Woodstock win Pierce Purcell title

Woodstock were crowned All-Ireland Pierce Purcell champions on Friday when they defeated Corrstown by 3.5 to 1.5 in the final at Castlerock in Antrim.
In the semi-final on the previous day they had overcome the Connacht champions, Athenry.
In the final, Frank Doherty and Mike Kelly lost 8 and 6 but three comprehensive wins after this led to the pairing of Declan Coote and Jimmie Kelly being called in. Jason Considine and Brian Mulcahy had a 4 and 3 win, Tom Hehir and Martin Dormer were 8 and 7 victors while Shane Fitzgerald and Michael O’Brien recorded a 6 and 5 success.
The team was feted at a function in the clubhouse on Saturday night following their return home.
This was Woodstock’s second time winning the Purcell, having being successful in 2003 when Jimmie Kelly, Liam McInerney, Michael O’Brien, Mike Kelly and Frank Doherty were team members. Assistant manager Robbie Dormer was a member of the 2003 team.
In the Wednesday open singles, Ross Darmody (9) was the winner with 41 points from Jason Dormer (9), who scored 40 points.
In the September medal, George Smith (9) won with 70 from Simon O’Neill (11), who had a similar score. The gross was won by Kieran Cunnane with 76.
In the ladies’ monthly medal Bernie Power won category A and Teresa Sherlock won category B.
The masters final will take place this Sunday at 12 noon while there will be an 18-hole Stableford competition for those not involved in the masters final. The presentation of prizes will be in the clubhouse at 5pm.
Details of the Sheelagh Garvey matchplay competition are now available on the ladies’ noticeboard.

Shannon
Shannon’s brave effort to win the All-Ireland intermediate ladies’ cup ended at the semi-final stage at Ardee last Thursday.
In the quarter-final on Wednesday they scored a 3-2 win over Clontarf. Suzanne McMahon and Liz O’Sullivan both lost their matches but Connie Corry, Mary Sheehan and Bridget McCaul were victorious to seal a semi-final place against Mullingar. The midland side won this one 3 and 2 with Liz O’Sullivan and Mary Sheehan the Shannon winners while Brid Walsh, Connie Corry and Bridge McCaul were beaten.
Other members of the panel managed by Anna Ringrose were Lynn Kelly, Mary Flynn, Carmel Regan and Anne Casey.
On the domestic front, scoring was impressive in the regular Wednesday open singles, with 43 points required to finish on the podium. Returning to the winners’ enclosure after a lengthy absence was John Morrissey with 44 points. John returned nines of 22 points and had one to spare from visitor Christy Lynch from Charleville and Eric Daly, who both returned 43 points. Ed Hickey won the gross with 34 points.
In the weekend men’s singles competition, Kieran Moloney (16) was the winner with 40 points from Brendan Flynn (20) with 39 points and James Bullman (5) with 37 points. Ed Hickey won the gross with 34 points.
The winners of the open scotch mixed on Sunday were Pauline (26) and Michael (12) Kilmartin with 43 points. Carmel (2) and Paschal (13) Regan were next with 42 points followed by Deirdre Coady (30) and Seamus Doyle (11) with 42 points. Winnie Ryan (9) and Paddy Kennedy (11) from Nenagh won the gross with 30 points.
Rose Doyle and Lisa O’Shea captured the gross in the Eileen Murphy Foursomes for the second year in succession at Cork Golf Club. Over 54 clubs participated and Rose and Lisa were just two points off outright victory.
There will be a senior men’s fourball this weekend with a men’s singles on Sunday while the ladies will have a fourball competition.

