Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The final Golfer of the Year competition was decided last Sunday with the running of the September Medal and whereas the ladies section was already known, as Rebecca Nixon had an ussailable lead, the Men’s section was still very much in doubt up to Sunday. However, Stephen Price, who led the competition, only in recent weeks, held on to his slender lead to be crowned Golfer of the Year for 2007. Stephen had built up an impressive number of points throughout the year and at the end had 7 points to spare from Dan Kavanagh who in turn was a point ahead of joint third placed, John Thompson and Dave Wyer. Things may have been different if Dan ,John and Dave had played in more of the G.O.Y. competitions. Stephen scored a total of 46 points from six competitions whereas Dan scored 39 points from five competitions and John and Dave scored 38 points from four competitions. Congratulations to Stephen and Rebecca on their achievement and the presentation of both trophies will take place on Sunday 14th October.

The competition for the September Medal produced some very good scoring with the best score of the day recorded by Dave Wyer with 40 points. Dave won category 2 with Brendan Clarke winning category 1 on 37 points and Padraic O’ Connor leading the field in category 3. The Ladies section was won by Sheila Williams with 34 points. All medals for this competition will also be presented on Sunday 14th October.

On Saturday last the National Putting Championship took place on the Mount Juliet Championship putting course. This resulted in Borris man Pat Foley winning the competition for the fourth time in the past nine years of it’s existence-some achievement. To be fair, Pat has a plan which he follows impeccably when he plays this unique venue and part of this plan is to minimise any mistakes by taking no chances with the various slopes and hazards of the course. This formula has stood the test of time over the years. In the final playoff he had five shots to spare over his nearest rival, Shane Mulvey from Seafield Golf Club. Both of these players had built up a commanding lead after nine holes of the final round. But for visiting the water hazards on the 12th and 14th holes Shane would have given Pat a somewhat harder fight on the home run. However Pat held on to win with a score of 50 putts which is three under par for this course. In third place came Joe Moore(Millennium) with 58 shots and he was followed by local Kilkenny man Ray Cody, Billy Hyland from Mountbellew and Alan Harty from West Waterford. There was an 18 hole qualifying round held first with the leading six players making it through to the final and the first round scores did not carry forward to the final round.

Last Friday the last of the Summer Series Team events was held and the scoring was indeed very hot with 96 points winning first prize. In second place on 94 points came a team from neighbouring Gowran Park with third and fourth places filled by 93 and 91 points respectively. The winners had nines of 46 and 50 points whereas the Gowran team matched the winners for the first nine holes they were unable to keep up the momentum on the final nine holes.
Results:Summer Series:

Winners:

David Dukelow(19) Bantry
Peter Moore (16) Skibbereen
David DukelowJr. (14) Bantry
Dermot Doyle (8) Abbeyleix…96 points.

Second:

Matty Byrne (14)
Kevin Fennelly (7)
P.J. Dreeling (13)
Thos Farrell (6) Gowran Park…94 points

Third:

Hugh Mohilly (14) Boyle
Simon Moore (14) The Island
Richard Gallagher (12) Foyle
Keith Wall (6) Killeen…93 points

Fourth:

Jim Foley (8) Dunmore East
Tommy Foley (7)
Bobby Foley (7)
John O’ Rourke (7) Enniscorthy…91 points.

Last Weekend saw the Miele All Ireland Ladies Fourball Final at Mount Juliet. The semifinals were played on Saturday when Mallow defeated Co. Armagh and Mountbellew defeated The K Club. The final was played Sunday and this resulted in a win for the Mountbellew club who had a one hole win after a titanic struggle.This was the first ever All Ireland |Team Pennant for Mountbellew which is in the process of upgrading their course from a 9 hole layour to an 18 hole course.The final of the McCalmont Cup matchplay between Rebecca Nixon and Stephen Price proved to be another nailbiting affair with Rebecca facing defeat on the fifteenth hole as she was three down with four holes to play. But she showed that same fighting spirit which has been her hallmark all this year by levelling the match on the 18th and proceeding to win on the 19th with a fine par. The result of this match only confirms her as the winner of the Lady Golfer of the Year and her opponent Stephen has now gained a formidable lead in the Golfer of the Year for the Men. With just next Sunday’s Monthly Medal to decide the outcome he leads John Thompson, Dan Kavanagh and Kevin |McCartan by a few points as all other pretenders are too far back to threaten the outcome.

Next weekend sees the last of the Summer Series down for decision on Friday with the National Putting Championship taking place on Saturday and the September Monthly Medal on Sunday. Next Sunday sees the end of the Golfer of the Year competitions and sad to relate the winding up of our Summer Season of golf for 2007. In October the first round of the Winter Series commences with a four person Team Event on Tuesday 16th October and then it is full blast until the series ends next April.

The Captain’s Prize to the Ladies and the Lady Captain’s Prize to the Men were played for last Saturday in ideal weather with a large turnout of competitors. In the Men’s section pride of place went to Frank Bowen whilst the Ladie’s section was won by the irrepressible Rebecca Nixon. There is no stopping Rebecca who has shown tremendous form over the past few months and her handicap has come tumbling down accordingly.

Both players recorded winning scores of 38 points each for their respective competitions and both players won by the minimum margin from the runners-up.
Frank had two consistent nines of 19 points each and the only real blimp he had was on the long 18th where he recorded a double bogie six.

Like Frank, Rebecca also had nines of 19 points and she had no real disaster as she scored on all eighteen holes played. Congratulations to both players on their achievements.

Last weekend also saw the Juniors in action and a great day was had by all participants with a prize for all who took part. Congratulations must go to three of the Junior members for their achievements over the past week. Darcey Carr won the Leinster Junior Girls Trophy Matchplay for handicaps 21-35. This was some achievement for Darcey who is only 12 years of age as the competition was open to girls of 18 years and under. It is obvious that Darcey is following in the footsteps of her illustrious grandfather J.B. The other two juniors making the headlines were Jake Beirne who is 15 years of age and has reduced his handicap from 9 to 5 over the past two months with some great scores as has Sophie O’Connor who has attained a handicap of 18 this summer. A lot of credit must be given to Professional Sean Cotter under whose tutorage the Junior members continue to make this improvement.

Gents:

Winner: Frank Bowen(12) ………………38 points.
Second: Peter Quigley(7)………………..37 points.
Third: John Mulholland(21)……………35 points.
Best Gross: Richard Duggan(2)…………….32 points.
Past Capt: Padraic O’ Connor(18)…………32 points.
1st Nine: Conor Lynch(12)……………….19 points.
2nd Nine: Michael Costello(17)……………19 points.
Par 3’s Wilf Stevenson(19)……………..12 points.
Par 5’s Stephen Price(11)……………….10 points.
Juniors: Sophie O’ Connor(20)………..…41 points.

Ladies:

Winner: Rebecca Nixon(21)………………38 points.
Second: Brona Reidy(16)………………….37 points.
Third: Margaret Clandillon(26)………….36 points.
Past Capt. Myra Phelan(23)………………….34 points.
1st Nine Karen O’ Donoghue(32)………….20 points.
2nd Nine Sarah Jane Costello(25)………..…18 points.
Par 3’s Peggy Mc Grath(17)………………11 points.
Par 5’s Sheila Williams(27)……………….10 points.