Woodstock chase another North Munster title

WOODSTOCK are in line for their second North Munster title of the season after the club’s junior cup team won their area competition at their own club at the weekend.
They will now play Castletroy in the north area final and the match will be played on Thursday, July 14 at Ennis at 4pm, when the official in charge will be Pete McMahon.
Woodstock have already won the North Munster Pierce Purcell title and this team will be in action at Limerick Golf Club on July 17, when they will take on Kanturk.
The junior cup team started their campaign at the weekend with a 3-2 win over Dromoland Castle, before scoring a 4-1 semi-final win over East Clare. Meanwhile, Shannon had a 3-2 first-round win over Lahinch, which they followed with a 4-1 victory over Kilkee. In the final, the John O’Connor and Mike Kelly-managed Woodstock team emerged 3-2 winners over Shannon. Woodstock’s team in the final comprised Joe Collins, Brian Ahern, Keith Farr, Nicky Ryan and Conor Brennan. The Shannon team was managed by Noel Morgan and the team members were Michael O’Connor, Damian Casey, Michael Hickey, Derek Sweeney and Kevin McCafferty.
Woodstock captured the Costelloe Cup when they defeated their neighbours, Ennis in the annual fixture played at Woodstock last weekend.
The winners had a total of 233 points from their best five cards, while Ennis had a total of 216 points.
Woodstock’s top five pairings were Ross Darmody (9) and Colm O’Callaghan (12) with 50 points; Vincent Hennessy (15) and Michael Murphy (13) with 48 points; James (14) and Brendan McMahon (16) with 47 points; Mike Hehir (18) and David Pilkington (17) with 45 points and Tony (4) and Martin Nugent (9) with 43 points.
The top five pairings from Ennis were provided by Luke (14) and Victor Coote (11) with 44 points; Tom (16) and Kieran Fox (6) with 44 points, John Guilfoyle (17) and John Considine (10) with 43 points; Joe McMahon (21) and Sean Daly (12) with 43 points and Kieran F Ryan (17) and David Considine (13) with 42 points.
In the Wednesday open singles at Woodstock, Alan Garrihy (16) was the winner with 47 points from Thomas Hehir (11) with 46 points, with Dara Walsh (15) in third spot with 45 points. In the weekly seniors competition, Liam Cahir was the winner with 36 points. The first round of the Simon O’Donnell seniors matchplay cup is to be completed this week.
In the weekend singles, Bernardo Kelly (8) was the winner with 45 points from Anthony Sweeney (4) with a similar score.

Ennis
DEFENDING JB Carr champions, Ennis are through to the Munster quarter-final after a 3.5 to 1-5 victory over Lahinch last week in the Clare final. The titleholders, managed by Jimmy McNamara, had to come from behind to achieve this latest success.
Noel Pyne and Johnnie Cullinan won on the 19th, while the other winners were Eamonn Corry and Pat Cahill, on the 15th, Tony Kehoe and Matt Flynn, on the 15th. Luke Coote and Larry O’Farrelly were called in when on the 18th, while Paul Higgins and John Finn suffered a 7 and 6 defeat.
The Lahinch pairings were Jack Ryan and Pat Wall; Pete McMahon and Jim O’Leary; Donie O’Regan and William Relihan; Andy Curry and Michael Vaughan and Donal O’Sullivan and Gerry Gough.
Defending champion Pat Lucey will be chasing three-in-a-row at this year’s Joe Moran memorial outing at Ennis on Saturday. Anyone interested in playing on the day should contact Mark at 086 2328290.
The lady captain’s (Phil Butler) prize was played for on Sunday and there was an excellent turnout. Bridie Keane emerged as the winner with 72 from Rita O’Brien, who had a similar score. They were followed by Nuala Guinan on 73, Ann O’Sullivan, Derry Nalty, Ann O’Loughlin and Pat Leacy on 74 and Joan Barrett, Maeve O’Grady and Bridget Hoey on 75; Maura McNicholas won the gross with 75. The nines were won by Ann Casey and Imelda Colleran. Other prize winners on the day were Anna Glynn (past captain) on 75, Kitty Morris (best granny), Pamela Murphy (long drive), Della Burns (nearest the pin) and Mary Lenihan (beginners) with 58.
In this week’s senior ladies outing at Ennis the winners were Pat Leacy, Mary Colton and Margaret McEnery.
In the monthly medal, Deirdre Molyneaux won the silver section with 73 from Suzanne Deane on 75, while Pat Leacy won the bronze medal with 73 from Betty O’Reilly on 74. The beginner’s competition was won by Mary Lenihan with 56.
Ennis Seniors Group held a three-ball scramble last week and the winners with 46.8 points were Larry O’Farrelly, Dave Dillon and Michael Nunan, with second place filled by John Keane, Aidan Lynch and Bill Lacey with 47.6. In third spot were Paddy Lane, Paul Mockler and Brendan Colton with 47.6, followed by Pat Cahill, Padraig Ryan and Tom Pender with 47.9. In fifth place were Vincent Gardiner, PJ Garry and Michael Kenny with Dick Burke, Michael Finn and Joe McMahon next with 49, followed by Michael Vaughan, Aidan Guilfolyle and Jim Hennessy on 49.6.

