Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The Captains’ Prizes, James J. Brett and Margaret Twomey, were decided last weekend. Play on Friday afternoon was abandoned due to the incessant rain and with conditions worsening as the evening progressed, there was little option but call a halt to proceedings and accommodate the players on Saturday. Weather-wise Saturday proved to be much improved with the temperature in the high ‘teens. The day proved to be a triumph for both Michael Collins and Kathyrn O’ Connor as they topped their respective sections to claim the major prizes.

In the men’s section, Michael Collins just beat off the opposition with 38 points and won from a former winner, John Thompson, by a shot. Although the winner failed to register a point on the par three, 3rd, the runner-up had two blanks on the back nine holes when he failed to score on both the 11th and 13th. But these were but a few of many hard luck stories during the day and Michael proved to be a deserving winner at the finish. Michael had nines of 18 and 20 points respectively as against John’s 21 and 16 points.

The ladies section proved to be a one person show with Kathyrn O’Connor returning a massive 44 points to spreadeagle the remainder of the field of competitors. She had nines of 23 and 21 points respectively and was 3 shots clear of her nearest opponent, Wendy Beirne, who in turn was a further five shots clear of Amelia Drumm in third place. In fairness to Wendy, she may have won with her score on any other day but Kathyrn hit the high spots on the day that mattered and ran out a deserving winner as well.

A great evening of entertainment followed a superb dinner in Kendals Restaurant where the presentation of prizes took place also.

As a result of the Captain’s Prizes, the competition for both Golfer of the Year Trophies is beginning to take shape with Alan Hearne now taking a decisive lead by ten points over Kevin McCartan in the men’s section. In joint third place some three points adrift of Kevin is John Barrett.

The ladies division is led by Amelia Drumm with 46 points who has overtaken leader, Sally Gleeson, and she is now five points clear of Sally with Liz Beatty some points adrift in third place.

Results Captain’s (James J. Brett) Prize

Winner Michael Collins (13) 38 points

Second John Thompson (12) 37 points

Category I Alan Hearne (11) 35 points

Category II Pat Doyle (14) 35 points

Category III Bryan Higgins (24) 36 points

Past Captain Padraic O’Connor (20) 31 points

Front Nine Terry O’Reilly (15) 19 points

Back Nine Jim Cusack (14) 19 points

Par 3’s John Mulholland (19) 12 points

Par 5’s John Conroy (18) 12 points

Results Lady Captain (Margaret Twomey) Prize

Winner Kathyrn O’Connor (30) 44 points

Second Wendy Beirne (33) 41 points

Third Amelia Drumm (20) 36 points

Past Captain Brona Reidy (13) 34 points

Front Nine Jo Duggan (20) 20 points

Back Nine Ursula Mason (29) 21 points

Par 3’s Helen Hedigan (21) 10 points

Par 5’s Anne Daly (33) 12 points

Visitor Talma O’Sullivan (30) 33 points

The Ladies Challenge Cup team were in action against Wexford and the venue was Waterford Castle. The overall result was a great win for Mount Juliet by a margin of 3 matches won to 2 matches lost.

Mary Cotter started the winning ball rolling with a convincing victory by a margin of 6 and 5 against her opponent. Then Brenda O’Sullivan kept the winning mood going when she won on the 16th green against her opponent. In between these two victories, Anne Murphy lost her match also on the 16th green and Joan Pierce was having a great battle with her opponent and was one down on the 17th tee. But Wendy Beirne closed out her match with a long putt on the 16th green for a winning margin of 3 and 2. Joan eventually lost on the 17th green but at that stage the important victory was secure. The team now progress to the semi-final on the 25th July against the winners of Woodenbridge or Tara Glen with a neutral venue to be decided. The team is managed by Helen Comerford and is ably assisted by another member of the panel, Dorothy Kilroy, who with Anne Daly completes the full team panel. Hopefully the team can progress to the final for the first time in the history of the club.

The competition for both Golfer of the Year Trophies is hotting up with Alan Hearne just a point in front of Kevin McCartan in the men’s section. In joint third place some seven points adrift of the leader, is John Keane and John Barrett.

The ladies division is led by Sally Gleeson with 41 points and she is five points clear of Amelia Drumm with Liz Beatty some points adrift in third place. This weekend sees the Captains’ Prizes down for decision in both categories and with bonus points on offer in both competitions the Golfers of the Year could easily be decided. A bumper entry will compete for the most coveted prizes of the year with the presentations taking place in Kendals Restaurant after dinner on Saturday night.

Next Sunday sees the April Monthly Medal down for decision and the top 16 players will qualify for the McCalmont Cup Matchplay. This competition is unique to the club as the ladies and men are eligible to compete against each other in the match play rounds. There will also be points available for Golfer of the Year in both the ladies and men’s sections of the medal as well as the winner and runner-up of the match play.

Last weekend saw two more teams in action in the inter club competitions. The first team in action was the Barton Cup team and they were pitted against Kilkenny. Unfortunately for Mount Juliet, Kilkenny had a convincing victory winning by an overall margin of 4 ½ to ½. Kilkenny won all three matches at home and then proceeded to win another at Mount Juliet with the final match halved on the 18th. Two of the matches at Kilkenny went to the 17th with the other match finishing at the 16th.

The ladies team played Waterford Castle at Callan in the Challenge Cup and I am pleased to report that Mount Juliet had a convincing victory by winning the first three matches and the other two matches were called in. The first three winners were Anne Daly, Anne Murphy and Ruth Skehan with Wendy Beirne and Mary Cotter called in as the overall result could not be altered. Because of new conditions laid out by the I.L.G.U., all matches must now be played at neutral venues hence the match having to be played at Callan Golf Club. This was a nice start to the ladies campaign and hopefully they can go a lot further in this competition as they appear to have a strong team managed by Myra Phelan. In the next round they play Bunclody at Rathsallagh Golf Club.

The club took part in the annual outing for the Irish Association of Golf Club Secretary’s Trophy at Ballybunion last Monday. The team comprises of the Captain, Greenkeeper, Professional and Secretary and this year were represented by Jim Cusack, Robbie Anderson, Sean Cotter and Sean O’Neill. The team finished a creditable fourth out of a total of over twenty teams representing clubs from all over Ireland.