Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The Jack Nicklaus Trophy was played for last weekend and some good scoring was recorded in blustery conditions. The overall winner on a countback was Sarah Newman who had 39 points and just pipped Lynda Hickey by virtue of a better back nine holes. The winner of the men’s section was Hugh O’ Connor with 38 points but in this unique competition the player with the best score of the day is deemed to be the holder of the trophy for the coming year.

Sarah had nines of 17 and 22 points respectively and just beat Lynda’s score of 39 points by virtue of the fact that she had 22 points against 21 points for Lynda on the last nine holes. Both players carded a blank during their rounds, whereas Sarah had hers on the 6th – Lynda had her blank on the 15th and this in turn possibly cost her the overall prize.

Young Hugh O’ Connor also scored a very commendable score, especially after the start he had, which yielded no score for the first two holes. But he more than made up for that by returning all his 38 points for the remaining 16 holes. Hugh just beat Pat Doyle who had 37 points and he in turn failed to score on the par three 14th. This should prove a boost to Pat as he recovers from heart surgery last year and is showing a great return to form. In third place came Sally Gleeson for the ladies and David Kelly for the men both of whom scored 36 points.

In the Golfer of the Year competitions Stephen Price leads from Pat Doyle by only 5 points now and Mary Quigley still maintains a lead on Lynda Hickey in the ladies section.

Congratulations go the Ladies Challenge Cup team who have now reached the quarter final stage by disposing of Tramore last Saturday in convincing fashion. The overall result was a 4/1 win, with victory secured in the three matches played at Mount Juliet and one match at Tramore. The winning quartet were Ursula Mason, Ann Daly, Ann Murphy and Mary Cotter with Mary Carr, making her debut at Inter Club level, losing narrowly at Tramore. Mount Juliet will now meet the winners of Carlow and Killerig in the quarter final. Best wishes also go the Ladies Junior Foursomes team who play the second leg match against Moate next Sunday and provided they win will also qualify for the quarter final in that competition also, they trail by two matches to one after the first leg.

Forthcoming fixtures include the Ladies Invitation Day for Wednesday June 4th and the J. B. Carr Trophy on Sunday 8th June

Results Jack Nicklaus Trophy:

Ladies: (C.S.S : 36)

Winner: Sarah Newman(25) …. 39 points
Second: Lynda Hickey(27) …… 39 points
Third: Sally Gleeson(12) ………. 36 points

Men: (C.S.S : 35)

Winner: Hugh O’ Connor(14) … 38 points
Second: Pat Doyle(14) …………. 37 points
Third: David Kelly(6) …………….. 36 points

First Nine: John Thompson(14) ….. 19 points
Second Nine: Michael Doyle(15) … 20 points

The Ladies Junior Foursomes lost their the second leg match against Moate 2/1.

The Monthly Summer Series for May was played last week and a team from Limerick were victorious on a breezy but warm day. Jed O’ Dwyer from The Hurler’s Cross pub led his team to a convincing victory with a very good score of 93 points. They had nines of 48 and 45 points respectively and ran out winners by 2 points from the Kilkenny based team of Liam Slevin, Niall O’Gorman, Victor Smyth and Ken Hovenden who in turn beat the Dublin team of Pamela Harrington, Susan Hegarty, Gilly Campbell and Philip Wardick on a countback.

The next competition in the series takes place on June 10^th with the format the same for all the series which is a four person team event. Each event is a “shotgun start” at 2pm which is proving to be very popular with the players.

Two more teams were in action on the Inter Club scene and unfortunate to relate that both teams suffered a defeat. In the first leg of the quarter final of the Ladies Junior Foursomes against Moate Golf Club, the Mount Juliet team acquitted themselves well by losing 2 matches to 1 with the second leg due to be played in two weeks time at Mount Juliet. Hopefully they can reverse the away result and march through to the semi-final.

In the qualifying round of the Pierce Purcell Shield held at Wexford Golf Club last Saturday the Mount Juliet Team, although acquitting themselves well, lost out when they failed to qualify for the regional playoff. Unfortunately the only men’s team left in competition now is the Duggan Cup team and they now play Callan in early June.

Pierce Purcell Team at Wexford last Saturday

Next Sunday sees the Jack Nicklaus Trophy down for decision and this is a Golfer of the Year competition and is regarded as one of the “majors” in the club to win.

All members involved are reminded that there is only a fortnight left to complete the first round of the McCalmont Cup matchplay.

Results Summer Series:

Winners:
Jed O’ Dwyer(11)
Tony Finan(17)
Mike O’ Brien(13)
Donal Hanley(18) Casteltroy G.C.……… 93 points.

Second:
Liam Slevin(12) Castelcomer G.C.
Victor Smyth(10)
Ken Hovenden(15)
Niall O’ Gorman(10) Kilkenny…………. 91 points.

Third:
Pamela Harrington(32) Boystown
Philip Wardick(10)
Susan Hegarty(32)
Gilly Campbell(14) Edmondstown………91 points.

The May Monthly Medal was decided last Sunday and after some early fog, the day turned out to be a pleasant and sunny one. The best score of the day was returned by Michael Brennan with 38 points and he duly won category 2 for his troubles. Michael had nines of 18 and 20 points, having failed to score on the second but he more than made up for it on the last sixteen holes by adding 36 points to the two points he scored on the first hole.

In category 1, Stephen Price was the narrow winner with 36 points from John Keane and again, like Michael, Stephen had a slow start by dropping seven shots on the first nine holes and only scoring 16 points. But again, like Michael Brennan, made up for his early lapses by scoring 20 points on the back nine. Category 3 was won by Tony Hoyne, on a countback, with 31 points whilst Rebecca Nixon won the Ladies section with a fine score of 37 points. Rebecca showed a fine return to form by scorching home on the last nine holes with 22 points and just finished a point clear of Mary Quigley. The C.S.S. for both the men and the ladies was 35 points.

In the Golfer of the Year competitions, Stephen Price is the clear leader in the men’s section whilst Mary Quigley leads the ladies section convincingly.

Last Wednesday saw a large turnout for the May Ladies Invitation Day which was an 18 holes singles stableford. Helen Comerford spreadeagled the field with a winning score of 39 points and she was four points clear of her nearest pursuers, Mary Power, Powerscourt and Jeannie Ronan, Clonmel. Deirdre Farrell, Castleknock, was in fourth place and the “nines” were won by Ann Marie Wilsden, Gowran Park, and Winifred O’ Connor, Glencullen.

On the Inter Club scene the Duggan Cup team will play neighbours Callan in the next round with the Pierce Purcell team playing at Wexford next weekend in the regional qualifying round. The Ladies Junior Foursomes team have reached the quarter final and will play Moate next weekend in the first leg. Finally, the Ladies All Ireland Miele Fourball team played Borris in the first round of that competition and having lost both matches at Borris they won the first match at Mount Juliet and the second pairing were called in “all square” after the 15^th hole. At that stage, it was not possible for Mount Juliet to win as overall they were down a total of four holes in the previous three matches and as a consequence with only three holes to play in the last match the result was already decided.

Back row: Brona Reidy, Mary Quigley, Myra Phelan – Team Manager.
Front row: Helen Hedigan and Sally Gleeson

Results May Monthly Medal:

Category 1. Stephen Price(10)……………36 points.

Category 2. Michael Brennan(13)………..38 points.

Category 3. Tony Hoyne(20)………………31 points.

Ladies: Rebecca Nixon(19)…………..37 points.