Ennis
The Ennis senior captain’s (Pat McGuire) prize was played for on Thursday last, when there was a huge entry.
Well-known Ennis singer James Ball emerged as the winner, with an impressive return of 44 points. He had four to spare over Frank Landy with Sean O’Gorman third with 39 points followed by Pádraig Ryan, Colm McNevin, Sean Fitzpatrick, Pat Cahill, Michael Cummins, all with 38, Jim Felle with 37 and Jimmy Kearns with 37.
The winner of category 1 was Andrew Cregan with 37. Category 2 was won by Joe O’Brien with 37 and category 3 by Johnny Cullinan with 36. Other prizewinners were Michael Nunan (nearest pin on second), Aidan Lynch (nearest pin on 15th), Pat McCarthy (guests) with 33 and Cyril Brennan (concealed prize).
Ennis Seniors Group played for the Kearse Cup, in memory of Frank and Michael Kearse, last week when 95 participated.
Michael Kenny emerged as the winner with 42 points from James Ball on 41, Pádraig Ryan on 40, Michael Vaughan on 39,  PJ Garry with 38, Tim Kelly with 38, Pat Cahill with 38, Charlie McEnery with 37, Jim Scully with 37, Ned Ryan with 37, John Cullinan with 37 and Tom Fox with 37. Guests prizes went to Noel Whelan, Gerry Gilligan, Ian Myatt and Leo Herbert.
Meanwhile, John Lillis and David Pender were the winners in the club’s memorial day outing with 46 points.
In the mixed scotch foursomes, Michael and Claire Carmody were winners with 44 points.
Tom Neylon won the Friday open singles with 39 points from Kevin Connellan on 37, Robert Cullen on 37 and Des Neylon, also on 37.  Robert Singleton won the gross with 33 points.

Lahinch
In the ladies’ singles Stableford open competition on the Castle Course, Ann White (35) Shannon was the winner with 35 points.
Ray Gleeson (15) from Heritage won the open singles on Thursday with 43 points from Kevin Gleeson (17), who scored 37 points. Derek Sheahan (16) from Castletroy was third with 36 points.
The winner of the ladies’ open singles on Thursday was Dympna Walsh (22) from Laytown and Bettystown with 27 points.
The winner of the John Burke club championship was Michael O’Kelly (scr) with 152 gross. Thomas Neenan (1) was second with 155 while the best nett was won by Richard B Leonard (5) with 153.
In the club handicap championship, the winner was Pádraig Hayes (9) with 147 from Declan Brougham (9) with 150. He was followed by Tom Curry (10) with 150.

Dromoland
President Tom Delaney’s prize to the ladies at Dromoland was won by Yvonne Shanahan from Ann Nix, with Katrina O’Neill in third place followed by Sheila Kent. The gross was won by Suzanne McConway.
The ladies will have a Stableford competition this Sunday at 2pm.
In the men’s singles Stableford competition at the weekend the winner was Tim Kennelly with 39 points from John Collins on 38 and Ger Barrett on 38. Gordon O’Neill won the junior section with 32 points.
The monthly medal will be the competition this weekend.

East Clare
In the men’s singles at East Clare last week Darren Rosney (13) was the winner with 41 points from Pat McNamara (13) with 40 points and Maurice Costelloe (14) with 36 points.
In the ladies’ golfer-of-the-year competition, Barbara Lynch won with 71 from Fiona Kinsella, who had a similar score.
Category 1 was won by Mairéad Twomey with 75, category 2 by Bess Fennessy with 73 and category 3 by Ina Reddan with 77.
In the men’s seniors competition the winners were Tony McNulty, Conor Tuohy and John Walsh from Willie Roche and Michael Drew with third spot filled by Liam Nolan and JJ Barton.
This Sunday, the annual club swap with Portumna will take place. Next Monday there will be a reception for the Irish mixed foursomes and ladies’ junior foursomes teams in the clubhouse and all members are invited to attend.

Kilrush
The St Gobain open singles at Kilrush on Sunday was won by Noel McMahon (9) with 37 points from Tom Coffey (11), who had a similar score. PJ Hehir (17) was third with 36 points.
In the ladies’ competition last Thursday Anne Brennan (10) was the winner with 40 points from Mary Nolan (17) with a similar score. Margaret Clune (33) was third with 39 points followed by Kathleen O’Brien (24) with 38 points. The category winners were Imy Kerrigan (16) with 37 points, Mary McCarthty (26) with 34 points and Majella Comerford (29) with 35 points.
In the seniors’ team of three on Wednesday, the winners were Jim McSwiggan, Murt Collins and Kieran Lillis with 66 points from John Stapleton, John Robinson and Tom O’Dea with 64 points. Third spot was filled by Tom Prendeville, Pat Shannon (Cranny) and Michael Carrig, with 62 points.

