Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The Ladies Intermediate Cup and Challenge Cup teams made their exits from the respective competitions last week and so there are only two teams left flying the flag over the next few weeks. The Duggan Cup team is in action this week against Castlecomer in the last competition for the men and the Miele Fourball team will be the only team left in the ladies competitions.

In the Challenge Cup the ladies were beaten by Rathsallagh at Carlow and it looked like the match could go all the way but the vital match was lost on the 18th. The Intermediate Cup team had to concede a walkover to their opponents as they unfortunately could not field a full team on the day.

The Summer Series for teams of four players for June took place last week as well and this resulted in a victory for a team from the Thurles area of Tipperary. The winners returned a fine score of 89 points and just edged out a team comprising of friends from Donegal, Tipperary and Wicklow on a countback over the last nine holes. The winners recorded nines of 41 and 48 points as against 45 and 44 points by the runners-up. The next competition in the series takes place on Wednesday 7th July for teams of four people, ladies or gents, with two scores to count on each hole and tee reservations can be made by phoning 056/7773071 or 7773064.

Next Saturday the Captains Prizes takes place and it appears that the weather will keep fine and sunny. There is a full timesheet with the first players commencing their round at 7.30am.

Results Summer Series Wednesday 16th June

Success on the Inter Club scene with three teams coming through out of four teams competing.
Two teams from the ladies were in action, the Intermediate Cup team and the Challenge Cup team and both of them were successful. The Intermediate Cup team beat the ladies from Borris G.C. at Enniscorthy by a margin of 4 matches to 1 and the Challenge Cup team beat Bunclody ladies by the same margin at Rathsallagh.

Congratulations to both teams and their managers, Rita Garvey and Myra Phelan. Team Members were Mary Fulton, Jan Hyland, Myra Phelan, Helen Hedigan and Amelia Drumm in the Intermediate Cup. The Challenge Cup team comprised of Ruth Skehan, Ann Daly, Mary Cotter, Wendy Beirne and Brenda O’ Sullivan
The men’s Duggan Cup team also made a winning start to their campaign by beating New Ross but only by the odd match of five.

All five matches were close affairs with two matches winning on the 18th and a third match losing on the 19th. At New Ross ,Pat Garvey and John Browne, after a bad start, got right back in contention in their match but eventually succumbed at the 17th. Tom Duggan and Jim Cusack were in firm command for the majority of their match but the opposition fought back from dormie 2 down and New Ross just edged home on the 19th. The only winners away were Tadgh Gleeson and Kevin McCartan who won on the 17th.

At Mount Juliet Bryan Phelan and Jeff Howes won on the 18th after a titanic struggle and Terry O’ Sullivan and Sean O’ Neill just got the better of their opponents on the 17th.

The last team in action were the Pierce Purcell team in the qualifying round of the competition at Enniscorthy but sad to relate they failed to make the match play stages of the competition.

Next Sunday sees the first of the “majors” down for decision with the running of the Jack Nicklaus Trophy which is an 18 holes singles stableford.This is also a Golfer of the Year competition and extra points are available to competitors. The following Wednesday the June Ladies Invitation Day takes place and this will be a fourball betterball competition for members and their guests. Timesheets for both competitions can be obtained by phoning golf reservations or by booking “on line“.

The ladies course at Mount Juliet has now been slope rated by the authorities and has received a rating of 133. This rating now completes the ratings for both the mens(green and white) and ladies courses for the future and will be good news for our visitors.

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.