Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The Captains Prizes were the main focus of attention last weekend and after the present inclement weather fingers were crossed for favourable conditions. Unfortunately play on the Friday evening was abandoned due to incessant rain from early morning. It meant that players who intended to play on Friday had to be fitted in on the timesheet for Saturday which was a “shotgun” start at 9am and 2pm. Glad to report that all players were accommodated which made a line-up of almost 180 people partaking on the day and to everybody’s relief, the rain stayed away all day which added to a great day’s enjoyment for all concerned with the day.

Best score on the day was in the men’s section with 39 points winning the prestigious prize and the ladie’s section was won with 34 points. The conditions on the day, after all the wet weather, made the course play very long with no run on the ball. The course, as usual, was in pristine condition and as is obvious from the scoring it suited the longer hitters on the day. Gavin Pierce returned the winning score of 39 points to clinch Alan Hoyne’s Prize on a countback from Neil Magee. Gavin had a gross 74 which is a total of two over par for the white course. On his first nine holes Gavin dropped three shots to par on the 1st, 6th and 9th holes and birdied the long 5th to be out in 38 shots which was converted to 18 points stableford. On his back nine holes he had a birdie on the 12th but dropped a shot on the 15th and scored pars the rest of the back nine holes which counted for a further 21 points. Neil had nines of 19 points and 20 points respectively and but for a double bogie, six, on the final hole would have claimed the first prize.

In the ladies section Rebecca Nixon secured victory, much to her surprise, with 34 points. Rebecca failed to score points at the 1st, 4th, 10th and 15th but scored steadily for the remaining holes to clinch victory and win Ruth Mulholland’s lovely prize. Geraldine Higgins had a winning score of 35 points but because she had not the required number of cards returned beforehand she was awarded the second prize. In third place came Nora Deane on 32 points. A very enjoyable social day was rounded off by a dinner for over 200 people in the Hunter’s Yard in a specially erected marquee for the occasion.

Results Captains’ (Alan Hoyne & Ruth Mulholland) Saturday 7th July

Men’s Section:

Winner: … Gavin Pierce(5)…………………39 points.
Second…. Neil Magee(10)…………………39 points.
Cat. 1..……Owen Phelan(10)……………….37 points.
Cat 2.……..Bill Fanning(15)………………..35 points.
Cat 3.……..Ronan Murphy(25)……………..35 points.
Gross……..Gary Walsh(Scr)..………………32 points.
Past Capt….Billy Murphy((21).……………34 points.
1st Nine……Noel O’ Halloran(14)..…………19 points.
2nd Nine……John E. Hegarty(12).…………..19 points.
Par 3’s……..Finbar O’ Neill(15).……………10 points.
Par 5’s……..Shay Quinn(14) ….…………….13 points.
Visitors…….Ben Halpenny(17).…………….35 points.

Ladies Section:

Winner:…….Rebecca Nixon(18)…………….34 points.
Second:…….Geraldine Higgins(36)………….35 points.
Third:………Nora Deane(13)………………..32 points.
Gross:………Fiona Corbett(6)………………..24 points.
Past Capt…..Brona Reidy(13).……………….31 points.
1st Nine…….Ann Daly(34).…………………..18 points.
2nd Nine……..Paula Moore(35)……………….19 points.
Par 5’s……….Helen Comerford(22)…………..11 points.
Par 3’s..……..Joan McHugh(36)……………….12 points.

Fixtures Diary:

This Wednesday is a Member/Guest day with a three person rumble scheduled to take place and next Sunday the July Monthly Medal which carries Golfer of the Year points will be played.

Last Sunday the Jack Nicklaus Trophy, one of the principal competitions of the golfing year, was competed for over 18 holes singles stableford. The holder of the trophy is decided by the best score returned in both the ladie’s and men’s competition. This honour fell to Fiona Corbett who playing off 7 handicap returned an excellent 39 points which was only four shots over par for the course. She beat the men’s section winner, Finbar O’Neill who scored a fine 38 points off the white tees.

On a lovely summer-like day with a very large entry for the coveted trophy scoring was as hot as the day. Apart from Finbar who readily won the men’s section there was good scoring from Brian Blanchfield and Chris McHugh who filled the runners-up and third spots with 37 points each in this section. Finbar had nines of 18 and 20 points respectively in his very steady round and with a C.S.S. of 34 points for the day has reduced his handicap by a couple of shots.

Fiona, who is new member to the club and is sister of Amelia Drumm, certainly made her mark with a wonderful round of 77 gross for nines of 19 and 20 points respectively. Fiona had two shots to spare from her nearest rival, Brenda O’Sullivan who returned 37 points and would have won her section handsomely but for Fiona’s intervention. As in the men’s section C.S.S for the day in the ladie’s section was also 34 points. The presentation of prizes for this competition and for the monthly medals of March, April and May will take place on June 24th.