Spanish Point
Kathleen Twoomey (28) was winner of the masters competition at Spanish Point on a score of 35 points. Ann White (34) was second with 30 points and Breeda Murphy (32) was third with 28 points. There will an 18 hole Stableford golfer-of-the-year competition on Sunday.
With all the principal summer men’s competitions completed at this stage, the golfer of the year is the main outstanding one left for decision with several players in contention and the final placing will be known shortly. In the meantime, the Tuesday seniors open will continue, as will the Thursday open and the highlight of next weekend is the visit of the Ringenane Golf Club members from Kinsale to play the local selection.
This is the second leg of the now annual challenge, played in mixed format, for the Hillery/Lynch Shield, with the visitors holding a good overall lead from the first leg, which was played last May in Kinsale.
Team manager Gary Carroll will be looking for an all-out effort from his pairings to make up the deficit and take back the shield, which Ringenane won last year. October 1-2 will introduce the turkey season and a full schedule of competitions will be published shortly.
In the Friday nine-hole team event the winners were Pat Greene (16), Eileen Murrihy and Stephen Cunningham (18) with three-under gross. Thursday’s singles was won by Jim Marrinan (17) with 35 points while the weekend singles was won by Sean McMahon (10) with 70 nett.
In the PJ Downes Memorial Intermediate Scratch Cup, the winner was Noel Skerritt (12) with 80 gross from Tony Wilson (15) with 81 gross. Last Thursday’s open was won by Pat Corbett (14) with 43 points while the weekend golfer of the year stroke competition was won by Páidi McGough (13) with 61 nett from Derry Waldron (20) 62 nett and Martin Glenny (15) on 64 nett.

Portumna
The winner of the men’s 18-hole stroke competition at Portumna was Jim Carr (26) with 68 nett from Stephen Madden (15) with a similar score. David Burke (11) was third with 69 while the gross was won by Martin Kennedy (9) with 78. In the seniors section, the winner was TJ O’Callaghan.
The winner of the ladies’ competition was Geraldine O’Reilly (30) with 72 nett from Anita Carey (13) with 74 nett and Betty Parnell (26) with 76 nett.
The annual exchange with East Clare takes place this Sunday and a timesheet is in operation.
There will be an open weekend this Saturday and Sunday. Portumna, captained by Martin Kennedy, have qualified to play Gort in the final of the Connacht Shield. The match will be played on a home-and-away basis, with five matches at each club.
Good wishes have been extended this week to club member Suzanne Corcoran, who will compete in the senior home international at Tramore next week.
Suzanne joined Portumna in 1976 and had her first real success with the independent mixed foursomes in 1979 when they reached the All-Ireland semi-finals before losing to Birr.
This was Portumna’s first breakthrough in any of the GUI inter-club competitions. Suzanne also won her first lady captain’s prize that year, playing off 18. She received her first inter-pro cap in 1987 and has played for the province 21 times, including this year in Royal County Down, where Connacht beat Leinster for the first time. She won two Scratch Cups at the Curragh and Ballinasloe and also a Midland Championship in the Curragh.
Runner-up on two occasions in the Connacht championships, she played in the Ulster Bank fourball in its inaugural year (1996) when Portumna won it and also the next year when the club retained the title. Suzanne was the first Portumna lady to be elected to the Connacht district executive in 1995 and is now district chairman (another first for Portumna).
Suzanne won two more lady captain’s prizes in 2004 and 2007. In all her wins, she was the lowest handicap lady in the club. Suzanne qualified in the top eight of the ladies’ seniors close in Ardee earlier this year and came joint eighth in the ladies’ senior strokeplay in Greenore a few weeks ago out of a field of 76 players from 11 different countries. 

Gort
Barry Heaney was the winner of the singles competition at Gort at the weekend with 42 points from Seamus Burke on 40 points, Joe Beakey on 39 points and Seamus Noone on 38 points. Jason McLynn won the gross with 33 points.
There will be a team-of-four event this weekend while the weekly open singles continues on Monday.
In the ladies’ 18-hole stroke medal competition, Sara Broderick was the winner with 73. The ladies will have an 18-hole singles Stableford competition this weekend

Sixmilebridge
Sixmilebridge Society held their captain’s (Kevin Whelan) prize to Shannon at the weekend, when the winner was Brian Casey from Paudge Flannery, with Danny Reddan in third spot. The nines were won by Shane Chaplin and Mike Purcell while the category prize winners were Colin Murphy, Mike O’Halloran and Johnny McInerney.

Pitch and Putt
At the Clare Road Pitch and Putt Club on Sunday, the three-ball scramble was won by Gareth Kerin, Ger Hanrahan and Tony Clancy.
There will be a club competition this Sunday.