Victory for Kilkee on the 19th

KILKEE qualified for the North Munster area final in the Pierce Purcell Shield when they emerged from the weekend competition at Shannon. In the final on Sunday afternoon, they accounted for the host club by three matches to two, with the deciding game having to go to the 19th.

Shannon defeated Spanish Point before facing Doonbeg Links in the semi-finals on Sunday morning, while Doonbeg beat Woodstock. The Doonbeg panel was made up of Pat Hanrahan and Pakie O’Dea, Ger Ryan and Michael Conway, Diarmuid O’Donnell and Michael Bermingham, Dermot O’Flaherty and Hugh McNally, Seán Moloney and Nigel Dillon. The team was managed by Pat Cotter.
In the semi-finals, Shannon accounted for Doonbeg, while Kilkee were winners over East Clare.
Shannon captured the first point in the final, when Jim Corr and Joe McGrath defeated Pat Cronin and Pat Sheehan on the 16th. Kilkee’s Leonard Mullane and Neil Higgins levelled the game when they defeated Jody O’Connor and Willie O’Brien on the 16th.
Shannon went back in front when Liam O’Mahoney and Alan Dunlea were victorious over Tim Ahern and Michael Reidy but Kilkee were level when John Reidy and Graham Reidy defeated Graham Culleton and Ger Begley.
In the final match, the Kilkee pairing of Patsy Bennett and George Roche went one up playing the 17th but the home pair, Maurice Murphy and Tom Fox, won the 18th to level and send the match up the 19th, where the West Clare pair won with a bogey.
In the area final next week, the Mike Mullane managed Kilkee side will play Nenagh.

Spanish Point
On Sunday, the junior boys’ team from Spanish Point played Castletroy at Ennis in the third round of the Fred Daly Junior Match play Competition. They competed well against a team that comprised all seven boys with single figure handicaps. All matches are played off scratch and it was always going to be a tough task for the Clare boys. Castletroy now go forward to the next stage after a hard-earned win.
The members of the West Clare club team were Diarmuid Whelan, Brendan McCarthy, Conor Egan, Luke Reidy, Cathal Whelan, David Egan and Ronan Flaherty. The team manager is Tom Mernagh.

Woodstock
The winner of the Wednesday open singles at Woodstock was Pat Cosgrove with 43 points from Michael Hehir on 42 and Rory Callinan on 40.
Sunday’s competition was won by Adrian Coleman with 65 nett from Patrick McElhinney on 67 and Joe Collins on 68. Next weekend’s competition is the club singles’ Stableford.
In the ladies’ Australian Spoons competition, the winners were Marianne McGough and Anne Marie Russell with 38 points from Mary Gleeson and Joan Barrett, who had a similar score.
The winners of the 14-hole mixed competition were Brian Aherne and Teresa Sherlock with 32 points from Kieran Dromey and Mary Sadlier on 30 points.
In this week’s men’s seniors’ competition, Rory Kennedy was the winner with 39 points from Jim McMahon on 37 and James Meade on 37.

Ennis
The lady captain’s (Anne Kelly) prize to the men was the attraction at Ennis last weekend when the winner was Michael O’Reilly with 66 nett from Seán Miniter on 67, Des Neylon on 68 and Paul Farrell on 68. Bob Loftus won the gross with 73 in a competition in which 152 members played.
In the open singles on Friday, David O’Connor was the winner with 40 points from Nigel Guyler on 38, Gary Duggan on 38 and Bernard O’Brien on 38. Gary Collins won the gross with 33 points.
The captain’s fourball will be held on Saturday and Sunday.

Kilrush
In the Shannon Ferries open singles at Kilrush, Tom Smith was the winner with 42 points from Jim Young Senior on 41 and Michael O’Reilly on 41. The category winners were Neil Browne with 39 points, Gearóid Williams with 40 and P W Glynn with 39, while the nines were won by Tom Cleary with 20 points and Andy Jones with 23 points.
There will be an open singles on Saturday, while the junior, intermediate and minor scratch cups will be played for on Sunday and these are open competitions with a timesheet in operation.

