At this time of the year all “major” club competitions are coming to a close after a disappointing weather wise season.  The last of the “majors” for the men is scheduled next Saturday with the running of the President’s (Des Fitzgerald) Prize with a “shotgun” start at 12 noon.  As usual there is a separate prize for both the ladies and men in this competition and players will be keen to wind up the season with the coveted prize on the mantlepiece for reminiscing over during the months ahead.

This competition will probably have the final bearing on who becomes Golfers of the Year for 2009.  At the moment in the ladies section Lynda Hickey has an almost unassailable lead over her nearest pursuers, Sally Gleeson and Sandra Carr and it will be a major surprise if she is overtaken.  The men’s section is not as cut and dried as Andrew Nixon has a slender lead over Alan Hoyne and David Kelly but any of the three have a chance of improving their lot on Sunday.
Alan also has qualified for the final of the McCalmont Cup which will entitle him to further points so it is all in the melting pot.  The men’s GOY will possibly go to the last competition which is the September medal in three weeks time.

Talk of the McCalmont Cup leads me to Alan’s opponent in the final of same, James J. Brett, and who is a former holder of the trophy.  The final of this competition will be played in the next three weeks.  Also scheduled for this week is the September Ladies Invitation Day, the results of which will be in next week’s edition.

Last Sunday saw a large number of competitors take part in the Member/Guest competition which was a 3 person rumble.  The timesheet was full from early morning and the winning score of 84 points was returned by the local team of Kevin McCartan, Eamonn Murphy and Dan Kavanagh who just beat the team led by Padraic O’Connor on a countback over the last 6 holes.  The third team to feature in the prizes was led by Vice-Captain, Jim Cusack, who were a further shot behind.  The winning team and runners-up had nines of 32 points and 52 points with the winners getting through on the last six holes.

The popular Summer Series comes to a close on Thursday 17th September with the usual 4 person team event and the final outing is sponsored by Kartel.  This competition will be a “shotgun” start at 1.30pm and tee reservations can be made by phoning 056/7773071 or 7773064.  Click here to book your place on-line.

Results Member/Guest 18 Holes Rumble

Winners

Kevin McCartan (17)
Eamonn Murphy (14)
Dan Kavanagh (13)                          84 points

Second

Padraic O’Connor (18)
David Ryan (13)
Michael Byrne (19)  (Blainroe G.C.)     84 points

Third

Jim Cusack (14)
Terry Cooney (17) Dooks G.C.
Dan Cronin (18)  (Bodenstown G.C.)    83 points

There was a great turnout for the “Vice-Versa” competition which is the Captain’s Prize to the Ladies and the Lady Captain’s Prize to the Men.  This year they were won in spectacular style by Sandra Carr and Liam Reidy who returned good scores of 38 and 40 points in their respective competitions.

Liam was consistency right through his game returning 19 and 21 points for his nines and won by 2 shots from John Keane.  John had a very poor start only scoring 2 points in the first three holes but turned up the heat on the last 15 holes by scoring a further 36 points.  But for failing to score on the 7th hole he may have made it to the winner’s rostrum as he scored an impressive back nine holes of 23 points which was one under par gross.  In fairness to Liam it was his day and was duly rewarded for his consistency.

The Ladies competition was a much tighter affair with Sandra coming out on top by just a shot from Margaret Clandillon.  Again, Margaret must rue her chances especially for failing to score on the 14th and 16th holes.  Sandra also had a blank on the long 13th but apart from that she had nines of 17 and 21 points to emerge the victor.

Results Lady Captain’s Prize to the Men

Winner              Liam Reidy (14)                   40 points

Second             John Keane (8)                    38 points

Third                Peter Quigley (7)                  37 points

Fourth             Wilf Stevenson (19)              36 points

Past Captain      Tom Duggan (7)                   33 points

1st Nine            James J. Brett (16)               20 points

2nd Nine           John Leahy (18)                   20 points

Par 3’s              Stephen O’Connor Jr

Par 5’s              Michael Whelan

Junior              Luke Mulcahy (16)               38 points

Captain’s Prize to the Ladies

Winner              Sandra Carr (19)                  38 points

Second             Margaret Clandillon (26)        37 points

Third                Lynda Hickey (26)                36 points

1st Nine           Kathryn O’Connor (36)          21 points

2nd Nine           Wendy Beirne (36)               20 points

Par 3’s              Helen Comerford

Par 5’s              Mary Quigley

Summer Series

The Summer Series was played on Wednesday 12th August and this as usual is a four person team event with a fine entry of players.  The winners were friends from four different clubs but they combined well together to score 97 points and won by 3 clear shots from their nearest rivals.  The winners had nines of 47 and 50 points and all team members were single figure golfers.  The runners up were again from a variety of clubs and they had nines of 46 and 48 points respectively and just held on by a shot from the third placed team.

