding roof rails).  Inside, the rear seats (60:40 split bench) can slide forwards and backwards by up to 180 mm, to increase either passenger or luggage space as required. Boot capacity is increased by 74 litres to 498 litres (Golf 380). Moving the rear seats increases the luggage space to 585 litres, while folding them down releases 1,512 litres. Powering the Sportsvan will be a range of petrol and diesel engines, all of which conform to Euro 6 emissions standards and …

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