Dromoland
IN the singles’ Stableford competition at Dromoland at the weekend, Declan O’Leary was the winner with 45 points. He had five to spare over Jimmy McManus, with third spot filled by Jason O’Leary on 39 points. The category for over 18 handicaps was won by Shane Mowat with 35 points, while the winner of the junior section was Jack O’Grady with 33 points.
There will be a three-ball scramble this weekend.

Shannon
THE Shannon ladies intermediate team has qualified for the quarter-final this Sunday, when they will play Limerick in Castletroy commencing at 10.50am. The team manager is Anna Ringrose.
Scoring was exceptional in the men’s singles on Sunday, when Jamie O’Shea captured the honours when returning a three under par 69 for 42 points. On the front nine, his only concession to par was a double bogey at the second, which was offset by birdies at the third, fifth, eighth and ninth. On his inward journey, his only concession came at the 11th but further birdies came at the 13th and 18th. Jamie had one point to spare from Paul O’Neill, who himself was around in four under par, covering the front nine in level par before recording birdies at the 10th, 12th, 14th and 18th holes on his inward nine. Paul just edged out Ian Richardson courtesy of a better back, with James Madden fourth with 39 points and Alan Power in fifth place with 38 points. The gross was won by Damian Casey with 34 points.
Visitors were very much to the fore in the Wednesday open singles with Pat Greene playing out of Spanish Point, winning with 45 points. Pat covered the opening nine in two over for 23 points. Despite no score at the 10th, he covered the last eight holes in one over with a birdie at the 18th being the highlight for an inward nine of 22 points and 45 points in total. He had one to spare from Bob Parr from Durham in the UK, who returned nines of 23 and 21 and recorded no less than two points at any hole. Keeping up the honour of the home troops, Brian Sherlock was third on 42 points, highlighted by a birdie at the eighth. Visitor Seamus Stack from Doneraile captured the gross with 35 points, covering the last 10 holes in four under with birdies at the 9th, 13th, 17th and 18th.
The ladies June medal saw Sheila Forde relegate Eileen Carey into second place, courtesy of a better back nine, both returning 71 nett. Next came a trio on 73 nett, Colette Colleran, Eleanor O’Brien and Linda Quinn, occupying third, fourth and fifth positions respectively. The gross was captured by Naoimh McMahon with 83. Niamh O’Callaghan picked up the special member’s prize with a score of 69 nett.
There will be an open team of four (any combination) this Saturday with a men’s open singles on Sunday and Monday and a ladies’ open singles on Tuesday. There will be another open team of four competition on Wednesday.

Kilrush
IN Saturday’s open singles at Kilrush, Paul Robinson (13) was the winner with 41 points from John Saunders (15) on 40 points and John Normoyle (12) on 39 points. The Young Trophy, an open singles stroke competition, on Sunday was won by Michael Studdert (22) with 63 from Gabriel Looney (12) on 65 and Sean Rynne (12) on 66. Jim Young Junior (5) won the gross with 74, while the nines were won by Michael Hemmings (18) with 31 and Padraic Cotter (18) with 32.
In the ladies’ singles last Thursday, the winner was Stephanie Roughan from Ursula Lineen, with Annie Gallagher in third spot. Niamh Whelan won the gross, while the nines were won by Anne Hogan and Lucy Blake.
The winners of Friday’s mixed were Liam Williams and Margaret Donnelly from TJ Lyons and Muriel Kiely, with third spot filled by Pakie O’Dea and Margaret Clune. John Hehir and Geraldine Burke won the gross.
The winners of the men’s seniors outing last week were Tom Clarke, Tom Prendeville, Paddy Carmody and C P Walsh with 59 points from Michael Lillis, Tom Cleary and Bill Murphy with 58 points, with third spot filled by T J Lyons, Tom O’Dea and Noel Thornton with 56 points.
Open Week continues with the Rush Cups (mixed) on Friday, followed by the open men’s and women’s singles on Saturday and, on Sunday, an open men’s singles.

