Mount Juliet Golf Notes

With the continuing good weather favouring all golfing activities, last weekend saw a full programme enacted on Saturday and Sunday.  Norman Kilroy had his panel of charges for participation in the Duggan Cup out in preparation for the coming season.  There was a challenge match arranged between two teams of five pairs and this proved to be very informative with some pairings showing excellent early season form.  How very different the weather made, compared to 2011, when hardly any golf took place until late February.  Norman was pleased with his trials and has now laid a marker for other team managers to start work on their panels.

On the competition front, a Member/Guest Fourball Stableford took place on Sunday with a good entry including some new members featuring.  The scoring was excellent with all prize winning scores exceeding the 40 points target off 3/4 handicap allowance.  The winning pair of Denis Treacy and Dean Smithwick scored 45 points which included a bonus point on the 1st hole.  They had nines of 22 and 23 points and just edged out the Callan pairing of Sean Brett and John Dwyer.

Denis and Dean finished their last nine holes in style with Denis scoring four points for his birdie on the long 13th and Dean finishing with two fours on the 17th and 18th for a further six points.   The Callan pairing also came with a run on the last nine holes as well with a further 23 points which included four birdies, three from Sean Brett and one from John O’Dwyer.  They only just failed by a shot to overhaul the winners.  In third place came the father and son pairing of Tony and Michael Collins with a score of 42 points.

The popular Winter League for members resumes next Sunday with tee times from 10am onwards.

Results: Member/Guest Fourball Stableford Sunday 22nd January

Winners       Denis Treacy (10) & Dean Smithwick (12) Kilkenny             45 points

Second        Sean Brett (10) & John O’Dwyer (5) Callan                       44 points

Third            Michael Collins (11) &Tony Collins (14) Tramore                42 points

Last week there was a bag of mixed luck on the Inter Club front with two ladies teams in action. The Challenge Cup team were pitted against Kilkenny Golf Club at the neutral venue of Callan and they came out on top by a margin of 3½ matches to 1½ matches. The format of the competition was 5 singles and Mary Cotter, Ann Murphy and Wendy Beirne all won their respective matches with Dorothy Kilroy securing a half in her match. While on the course. Brenda O’Sullivan lost narrowly to her opponent.

The All Ireland Fourball team lost narrowly to the ladies of Carrick-on-Suir Golf Club but only on a countback. In this competition two pairs play at home and two pairs play away. While our two home pairs achieved victory, the away players lost and on a countback of holes won and lost, Mount Juliet came out on the wrong end. The pairings were Helen Scully/Ruth Skehan and Helen Hedigan/Mary Fulton, both of these pairings played at Mount Juliet. At Carrick-on-Suir, the pairings were Sally Gleeson/Jon Hegarty and Myra Phelan/Rita Garvey. It is interesting to note that Helen and Ruth were 5 down after nine holes but recovered for a great victory on the 18th.

Next Sunday sees the running of the J.B. Carr Trophy in memory of our former illustrious President Joe, and this is a Golfer of the Year competition with extra points available.

On Tuesday next the open Summer Series for teams of four players continues and reservations for tee times can be made by phoning 056 7773071.

The Monthly Summer Series for May was played last week and a team from Limerick were victorious on a breezy but warm day. Jed O’ Dwyer from The Hurler’s Cross pub led his team to a convincing victory with a very good score of 93 points. They had nines of 48 and 45 points respectively and ran out winners by 2 points from the Kilkenny based team of Liam Slevin, Niall O’Gorman, Victor Smyth and Ken Hovenden who in turn beat the Dublin team of Pamela Harrington, Susan Hegarty, Gilly Campbell and Philip Wardick on a countback.

The next competition in the series takes place on June 10^th with the format the same for all the series which is a four person team event. Each event is a “shotgun start” at 2pm which is proving to be very popular with the players.

Two more teams were in action on the Inter Club scene and unfortunate to relate that both teams suffered a defeat. In the first leg of the quarter final of the Ladies Junior Foursomes against Moate Golf Club, the Mount Juliet team acquitted themselves well by losing 2 matches to 1 with the second leg due to be played in two weeks time at Mount Juliet. Hopefully they can reverse the away result and march through to the semi-final.

In the qualifying round of the Pierce Purcell Shield held at Wexford Golf Club last Saturday the Mount Juliet Team, although acquitting themselves well, lost out when they failed to qualify for the regional playoff. Unfortunately the only men’s team left in competition now is the Duggan Cup team and they now play Callan in early June.

Pierce Purcell Team at Wexford last Saturday

Next Sunday sees the Jack Nicklaus Trophy down for decision and this is a Golfer of the Year competition and is regarded as one of the “majors” in the club to win.

All members involved are reminded that there is only a fortnight left to complete the first round of the McCalmont Cup matchplay.

Results Summer Series:

Winners:
Jed O’ Dwyer(11)
Tony Finan(17)
Mike O’ Brien(13)
Donal Hanley(18) Casteltroy G.C.……… 93 points.

Second:
Liam Slevin(12) Castelcomer G.C.
Victor Smyth(10)
Ken Hovenden(15)
Niall O’ Gorman(10) Kilkenny…………. 91 points.

Third:
Pamela Harrington(32) Boystown
Philip Wardick(10)
Susan Hegarty(32)
Gilly Campbell(14) Edmondstown………91 points.