History was made last week with the first ever underage team to represent Mount Juliet taking part in the under 15 age Boys Leinster championships. This is a round robin qualifying event with teams representing Kilkenny, Gowran Park, Carlow and Coolattin in the local regional qualifying group. In the first round Mount Juliet had a comprehensive victory over near neighbours Kilkenny and now will play the remaining clubs in their group and hopefully go forward to the next winners group section. The panel consisted of Luke Donnelly, John Hession, Jack Cullen, Brian Staunton, Ned Kirwan, Tim Howes and Conor Mulholland and is managed by Jeff Howes and congratulations is deserved to the whole team.
Round 2 of the Summer League resumes this Sunday with tee times available from 08.30 to 11.00hrs.

Results Jack Nicklaus Trophy Sunday 27th May

Men

Winner; Finbar O’ Neill(16)……………………38 points.
Second: Brian Blanchfield(13)…………………37 points.
Third: Chris McHugh(16).……………………..37 points.
1st Nine. Pat Doyle(14)………………………….19 points.
2nd Nine. Ml. Collins(11)………………………..20 points.

Ladies

Winner: Fiona Corbett(7)….……………………..39 points.
Second; Brenda O’ Sullivan(31)…………………37 points.
Third; Brona Reidy(13)…………………………….32 points.
1st Nine; Helen Hedigan(20)…………………….17 points.
2nd Nine; Bernie Madigan(12)……………………19 points.

The final lap of the “Lexus Race to Mount Juliet” was decided last Sunday when Barrie Trainor clinched the title over 36 holes in Mount Juliet. Barrie, who was a former Senior Cup player with his home club, Warrenpoint, had rounds of 68 and 70 for a total of 6 under par to win by four strokes from his playing partner on Sunday, Brendan McGovern and by winning the final he just pipped last year’s winner, David Higgins, for the Order of Merit title as well. Barrie collected €4,000 for winning in Mount Juliet and he collected a further €10,000 for the Order of Merit title.

He beat a select field of his professional compatriots to end his year on top of the pile. This is his sixth year as a professional, having won the Irish Amateur Championship and the PGA Ulster Championship, on the way to the biggest win of his career so far. Both Trainor and McGovern led the field on Saturday after they both had recorded rounds of four under par, 68’s, over the blue championship course. Trainor started his round with eight straight pars on Sunday before he birdied the par four 9th. He dropped two shots on the 11th and 12th before he finished his round with three further birdies on the 13th, 14th and 17th holes for a two under round of 70 shots. In the meantime, McGovern, who lost a ball on the 4th and try as he might could not catch Trainor to finish his round with a 74 which was two over par and this was enough to earn him second place on Sunday. Jimmy Bolger, Kilkenny, finished joint third with David Higgins on Sunday for a good week-end.

The Pro-Am on Friday was contested by 33 teams of four comprising of a professional and three amateur golfers. This event was won by a team led by Old Conna professional, Donal Gleeson, who beat the Jimmy Bolger led team on a countback. Both teams having scored 95 points and were 3 shots clear of the team led by Greenore professional, Robert Giles. The evening concluded with a dinner and presentation of prizes in Kendals Restaurant with some lively and funny entertainment from Barry Murphy of Apres Match fame.

On the amateur scene last week there were two competitions played and the first one was the opening round of the popular Winter Series. This proved to be benefit for some members of Thurles Golf Club as they won the first two prizes. The winners had a great score of 99 points and they had 5 shots to spare from their fellow club members.

The last of the Ladies Invitation Days was held on Wednesday and the format was a Three Person Rumble. This proved to be a successful outing for the team led by Brona Reidy who had a convincing win with 71 points. Brona’s partners were Edel Banim (11) from Woodbrook G.C. and Maeve O’Reilly (12) from Powerscourt G.C.

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Results Winter Series 4 Person Team Event

Winners

Pat Stakelum (18) Thurles G.C.

Pat McEvoy (13)

John Nevin (15)

John McGrath (15) 99points

Second

Jack O’Keeffe (15) Thurles G.C.

V. O’Keeffe (17)

Eamon O’Kennedy (12)

David O’Kennedy (13) 94 points

Results Pro-Am Friday 14th October

Winners

Donal Gleeson, Old Conna

Hugh O’Connor (6)

Helen Hedigan (20)

Geraldine Forde (32) 95 points

Second

Jimmy Bolger, Kilkenny

Bill Connolly (16)

P.J. Butler (15)

Billy Fanning (14) 95 points

Third

Robert Giles, Greenore

Alan Hoyne (7)

Mark Adamson (10)

Gary Stewart (6) 92 points