Mount Juliet Golf Notes

Some excellent scoring was returned in the May Monthly Medal last Sunday played in blustery conditions. Gavin Smyth really hit the high spots with the best score of the day of 38 points to win his category. Off his plus one handicap, this represented a gross score of three under par 69 gross. On his outward nine holes, he dropped a shot on the short par three, 3rd hole, but had birdies on the 2nd and 5th for 18 points. On the second nine holes he scored further birdies on the 12th and 17th together with 7 pars for a back nine holes of 20 points.

Category 2 was won with another 38 points and this was returned by Mark Magnier. Mark had nines of 16 and 22 points. He failed to register a score on the 4th and 11th holes but otherwise played very steadily to register an easy win in his category. Bryan Phelan just got home in category 3 with 34 points and won on a countback. The ladies section was won by Geraldine Higgins with 37 points with nines of 16 and 21 points respectively. After a shaky start when Geraldine failed to register a point on the 2nd and 3rd holes, she settled down for the remainder of her round to score a further 35 points. This was just good enough to win the medal on a countback from Myra Phelan who also returned 37 points.

Another three teams exited from the inter club scene and two of them were beaten by neighbours, Callan, who had convincing victories in both the Ladies Intermediate Trophy and the Duggan Cup for men. The ladies team were beaten by a margin of 3½ matches to 1½ matches while the men’s team were beaten by a margin of 4 matches to 1. The third team was the Ladies Challenge Cup team and they were beaten by Rathsallagh Golf Club and this match was played at Mount Wolseley.

Last Wednesday, the May Ladies Invitation Day took place and the competition was a 4 person team event. This competition was won with a fine score of 104 points by a team led by Margaret O’Rourke and the winning team was eight shots clear of their nearest opponents who in turn were a further three shots clear of third place.

May Ladies Invitation Day – Wednesday 8th May 2013

Winners

Margaret O’Rourke (23)
Pauline McEnery (33)
Bridget Mullins (30) (Gowran Park)
Annette Whelan (28) (Kilkenny) 104 points

Second

Aileen Magee (29)
Marcella Kelly (18) (Ashbourne)
Mary Carey (23) (Ashbourne)
Kathleen Gleeson (18) (Roganstown) 96 points

Third

Helen Scully (17)
Margaret McCreery (18) (Kilkenny)
Pauline Dwan (28) (Grange)
Ruth Mulholland (12) 93 points

Results – May Monthly Medal Sunday 12th May 2013

Category 1 Gavin Smyth (+1) 38 points
Category 2 Mark Magnier (15) 38 points
Category 3 Bryan Phelan (18) 34 points
Ladies Geraldine Higgins (33) 37 points

Last Sunday saw the Intermediate Scratch Cup run for the first time and this was a singles stroke competition over 18 holes. This proved to be a very popular competition with visitors and members alike with quite a large entry on the day. The winning score was 81 gross which is nine over par for the course and this was returned by Aidan O’Keeffe from Cobh Golf Club who played very steady golf throughout his round.

Aidan had nines of 39 and 42 shots respectively with his only birdie coming on the long 2nd hole. He completed his round with bogies on the 16th and 18th but held on by 2 shots from his nearest rivals to record an impressive victory. In second place came John McGrath who just pipped Billy Mernagh on a countback over the last nine holes. The best nett score for the day was won by Keith Richards with a 70.

Last weekend saw the second round of the Summer League completed and this was completed before the start of the
Intermediate Scratch Cup. The ladies were very much to the fore in the league with some excellent scoring. In first place came Helen Walsh with 43 points closely followed by Karan Murphy with 41 points. The only man to feature on the podium was Conor Mulholland and he was some six shots behind the winner. Helen started her round rather unimpressively with a treble bogey seven on the 1st but settled down well to record 21 points for her first nine holes. Apart from failing to register a point on the 12th, she scored a further impressive 22 points for her last nine holes.

On the Inter Club front the Ladies Miele Fourball team were well beaten by Borris on a 3½ to 1½ scoreline and this week the Men’s Duggan Cup team will take on neighbours Callan in the second round. Callan have the home advantage of the odd match of five in what should be a close encounter.

Results – Intermediate Scratch Cup Sunday 5th May

Winner Aidan O’Keeffe (14) (Cobh) 81 shots

Second John McGrath (12) (Lisheen) 83 shots

Third William Mernagh (13) (Callan) 83 shots

Best Nett Keith Richards (13) (Fermoy) 70 nett

Results – Summer League Sunday 5th May

Winner Helen Walsh (31) 43 points

Second Karan Murphy (34) 41 points

Third Conor Mulholland (17) 37 points

Last Sunday saw the commencement of the Summer League and this resulted in a good win for Hugh O’Connor who continued his early season form by returning a solid 38 points in tricky conditions with the northerly wind continuing to make scoring difficult. Hugh, playing very solidly, had two nines of 19 points and just held off the challenge of Dermot Fennelly by a shot. Dermot scored only 15 points for his first nine holes but then turned on the style on his last nine holes by returning a further 22 points. In third place came Ted Hoyne with another 37 points only to lose second place to Dermot on a countback. The next round of the Summer League will take place next Sunday.

On the Inter Club scene, the ladies are doing battle with Borris this weekend in the Miele Fourball with two pairings at home and two pairings away. The result will be decided on matches won and holes won. The Pierce Purcell team are at Wexford in three weeks time to compete in the regional qualifying round and the panel are preparing for this important date. The Duggan Cup team will do battle against Callan on Wednesday next in the second round with the draw advantage favouring Callan.

On Wednesday next 8th May the May Ladies Invitation Day will take place and the format will be a four person team event. The following Sunday will see the May Monthly Medal down for decision and this is a Golfer of the Year event.

Results Summer League Sunday 28th April

Winner Hugh O’Connor (6) 38 points
Second Dermot Fennelly (11) 37 points.(last nine)
Third Ted Hoyne (8) 37 points

Mount Juliet Golf Notes Monday 29th April 2013