Portumna
The Special Olympics three-ball attracted a big entry last week in Portumna when the winners were Martin McDonagh (20), Frank Forde (19) and Francis McClearn (12) with 92 points. In second place were Leslie O’Meara (9), Matt Donoghue (7) and Brian Grogan (20) with 90 points, followed in third spot by Judith Barry (19) (club president), Eileen Purcell (24) and Mike Kiely (17) with 89 points and in fourth place by Kieran Madden (18), Ger Power (19) and Tony Cummins (21) with a similar score. The winners now go on to the K Club to play in the All-Ireland finals.
In the Monday open singles, Mick Ashe was the winner with 40 points from Simon Lowry on 39 and Kevin Kelly on 39. Shane Hogan won the gross.
Audrey McGrath and Mary McElroy won the ladies’ scotch foursomes with 45 points. Anita Carey and Mary McElroy were second with 42 points.
In the weekly nine-hole competition, Eddie Moloney was the winner with 22 points from Liam Keane on 21, with Gerard Lynch winning the gross with 19 points.
Next weekend, the club hosts the 3 Ts competition, which is a golfer-of-the-year competition for ladies and gents. The 3Ts (Turn the Tide of Suicide) is a registered charity, founded to raise awareness of suicide in Ireland and to raise funds to help lower suicide rates through dedicated research, educational support and intervention. Portumna has been hosting this competition for many years.
Over the June Bank Holiday weekend, the club hosts an 18-hole open fourball.

Lahinch
Yvonne Morrisson won the ladies’ singles v par competition at Lahinch on Monday from Aisling Maher, with Dellan Malone in third spot.
Mary Lucas was the winner of the ladies nine-hole competition last week with 20 points.
Lahinch ladies had a team-of-four competition at Ballybunion last week when the winners were Jenny Cagney, Niamh Reddan, Della Malone and Marie O’Connor with 88 points from Val Shannon, Barbara Foley, Jean O’Callaghan and Catherine McKenna on 86 points.
The men’s open singles competition last week was won by Paul McInerney with 36 points from Gerry McCormack on 35 and Patrick McElhinney on 35. Sinead Sexton was the ladies’ winner with 39 points.
In Saturday’s men’s fourball v par, the winners with four up were Colm Kennedy and Denis Toomey from Paul O’Brien and Aaron McNulty, who had a similar score. In third place, also with four up, were Alan Donegan and Pat Wall.
The winner of Sunday’s men’s singles stroke competition was Enda Hegarty with 67 nett from Ronan Cooney on 70 and Michael Cagney on 73.

Ennis Chamber
The Ennis Chamber annual classic was held in Dromoland Castle Golf and Country Club last Friday last in association with Clare Youth Service.
The winners with 87 points were Martin White, Seamie Kelly, Brian Hassett and David Woods. They were followed by Aidan Mulcahy, Jim Young, Ray O’Neill and Paul O’Brien from Microsemi with 84 points.
In third place with 83 points were the Ulster Bank team of Paul Mullane, Colm O’Shea, Patrick Roughan and Conor Quinlan, followed by Flatley Engineering (Vincent O’Regan, Niall O’Regan, Andy Carr and Tom Ryan), also with 83 points.
The winning ladies’ team represented Clare Youth Service and included Rose Hally, Eileen Corry, Mary T Real and Betty O’Reilly. Other prize winners included Patrick Roughan (nearest the pin), Andy Carr and Valerie Hassett (longest drive).
There was a special presentation to Ray O’Neill of Microsemi for his eagle on the par five fourth hole.

Shannon
There was disappointment for Shannon members at the weekend when both the Pierce Purcell and Fred Daly teams were defeated. The Fred Daly junior team were defeated 5-2 by Adare in Charleville in the third round.
Eoin Hoctor recorded his maiden victory in the Wednesday open singles when he returned 47 points. Eoin had five points to spare from David O’Gorman. Jim O’Grady captured third place with 40 points, while Paul O Neill won the gross with 37 points.
On the ladies’ scene, Ann Gordon captured the May medal with 68 nett. In second place was 11-year-old Lisa O’Neill with 69 nett, by virtue of a better back nine from Ursula Ryan. Connie Corry was fourth with 71 nett, while Eileen McNamara was fifth with 73 nett. The gross was won by Naoimh McMahon with 81.
The men’s May medal will be the competition this weekend.

Dromoland
Dromoland hosted a ladies’ competition in aid of breast cancer last Wednesday when Joan Ryan was the winner in the silver division from Shannon’s Jean Murphy Wright. Ann Nix was third, while Tara Whelan from East Clare won the gross.
In the bronze category, Julie Newman from Dromoland was the winner from Karen Burns with Maureen Parks in third spot, followed by Dorothea Madden.
Joan Ryan was the winner of the Deirdre Fitzpatrick Trophy.
In the Australian spoons competition last Sunday, the winners were Carmel Kirby and Maureen McKeogh.
The weekend men’s competition was won by Kieran Newman with 38 points from Chris O’Donovan on 37 and John Casey on 37.  Edmund Moriarty won the junior section with 31 points. This week’s competition will be foursomes.

