Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The last round of the 2008/2009 Marble City Travel sponsored Winter Series was played last week and the series ended as it began in October with a 4 person team event.  The big difference in the outcome was that the winning team from Faithlegg Golf Club returned one of the best scores ever in the series by scoring 99 points.  They won by the wide margin of 7 shots from their nearest rivals from Kilkenny.  With two scores to count on the first seventeen holes and three on the last, they had nines of 48 and 51 points respectively to easily qualify for the Grand Final which will be played this week and will be reported on in next week’s edition.

A final total of 26 players have now reached this final and the format of the final will be an 18 holes singles stableford off the blue championship tees which measure almost 7300 yards in length.  This will surely test the faint hearted and the winner will have earned the title.

Winter Series Tuesday 24^th March

Winners

Tony Flynn (11) Faithlegg G.C.

Jim Power (16)

Pat Flynn (16)

John Wyse (16) 99 points

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Second Pat Butler (8) Kilkenny G. C.

Jim White (6)

Neil Loy (10)

Ollie Hickey (15) 92 points.(last 9)

Last Sunday saw the first round of the Golfer of the Year competition with the running of the March monthly medal.  As usual, there were four categories and pride of place with the best score of the day, 42 points, was returned by former Captain, Anthony Gore-Grimes, who had nines of 20 and 22 points respectively. This may have been improved upon as he failed to score on the 15^th which was the only blip on an otherwise impressive looking scorecard.

The other categories were won by Colm Hyland and Frank Furey with Dorothy Doyle proving to be the best of the ladies.  So after round 1 of the G.O.Y., Anthony and Dorothy lead the way.

March Monthly Medal:

Category 1       Colm Hyland (12)               33 points

Category 2       Frank Furey (14)                35 points

Category 3       Anthony Gore-Grimes (21) 42 points

Ladies              Dorothy Doyle (17)             35 points

Next weekend is a busy one for the club with the first of the Member/Guest competitions down for decision and there are three inter club matches being played as well.  The first team in action is the Irish Mixed Foursomes team who are pitted against Wexford on Saturday, followed by the Barton Cup team who are playing our neighbours Kilkenny on Sunday.  Finally, on Monday the Ladies Minor Cup team are playing Athy in the first round of that particular competition.  Best of luck is wished upon all three teams against some formidable opposition.

Definitely things are beginning to look up weather wise as we had another two competitions in the last week. This makes a total of four in the past month which is four more than we had in the previous eight weeks.
The Member/Guest competition was a 3 person rumble and on a very cold, wet day it was a case of the survival of the fittest. The fittest on the day were Kevin McCartan’s team who returned a good score of 75 points. They just pipped the team led by last year’s Lady Captain, Rita Garvey, by a point. Kevin’s team had nines of 32 and 43 points respectively whilst Rita’s team scored 29 and 45 points.
The penultimate round of the Marble City Travel sponsored Winter Series was played last week as well and this resulted in a win for three members of Muskerry Golf Club. The team, all low handicappers, had a very commendable score of 75 points and as usual play was off the white tees for the men and red tees for the ladies.
They just pipped a team of fellow Corkonians from Harbour Point. The winners had sixes of 14 points, 26 points and finally 35 points. The winning formula was that each of the three players scored on the last six holes whereas their rivals all had glitches on these holes. The trio now join the other qualifiers for the Grand Final on 31st March. Only one round of the series remains and this is scheduled for Tuesday 24th March and 24 players will then line out on 31st March to see who is champion for 2008/2009.

Results Member/Guest 3 Person Rumble

Winners:
Kevin McCartan (18)
Philip Dunne (14) Athlone G.C.
T.J.McIntyre (16) Gowran Park ….. 75 points.

Second:
Rita Garvey (25)
Ann Gavagan (15) Glen of the Downs
Kate Cloonan (17) Lahinch G.C …. 74 points.

Results Winter Series 3 Person Rumble

Winners:
Liam Harte (4) Muskerry G.C.
David Lane (4) Muskerry G.C.
Ben Harte (7) Muskerry G.C ….. 75 points.

After what seemed an interminable layoff from competitive golf, last week saw two competitions run for the first time in 2009. The third last round of the popular Marble City Travel sponsored Winter Series eventually got off the ground with the running of the 3 person scramble and although players had a big break from golf over the last weeks it certainly did not seem to put a dent in their ability.
This was proved by the winners of the competition last week by returning a fantastic score of 60 grosss which was 12 shots under par. This remarkable score was returned by three low handicappers from New Ross who had nines of 29 and 31 respectively. They had a total of 12 birdies and the easier way of explaining their score is that they only recorded pars on the 2nd, 3rd, 11th, 12th, 16th and 18th. Their handicap allowance of 1.2 shots meant that they had a net score of 58.8 shots. They now qualify for the Grand Final on March 31st.
In second place came three players from Carrick on Suir Golf Club who were two shots behind with a score of 60.9 shots and third place was filled by a trio from Rathdowney Golf Club who were a further ½ shot behind second place. With only two more rounds of the Series left to play the next one is scheduled for next Wednesday 10th March and the format is a Three Person Rumble with tee reservations available by phoning 056/7773071 or 7773064.
The first Member/Guest competition of the year got underway last week as well and the format for this event was a fourball betterball stable ford. The winners of this event, Paul Barrett and Tim Kavanagh had a very good score of 44 points and  had two shots to spare over their nearest pursuers Frank Furey and Dave Martin who in turn were three shots clear of the third pairing comprised of the father and son pairing of Tadhg and Richard Gleeson. The winners had nines of 23 and 21 points respectively.

There is another member/guest competition taking place next Sunday 8th March and the format is a 3 Person Rumble.

Results Winter Series 3 Person Scramble

Winners

Andrew Ryan(4) New Ross G.C.
Andrew Ronan(5)
Emmett Ronan(3) ……………………58.8 shots.

Second

John Broxon(6) Carrick on Suir G.C.
Brian Waters(10)

Robert Barry(5)………………..………60.9 shots

Third

Mick Scales(18) Rathdowney G.C.
Mark Kelly(18)
Anthony Phelan(10)…………….……61.4 shots.

Member/Guest Fourball Betterball Stableford.

Winners

Paul Barrett(9)
Tim Kavanagh(17)……………………44 points.

Second

Frank Furey(14)
Dave Martin(23)…………………….…42 points.

Third

Tadhg Gleeson(15)
Richard Gleeson(15)…………………39 points..