The last round of the Summer Series will take place on Thursday 17th September and the format is again a 4 person team event.  Tee reservations can be made for this day by phoning 056/777301 or 7773064.

Results Summer Series 4 Person Team Event

Winners

John O’ Mahony (5) (Lismore)                 97 points

Mark White (9) (Thurles)

Paddy White (9) (Cahir Park)

Michael O’Leary (7) (Ring of Kerry)

Second

David Daly (13) (Gort)                             94 points

John Daly (18) (Gort)

Pat Curtis (12) (Kilrush)

Peter O’Brien (9) (Carton House)

Third

Ronan Freyne (14) (Co. Meath)               93 points

Michael Gaynor (9) (Co. Meath)

Ger Griffin (15) (Tara Glen)

Gerry Lloyd (12) (Skerries)

Last week saw three competitions decided with the Member/Guest 18 Holes Singles, The Residential Trophy and the Ladies Invitation Day for the month of August. There was a very big turnout for the member/guest day and the overall winner, both ladies and men, was David Gleeson, son of Tadhg and Sally, who returned a very impressive 40 points. After a rather slow start to his round where he scored a par on the 1st hole and then proceeded to draw a blank on the 2nd, he then turned on the style for the remaining 16 holes with a further 38 points. At the turn he had recovered sufficiently to record 19 points and then made no mistake on the last nine holes with a further 21 points. He beat his nearest rival, Morgan Doyle from Kilkenny by 3 shots and all four places were filled by visitors.

The ladies section was won by Sandra Carr with 38 points and she just pipped Loretta Donnelly on a countback. Both players had nines of 21 and 17 points respectively but Loretta failed to score on the long 17th and this decided the contest.

The Annual Residential Trophy was also decided on the Saturday and last year’s winner, Ray O’ Malley, repeated his feat by scoring back to back wins. Ray had 39 points and won by two shots from Ruth Mulholland with Lynda Hickey a shot further back in third place. Darcey Carr had a wonderful score of 37 points to win the Junior Prize. Darcey is fast approaching single figures and will soon be rewarded with interprovincial honours if she keeps improving at her incredible rate of progress.

Ray had a modest start scoring 17 points on the first nine holes but really burned it up on the second nine holes with a further 22 points. There was a great number of competitors for this annual competition and it always is a good social occasion with everybody intermingling on this particular weekend.

The last competition was the Ladies Invitation Day and this was a Fourball Betterball Stableford. This was won in emphatic style by Lynda Hickey and her guest Ann Banville from Enniscorthy with a score of 38 points. They had four points to spare over Myra Phelan and her guest Liz Hurley from Charlesland. There was a separate competition for each nine holes and these were won by Kathyrn O’Connor and her guest Mary Flahavan from Dungarvan. The back nine holes was won by the Lady Captain, Sheila MacDonald and her guest Caroline Hellewell from Gowran Park.

Next weekend sees the Captain’s Prize to the Ladies and the Lady Captain’s Prize to the Men and for the first time this will be a shotgun start at 11am and there will be valuable points in the Golfer of the Year competitions for both the Ladies and Men.

Results

Member/Guest 18 Holes Singles Stableford:

Winner David Gleeson (15) Dooks G.C. 40 points

Second Morgan Doyle (12) Kilkenny G.C. 38 points (last nine)

Third Stephen Morgan (18) Killiney G.C. 38 points

Fourth Patrick O’Flynn (13) Cahir Park G.C. 36 points

Ladies:

Winner Sandra Carr (20) 38 points

Second Loretta Donnelly (21) Killeen Castle G.C. 38 points

Residential Trophy 18 Holes Singles Stableford

Overall Winner Ray O’Malley (14) 39 points

Second John Keane (8) 35 points

Third Stephen Skehan (16) 34 points (last 6)

Ladies Winner Ruth Mulholland (12) 37 poin

Second Lynda Hickey (26) 36 points

Junior Prize Darcey Carr (12) 37 points