Doonbeg
The annual match between Doonbeg and Lahinch for the Challenge Cup was played recently when Lahinch were victorious at home. The return match will be in Doonbeg next year.
The recent singles competition was won by Pádraig Hayes 37, followed by his brother, Kevin with 35.
The next competition is the captain’s prize (Declan Conway), which is on Sunday, June 6. Tee times can booked in the usual way.

Gort
David Quirke and Andy Turner won the 18-hole fourball at Gort at the weekend with 46 points from Aidan O’Donnell and Michael Whelan on 42. In third spot were Declan O’Halloran and Oliver Curtin with 41 points.
Last week’s open singles was won by Peter Long with 41 points from Denis Slyne on 41, Eoin O’Ceallaigh on 38 and Jack McInerney on 37. Jason McLynn won the gross with 31 points.
There will be an 18-hole singles’ golfer-of-the-year competition this weekend.
In the ladies’ section, the Club Cup, an 18-hole stroke medal competition, was won by Marie Hannon Healy on Sunday with 70 from Siobhán Forde on a similar score. Mandy Cosgrove was third with 71, while the gross was won by Bernie Diskin with 83. Last week’s open singles for ladies was won by Eileen Greaney with 40 points, while the Australian Spoons winners were Helen McCormick and Ruth Mitchell with 46 points.
There will be an 18-hole singles Stableford competition this Sunday, while the breast cancer open singles will take place on Monday.

East Clare
In a men’s golfer of the year competition at East Clare at the weekend, Mike Carey was the winner from Caimin Condren with Brendan Moloney in third spot and all three returned 65 nett. Shane McInerney was next with 66, followed by Bill Cullen on 67. Stephen Moloney won the gross with 72.
In the men’s seniors’ section, the winners were Tim McGillicuddy, John O’Dea and Jackie McHugh from Tony McNulty, John Walsh and John Fleming.
Eileen Donnellan and Breda O’Loughlin were the winners of the ladies’ Australian Spoons qualifier with 43 points from Terry Mulvihill and Siobhán Shanahan on a similar score.
The ladies’ seniors’ team competition was won by Margaret McNamara, Patricia Kerr and Connie McKenna from Pauline Nugent, Catherine Murphy and Marie Moloney.
There will be an 18-hole singles competition for men this weekend, while on Saturday, East Clare hosts round two of the AA leagues.

O’Dea Cup
There was a big turnout for the O’Dea Cup, which was played for in Lahinch at the weekend by members of the Doonbeg society.
The winner with 42 points was Pat Harte from Roy Capon on 39, Declan Conway on 39 and Kevin Harte on 38.
Denis Nagle won the gross with 30 points, while the nines were won by Gerard Kelly with 21 and John Ryan with 20 points. Stephen O’Mahoney won the prize for nearest the pin, while the long drive was won by Derek Garvey.
In the ladies’ section, the winner was Ita Mangan with 34 points from Irene Neylon on 33 and Mary O’Sullivan on 39.

Ennis seniors
Ennis seniors played for the annual Teresa Howard prize last Thursday when James Ball emerged as the winner with 41 points. He had one to spare over Frank White, with Michael Torpey next on 40. They were followed by Jim Scully on 38, Charlie McEnery on 37, Padraig Ryan on 37, Noel Pilkington on 37, Seamus Frehill on 37 and George Dilger on 37. Richard Pyne won the gross with 30 points.

Pitch and putt
The Clare Road scratch cups were played for last Saturday when there was a big entry. In the senior section, Declan Sheedy from the host club was the winner from Darren Goodall (Tralee) and Kenneth Kerin (Clare Road). Paul O’Brien from Lakeside won the final 18.
At intermediate level, Niall Seery (Clare Road) was the winner from J Brosnal (majestic) with the final 18 going to Mark Hanrahan from Cill na Mona.
At junior level, Denis McElligott from the Clare Road was the winner from Tim Crowe (Riverdale) with the final 18 going to Paul Crowe (Riverdale).
Teresa Fitzgibbon won the ladies’ section.
The county strokeplay competition took place at the Clare Road last Sunday when Declan Sheedy won the senior section, Niall Seery the intermediate and Denis McElligott the junior. Teresa Fitzgibbon won the ladies’ section.