Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The final qualifying round of the Winter Series took place last week and the winning team’s score was well clear of the runners-up. The winning team was led by well known racing commentator, Des Scahill, and his team consisted of a combination of Laois, Kilkenny and Kildare personnel. The winners had an impressive round of 97 points with nines of 47 and 50 points respectively. They had three shots to spare over a team comprised of four members from Galway Golf Club. The winners qualified for the final day which will be decided over 18 holes this Wednesday and the format of the final, as always, will be stableford singles.

The first of the inter club teams in action for 2011 was the Fourball Trophy Team and their opponents were Athy Golf Club. The draw advantage was with Athy, with three matches at Athy and two matches at Mount Juliet. The overall match was won in thrilling style by Mount Juliet by a three matches to two aggregate. Heroes of the tie were Ken MacDonald and Ronan Murphy who won at Athy by a margin of 5 and 4. Both matches at Mount Juliet were won narrowly, but decisively, with John O’Connor and Bryan Higgins winning by 2 and 1. The final pairing of Dermot Divilly and Pat Hegarty won 2 up with Pat closing the door on the 18th by sinking a 25ft., putt to seal the victory.

The other pairings of John Mulholland / Frank Kelly and Billy Murphy / Padraic O’Connor lost narrowly at Athy. Hopefully this early vein of form will act as a catalyst for some of the remaining teams in competitions.

Results Winter Series

Winners

Des Scahill (9) (The Heritage)

James Farrell (8) (Kilkenny)

Lar Ryan (9) (Rathdowney)

Shay Quinn (17) (The Heritage) 97 points

Runners-Up

B. McGraughan (8) (Galway)

D. O’Kelly (6)

P. Shallow (6)

R. Ramberg (12)

(Galway) 94 points

Last Sunday saw the new Captains for 2010 installed into office and the end of a great year for outgoing Captains Billy Murphy and Sheila MacDonald. Mount Juliet is indebted to Billy and Sheila for their charm, wit and general good humour throughout a difficult period for all golf clubs in these turbulent times. The new Captains “drive in” took place in the late afternoon after two nine hole golf competitions, which were played in the morning and early afternoon, were completed. A good turnout of members competed for some seasonal hampers and despite the recent very wet conditions, thanks to Aidan and his staff, the course was in excellent condition and but for a few heavy showers the day turned out to be a pleasant one.

The new Captain, Jim Cusack, featured in the prizes on offer and the new Lady Captain, Sally Gleeson, also featured rather indirectly as well. There was some excellent scoring for the 2 person rumble with one score to count on the first six holes and 2 scores to count on the last 3 holes. There was a four way tie on the back nine for prizes but the front nine was very much a “cut and dry affair” and whether the back nine played more difficult than the first nine is a matter of conjecture. Sufficient to say that the competition will be remembered by Bryan Phelan who scored a “hole in one” on the 3rd hole. It was still not sufficient to overtake the winners James J. Brett and his cousin James E., who powered their way around by returning a very solid 30 points. The competition for the back nine was won by Captain Jim Cusack and his partner, Michael Coughlan, with 24 points on a countback from Paul Carty and Gerry Magee. All competitors enjoyed a day interspersed with seasonal fare at the 10th tee provided by resident chef Chris and his helpers.

The new vice Captains were announced at the presentation of prizes and they are James J. Brett and Margaret Twomey who are a very popular choice with all the members.

The “Drive In” took place with the usual pomp, ceremony and general banter in front of a captive audience at the Hunters Yard with the surroundings bedecked with holly and decorations.

Next Thursday sees the last round of the Winter Series take place for 2009 and intending competitors can reserve their  tee time by phoning 056 7773064 or 056 7773071.

Results “Drive In” Competitions

As the Autumn comes toward a close it heralds the gradual end to competitions within the club scene and unfortunately heralds the arrival of Winter competitions over the coming months. One of the last member’s competitions took place last Sunday with the Challenge Trophy up for grabs. This is the competition where the Captain’s Team plays against the Lady Captain’s Team for the honour of holding the trophy for the coming year. The format was a fourball betterball stable ford with the 10 best scores to count for outright success. The end result was that Lady Captain‘s (Sheila MacDonald) team defeated the Captain‘s (Billy Murphy) team by 10 shots, 333 points to 323 points. The defeated Captain had to present the trophy to the winning Lady Captain in the clubhouse that evening. The lucky prize winners on the day received golf equipment for their troubles and three pairs ended up with 38 points each. The best pair were Kevin McCartan and Frank Kelly winning on the last nine holes by virtue of scoring 21 points on their homeward journey.

On Saturday night a very enjoyable social evening and dinner was held for members who had played on teams during the year and the Golfer of the Year trophies were presented to Alan Hoyne and Lynda Hickey for their achievements. Alan Hoyne scooped two awards as he won the McCalmont Matchplay trophy as well.

Next Thursday sees the last major competition for the lady members with the Lady President’s (Mrs. Mary Jones) Prize down for decision and with the continuing good weather still holding there is sure to be a large turnout of members.

Captain Billy Murphy presents the Challenge Trophy to Lady Captain Sheila MacDonald

Results Challenge Trophy: