Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The course closes this week for annual maintenance up to and including this Wednesday and as the Summer comes to a close, there was some interesting golf played last week. The final of the McCalmont Cup matchplay between Michael Brennan and John O’Connor was played last Friday. After a very close match in which fortunes for both players ebbed and flowed, Michael came out victorious on the 18th by a one hole victory. Michael was giving John six shots in the match over the eighteen holes and the result looked ominous for him after 16 holes as they were all square with John to receive a further two shots on the 16th and 18th holes. However, Michael managed to half the 16th and win the 17th and held on for a half and the match on the 18th.

This is Michael’s second time to win the trophy since its inception and congratulations go to him on the achievement. As this was a Golfer of the Year competition, the result had no significant bearing on the leaderboard.

Stephen Price still maintains his lead, but only just, from Alan Hearn by one point. The advantage still rests with Stephen as he has fewer competitions played but it still looks as this will go to the wire before a result is known.

In the ladies section the competition is hotting up with Ruth Skehan holding a narrow advantage over Amelia Drumm with Kathryn O’Connor reducing the gap on the leaders in third place.

The President’s (Des Fitzgerald) Prize will be played on Saturday 4th September with a shotgun start at 11am. The timesheet for this competition is now open and bookings can be made by phoning tee reservations at 056 7773071or 7773064.

Last Sunday there was an 18 holes 3 person rumble competition and there was a very good turnout of members and their guests for this popular competition. With one score to count on the first six holes, two scores on the next six holes and all three players scores to count on the last six holes, competitors had to be at their sharpest. The winners had 18 points for the first six holes, followed by 29 points for their middle six holes and they finished off with a further 45 points to register a total of 91 points. They had eight shots to spare from their nearest rivals. The key to their success was that they all scored on each hole for the last six holes and this is where the competition is usually decided.

Results

Member/Guest 18 holes Rumble Sunday 22nd August

The Captain’s Prize to Ladies and Lady Captain’s Prize to Men competitions were held last Sunday. These are two of the “majors” played in the club and carry points in the Golfer of the Year competitions as well. Pride of place went to Pat Doyle and Helen Shields in their respective competitions as they proved to be the best in their class. Some fine scoring was recorded on a beautiful, sunny day and with a “shotgun” start conditions were the same for everybody who participated. A full turnout of players meant that prizes were keenly fought for in both sections.

The men’s prize went to Pat Doyle who kept his nearest rivals at bay by shooting 39 points which was a very commendable score with play off the white tees and the course playing every bit of its 7000 yards. Pat just held on by a shot from Tony Frew and Paul Barrett. Paul must have rued his 7 on the long 13th as a six would have given him the prize on a countback. He also had the misfortune of playing a wrong ball on the 8th which cost him a further two shots. Tony’s biggest blunder came at the 7th where he failed to register a point and has obviously retained his recent run of good form by “chipping in” on the last for a birdie three. The C.S.S. for the day remained unchanged at 35 points. The President, Des Fitzgerald, had the honour of achieving a hole in one at the 14th hole where he holed out his 3 wood.

The ladies prize was claimed by Helen Shields with 41 points but only by a whisker as Kathryn O’Connor also recorded the same score only to be beaten on a countback. Hot on both players heels came Brona Reidy with 40 points and she will surely rue dropping four shots on the 6th, 7th and 8th holes. Kathryn also had her bad luck by failing to score on the long 18th. Helen scored nines of 21 and 20 points respectively as against Kathryn’s score of 23 and 18 points.

The outcome of both competitions had no distinct bearing on the Golfer of the Year competitions as the chief contenders in both sections i.e., Stephen Price, Ruth Skehan and Amelia Drumm lost no ground to their nearest challengers.

The final of the McCalmont Cup between Michael Brennan and John O’Connor will be played this coming Friday. Next Sunday sees the continuation of the member/guest series with a 3 person rumble competition over 18 holes. The course closes next week for 3 days for the annual maintenance programme of the greens.

Results Lady Captain’s Prize to the Men

Winner – Pat Doyle (15) 39 points
Second - Tony Frew (7) 38 points
Third - Paul Barrett (10) 38 points
Fourth - John Thornton (11) 37 points
Past Captain - Tom Duggan (8) 36 points
1st Nine - David Kelly (5) 20 points
2nd Nine - Sean O’Neill (14) 21 points
Hole in One - Des Fitzgerald at the par three 14th
Long Drive - John Brennan

Results Men’s Captain’s Prize to the Ladies

Winner – Helen Shields (17) 41 points
Second - Kathryn O’Connor (34) 41 points
Third - Brona Reidy (14) 40 points
Past Captain - Brenda Fitzgerald (21) 32 points
1st Nine - Amelia Drumm (22) 18 points
2nd Nine - Anne Murphy (33) 19 points
Long Drive - Ruth Mulholland
Nearest Pin - Mary Quigley

Two more competitions were completed last week with the running of the August Ladies Invitation Day and the Summer Series for August.

The format of the ladies competition was a four person team event and this proved to be a decisive victory for the team led by the Lady Captain, Sally Gleeson, who with her three other team members scored an impressive 84 points. With two scores to count at each hole the winners had a comfortable margin to spare over their nearest pursuers.

Three members had “Holes in One” over the past week as well. David Kelly holed out his nine iron on the 11th in the Residential Trophy competition and will receive a memento for his achievement. In a friendly fourball last week Karl O’Connor had an ace on the 3rd and later in the same match Bryan Phelan holed out on the 14th for his ace.

The penultimate round of the Summer Series took place last Thursday and this proved to be benefit for four members from our near neighbouring club, Callan, who scored a fine 96 points. They just pipped a team led by Ollie Hodges from Ballykisteen by a shot. The Callan men had nines of 47 and 49 points respectively against the runners-up score of 46 and 49 points. The final competition of the Summer Series takes place next month and this will be followed with the start of the Winter Series.

The Friday evening nine hole competition continues this Friday and with only two more Fridays left the leaderboard for the final prize is getting very tight indeed.

Results Lady Invitation Day

Winners

Sally Gleeson (13)
Marie Shee (17)
Catherine Bird (6)Clonmel G.C.
Cathy Mitchell (17)Tramore G.C. 84 points

Results Summer Series

Winners

Paul Madigan (4)Callan G.C.
John O’Dwyer (6)
Sean Brett (9)
Paul Cashin (16) 96 points

Second

Ollie Hodges (6) Ballykisteen G.C.
Jimmy Nolan (11) Ballykisteen G.C.
Arthur Ryan (19) Castletroy G.C.
Peter Fitzgibbon (10) Slievenamon G.C. 95 points