Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The grand final of the Marble City Travel sponsored Winter Series was played last week and it resulted in a win for John Mahon from Carrick on Suir who just pipped Kevin Fennelly on a countback.  John had won the series in 2006 with a score of 33 points but he improved that score by just one shot this year to capture the prize again.  Curiously enough, it was also on a countback that he won in 2006 and this year he had the better back nine against the Gowran Park man.  Kevin will rue the fact that he failed to score on  the long 17^th, when going well, which eventually decided the outcome of the final.

On a pleasant Spring day, 26 golfers had endured the long winter to qualify for the playoffs and Mount Juliet was playing every bit of it’s 7300 yards off the blue tees.  Quite a few players had a good first nine holes but faltered on the homeward nine.  All qualifiers received their prizes at a dinner that evening and the winning three players also received very attractive prizes from the sponsor of the event this year, Marble City Travel.  In third place in the final came Martin Devlin from Rathdowney Golf Club.

After the conclusion of a successful series the Summer Series will kick off in late May and this will run until September with a 4 person team event each month and like last year will have a shotgun start at 2.30 each day.

The ladies invitation days had it’s first start of 2009 last Wednesday and there was a full turnout for the 3 person scramble.  The winning trio consisted of Brona Reidy with her playing partners, Pauline McEnery and Maeve O’Reilly, who had over three shots to spare on the Kilkenny trio of Margaret McCreery, Phyl Doyle and Paula Bradbury.

Last Sunday the Member/Guest 4 person team competition was played and although there was a small entry on a cold, windy day it did not upset the winners from scampering home with first prize with a very good score of 96 points.  The winning team consisted of members Pat Doyle and Kevin McCartan who with their guests Emmett McGregor and Noel McCartan had nines of 46 and 50 points respectively to win very impressively by 9 clear points.

In the Inter Club competitions Mount Juliet had the Irish Mixed team in action against Wexford and the Barton Cup team pitted against near neighbours, Kilkenny.  Sad to relate both teams met with defeat to the opposition, but only after a protracted struggle, as both teams lost their vital matches on the last green.  The Ladies Minor Cup team was also in action this weekend against Athy, and sad to relate the Kildare club came out the winners by a margin of 3 matches to 2.  At Mount Juliet, both home players won and all three matches were lost at Athy, the vital match losing on the 18^th hole.

Results:  Marble City Travel Winter Series:

Winner       John Mahon (10) Carrick on Suir G.C.            34 points

Second      Kevin Fennelly (8) Gowran Park G.C. 34 points

Third          Martin Devlin (12) Rathdowney G.C. 32 points

Ladies Invitation Day  3 Person Scramble:

Winners Brona Reidy (14)

Maeve O’Reilly (14)

Pauline McEnery (36)                      64.2 shots

Second Margaret McCreery (15)

Phyl Doyle (10)

Paula Bradbury (16)                        67.9 shots

Two more competitions for members and their guests were played last week with the first of the Lady Invitation Days played on Wednesday last and the Member/Guest Team Event played last Sunday.

The Ladies Invitation Day prizes were won by Norma Sullivan and her guest Michelle McCarthy with 36 points, who were clear winners from Jon Hegarty and her guest Phyl Doyle. They in turn just pipped Frances Doyle and her guest Anna Glavin. The format was a fourball betterball stableford and on a pleasant day scoring proved to be difficult.

On Sunday the team event was won by Pat Doyle’s Team which also included Kevin McCartan, Frank Kelly and T.J.McIntyre. They were 3 points clear of the team of Padraic O’Connor, Hugh O’Connor, Colm Darling and Neil Darling who scored 84 points.

The final round of the Waterford Crystal sponsored Winter Series was completed last week with the running of the 3 person rumble. This proved to be a cakewalk on the day for the Kilkenny based team of John Galvin, John Clarke and Bill West. On a very difficult day for scoring, with a strong south westerly wind blowing, the trio had a comfortable 8 points to spare from their nearest opponents. They scored a very good 16 points on the first six holes, followed by 27 points on the next six holes and rounded off a memorable round with 36 points on the last six holes. They now complete the line up of 31 players to take part in the Grand Final on Monday next when play will be off the Blue Championship Tees which measures 7264 yards. The format of the final will be an 18 holes singles stableford for all qualifiers, a daunting task for all competitors but a very enjoyable one. Presentation of prizes will be followed by dinner and as the cliché goes there will be “a prize for everyone in the audience” as well.

With the end of the Winter Series at hand the new Summer Series will be launched on Wednesday 16th April. This will be in the form of a 4 person team event and will be run each month from April through to September. The difference between both series is that the Summer Series will be a shotgun start each day at 2pm and the prizes will be presented after play each evening. There is no grand final similar to the winter series as each competition will stand alone. All competitions will be sponsored by well known firms and there are great prizes on offer each day for anyone lucky enough to win a prize. The entry fee is the same as the Winter Series and the entry is limited to 32 teams each day. Callaway Golf are the sponsors for the inaugural competition and the rules of the competition are that 2 scores will count on the first 17 holes with 3 scores to count on the 18th. The handicap limits are 22 for the men and 32 for the ladies. Tee times can be booked for any of the series by phoning golf reservations at 056/7773064 or 7773071.

On the Inter Club scene our neighbours Mountain View have defeated St. Helen’s Bay and so qualify to meet Mount Juliet in the second round of the Leinster Fourball Trophy. Two of the Ladies Teams were in action on Monday last, the Intermediate Cup Team of Margaret O’Rourke, Jon Hegarty, Pearl Brennan, Maire Shee and Helen Hedigan lost to Borris Ladies on a scoreline of 3 matches to 2 matches.
The Minor Cup Team of Rita Garvey, Gwen Walshe, Susan Mahony, Sarah Jane Costello and Catherine O’Halloran met a similar fate against the Castlecomer Ladies Team losing two of the matches at home on the 19th .
In Ladies Inter Club competitions, apart from the Miele Fourball, this now only leaves the Challenge Cup team who are due to meet Kilkenny next weekend and the Junior Foursomes team to represent the club in the coming week. The Barton Cup and the Irish Mixed Foursomes are in action this coming weekend also.