Lahinch
TERESA Felle was the winner of the ladies’ singles Stableford 3 Ts qualifier on the championship course in Lahinch last week.
In the open singles last Thursday, Kieran O’Shea (11) from Roscrea was the winner with 38 points from Diarmuid Loughnane (18) from the same North Tipperary club, who returned 35 points. Michael Kingston (13) from Beaverstown was third with 35 points, while the gross was won by PJ Bennett from Longford with 27 points.
Pamela Morgan (9) was the winner of the ladies’ singles competition on the championship course on Saturday with 39 points.
In a similar competition for men, Gary Lavelle (6) won with 40 points from Aidan O’Driscoll (12) with a similar score. Jack Tierney (14) was third with 39 points, while Declan McInerney won the gross with 36 points.
Sunday’s men’s foursomes stroke competition was won by Murty McMahon (8) and Adrian Lyons (9) with 73.
In the Liscannor Cup mixed foursomes stroke competition, Brendan O’Doherty (8) and Jenny Cagney (14) were the winners with 73 nett.

Kilkee
IN the July fourball at Kilkee the winners were Mike (9) and Leonard Mullane (12) with 46 points from Michael Galvin (16) and Graham Reidy (18) on 45 points, with third spot filled by Stan O’Neill (15) and John Lynch (12) with 44 points.
In the singles, Len Owens (18) won with 40 points from John Keane (19) with 38 points.
In the seniors’ competition, the winners were Michael Reidy (15), John Keane (19) and Sean Wyse (20) with 44 points from Joe Lewis (13), Len Owens (18) and Donal Hughes (15) with 41 points.
The ladies’ open day outing was won by Deirdre Powell (26) with 43 points from Ann Boyle (17) with a similar score. Maura Devenney (22) was third with 35 points, while the gross was won by Etna Leonard (10) with 25 points.
The junior foresomes team won in Rathbane on Sunday, beating Tipperary Golf Club. In the second round on Saturday, July 16 they will play Limerick Golf Club in Nenagh.

Gort
THE men’s fourball aggregate winners at Gort at the weekend were Niall and Frank Higgins with 72 points from Pat Flanagan and Mattie Larkin, who had a similar score. Chris Murphy and Aidan Cafferkey were third with 69 points.
In the open singles last Monday, Tom Finneran won with 40 points from Kieran Reidy with 38 points, with third spot filled by Philip McInerney on 38 points and Colman Cooney on 37 points. The gross was won by Jason McLynn with 34 points.
This weekend, the captain’s (Kevin Mulkerrins) prize will be played for with the leading players qualifying for a play-off.
The lady captain’s prize (Sara Broderick) was played for last week and the winner was Brenda Morrissey with 68 from Josie Collins, Mary Waine, Kathleen Sands and Mary Kilroy all on 70; Ros Burke on 71, Margaret Whelan, Ruth Naughton and Chris Daly on 72 and Kathleen Reeves on 73. Judith McGann won the gross with 83, while the past captain’s prize was won by Mary Geoghegan with 72. Siobhán O’Connor won the committee prize, while the nines were won by Catherine Clancy and Bernie Diskin. Marie Hannon Healy won the long drive, with the nearest the pin prize going to Ros Burke.
Tuesday’s singles competition was won by Ros Burke from Kathleen Sands with Mary Geoghegan in third spot.
In the June open singles in aid of breast cancer, Pauline Bree was the winner with 37 points from Siobhán Forde on a similar score. Anne Kerins was third with 36 points, while the gross was won by Siobhán O’Connor with 25 points.

Spanish Point
Tuesday’s seniors open at Spanish Point was won by John O’Sullivan (18) with 38 points.
In Thursday’s open, Eamonn McMahon (18) was the winner with 39 points, from Conor Egan (10) with a similar score.
The Friday evening nine-hole team of four continues to be very popular and the winners of last week’s outing were P J Kyne (22), Fergal Hehir (14), Martin Shanahan (23)and Seamus McMahon (13) with a score of five under gross.
Over 50 players entered the Martin Talty Memorial open singles, which is played each year in conjunction with the first weekend of the Willie Clancy Summer School and, having recently completed his Leaving Certificate exams, Cathal Whelan returned to form with a score of 40 points off a five handicap to win from David Fitzgerald (15) with 39 points, Conor Egan (9) with 39 points and Bernie O’Halloran (20) with 39 points.
This weekend, there is a golfer of the year singles stroke competition and the president’s (Paddy Cleary) prize to the ladies will be played for on Sunday with a timesheet in operation.

East Clare
EAST Clare recorded a historic victory last Friday when their Irish mixed foursomes team defeated Charleville at Castletroy to reach the Munster semi-final of this event, winning two matches on the 19th hole. This is the first time in their history that the club has progressed this far.
Mike Whelan and Margaret MacNamara were first out for East Clare and though three down with five to play, they brought their match up the 18th only to lose on the final hole.
Second out were Barry Hurley and Bríd Hayes and early on they were three up, only to be pulled back. They went up the last hole, one down and conceding a shot. They won the 18th and so went down 19 and won on the first extra hole when Bríd holed a 3ft put.
Third out were Enda Donnellan and Leslie O’Flynn and they were never troubled and had a good 5 and 4 win.
Next up were Stephen Moloney and Mary Mannion and though conceding four shots, they started well and going into the back nine were two up. Their lead was down to one playing the 17th and Charleville chipped in from off the green for a birdie to go up the last on level terms.
Once again, they were conceding a shot on the last but a mistake by Charleville let East Clare in and the match had to continue down the 19th. A good drive by Stephen, followed by a good approach shot from Mary, left Stephen with a good opportunity to pitch close. This he did, leaving his pitch a mere foot from the hole. Meanwhile, Charleville were in the bunker in two and played a poor bunker shot, followed by a poor chip. Charleville conceded East Clare’s put for par and so history was made.
In the last match, Charleville had a good win over William O’Brien and Kathleen O’Brien.
East Clare now go forward to Charleville to play Lee Valley from Cork in the Munster semi-final. Tralee play Tramore in the other semi-final.
In the men’s singles, Tristan Brady (8) was the winner with 39 points from Fergus Cooney (13) with a similar score. Padraig Hession was third, also with 39 points.
In the ladies’ seniors competition, the winner was Marie Moloney from Ashley Minogue and Sarah O’Halloran, while the senior men had a team event, which was won by John Brett, Tim McGillicuddy and Tom Moloney from John Fielding, Tim McGrath and Kieran Gibbons.

Portumna
IN the open week team-of-four competition at Portumna, the winners were John (19) and Brendan Lyons (15), Michael Cannon (12) and Louis Slevin (12) with 103 points. In second place were Paddy Kelly (21), Kevin Donnellan (14), Michael Kiely (13) and Jackie Gilchrist (14) with 101 points. They were followed by Mary Kelly (23), Kevin Cooney (14), Enda Finn (15) and Ian Davis (10) with 100 points. In fourth place were Seamus Cawley (15), Martin Cawley (21), John Barry (21) and Pat Stretch (20) with 99 points. Almost 800 golfers played during open week from 70 different clubs.
Last Friday’s 18-hole stroke competition was won by Mike Kiely (15) with 65 nett, from Dan Hogan (12) with 66 nett and Paul Hayes (12), East Clare with a similar score. The gross was won by Keith Daniels (4) with 78.
Last Thursday’s three-ball competition was won by Christy Niland (12), Oughterard; Eamon Grimes (15), Gort and Kieran Grimes (20) Gort with 52 points. In second place were Kevin Donnellan (14), Paddy Kelly (21) and Michael Delaney (14) with 50 points, followed by Gerry Madden (12), PJ Kenny (10) and Ronan Madden (17), also with 50 points. In fourth spot were Brian Gaynor (13), David Quinlan (13) and Michael Cleary (17), all Nenagh, with 49 points.
The Wednesday open singles winner was David Burke (15) with 40 points from Kevin Power (18) with 39 points and Pat Mulvihill (14) with 36 points. The gross winner was John Cleary (5) with 33 points.
Anne Cassidy won the ladies’ open with 38 points from Bernadette Lynch from Lucan and Niamh Holohan, Portumna, with 37 points; Mary Sullivan from Birr with 36 and Róisín O’Byrne, Portumna with 35 points. Deirdre Cahalan from Nenagh won the gross with 22 points.
Next weekend’s competition for ladies and gents is an 18-hole Stableford.

Doonbeg
DOONBEG Links captain, Helen Williams’ prize was played for in near perfect conditions on Sunday. The winner was Imelda Shanahan and in second place was Aoife O’Malley. Vice-captain Mary Arthur took third place and the nines were won by Ita Mangan and Liz Blake.

Pitch and putt
THE Clare Road Club matchplay competition took place last Saturday when the winner was Garath Kerin from Marty Fawl.
Meanwhile, Cill na Mona hosted the All-Ireland stroke play qualifier and the senior section was won by Kenneth Kerin, while Niall Reynolds won the intermediate section, with Michael Kerin taking the junior honours from PJ Considine and Paddy Sheedy.
PJ Considine won Sunday’s Stableford competition from Gabriel Kerin and Noel Cuddihy.
The Munster ladies’ strokeplay was played last weekend in Castleisland, where Siobhán Commane from the Cill Na Mona club was the winner in her section.
Holding the lead by two shots after 18 holes, Siobhán went on to extend her lead and beat her nearest rival by three shots. This is the second major title in as many months for the Cill Na Mona club, with Kitty Murphy already winning the Munster matchplay.
Both players will be part of the team representing Clare in the inter-county championship later in the year.
The Cill Na Mona Scratch Cup will be held on Saturday from 8.30am.