The Captain’s Prize to the Ladies and the Lady Captain’s Prize to the men took centre stage last Sunday with a large turnout of players for the occasion. There were two “shotgun” starts to cope with the large numbers, one at 9am and the second one at 2pm. After the customary heavy rain early in the morning the day turned out to be fine and dry for all competitors. The scoring reflected in the good conditions enjoyed by all with some very exciting scores being returned in both competitions.

Best score of the day was returned by Brian Blanchfield who scored a magnificent 44 points in the morning round. This prize looked to be in safe hands but Bryan Higgins almost caught the clubhouse leader in the afternoon by scoring a great 43 points. It was testament to the standard of golf played that some scores of 38 points failed to get among the prizewinners.

In the ladies section the lady in form, Rebecca Nixon, had another dream round by returning 42 points. Fresh from winning the Lady Captain’s Prize some weeks ago she has reduced her handicap by six shots in the past few weeks and hopes to reduce it further by season’s end.

Last week the August Ladies Invitation Day took place and the competition was a 3 person team event with only 3 shots separating the top four teams. The winning team was led by the Lady Captain, Ruth Mulholland, who won by a shot from Aileen Magee’s team with Kathleen Gaffney’s team and Margaret Clandillon’s team in third and fourth place.

The member/Guest Fourball last Thursday was won by the Callan based pairing of John O’ Dwyer and Sean Brett and they had four points to spare over Peter O’ Flaherty and John O’ Neill.

Next Sunday is another Member/Guest competition day with a three person rumble scheduled for play.

Results Member/Guest Fourball Thursday 9th August

Winner

John O’ Dwyer (5)
Sean Brett (10)……………………….45 points

Second

Peter O’ Flaherty (12)
John O’ Neill (17)Waterford Castle…..41 points

Results August Ladies Invitation Day Wednesday 8th August

Winners

Ruth Mulholland(12)
Marian Booth(11) The Heritage G.C.
Noreen O’ Grady(13) The K Club…………..69 points.

Second

Aileen Magee(28)
Siobhan Kearney(22) Greenore G.C.
Mgt. McNulty(25)Milltown G.C……………68 points.

Third

Kathleen Gaffney(22)
Nano Brennan(6)Kilkenny G.C.
Nuala Crotty(12)Kilkenny G.C………………67 points.

Fourth

Mgt. Clandillon(26)
Eliz. McCalmont(32)
Gillian Kelly(24) Powerscourt G.C…………..66 points.

Results Lady Captain’s Prize to Men

Winner: Brian Blanchfield(12)…………………..44 points.
Second: Bryan Higgins(25)………………………43 points.
Third: Chris McHugh(16)………………………40 points.
Fourth: John Thompson(11)………………………38 points.
Best Gross: John O’Dwyer(5)………………………..31 points.
Past Capt: Tom Duggan(9)…………………………. 35points.
1st Nine: Alan Hoyne(7)……………………………21 points
2nd Nine: Owen Phelan(9)…………………………..21 points.

Captain’s Prize to the Ladies

Winner: Rebecca Nixon(15)………………………42 points.
Second: Ruth Mulholland(12)…………………….37 points.
Third: Brenda O’ Sullivan(29)…………………..36 points.
Best Gross: Bernie Madigan( )………………………
Past Capt. :Helen Comerford(22)…………………….30 points.
1st Nine: Sandra Carr(19)……………………………21 points.
2nd Nine: Lucia Ahern O’Flaherty(15)………………17 points.

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 Ladies Invitation Day for June took place last Wednesday and with the weatherman smiling kindly on all participants, a good day was had by all competitors. Scoring was very close with only a shot separating the three prizewinning partnerships. The format was a fourball betterball stableford with the winners returning a score of 38 points. Sandra Carr and her partner Pauline Ann Murray just got the better of the pairing of Lady Captain, Sally Gleeson, and her partner Jeanie Ronan who in turn beat Brenda O’Sullivan and her partner Pauline McEnery on a countback.

In the McCalmont Cup Matchplay, the competition has reached the quarter-final stage. Match pairings are as follows; Kathyrn O’Connor v Paul Barrett, Michael Brennan v Pat Price Jr., Helen Scully v John O’ Connor, Chris McHugh v Ruth Skehan with all four matches to be played by the 30th June.

Next Sunday sees the J. B. Carr Trophy down for decision with sections for both the ladies and men with Golfer of the Year points on offer to both sections. Preparations are in full flow for the Captains Prizes which will take place on Saturday 26th June. A limited number of tee times will be available on the Friday evening prior to the event for Juniors and to accommodate members who cannot play on the Saturday.

Results June Ladies Invitation Day

The next round in the popular Summer Series for teams of four competitors takes place on Wednesday 16th June and reservations can be made by phoning the golf shop or golf reservations at 056/7773071 or 7773064.

Mount Juliet have introduced a new Summer offer to players who wish to visit “a little bit of heaven“ for a day of recreation.

For €90 (Sunday-Thursday) and €100 (Friday and Saturday), interested golfers can avail of:

- a basket of range golf balls
- a round on the unique 18 hole putting course designed by Jeff Howes
- a snack on the 10th tee
- 18 holes of golf on the Jack Nicklaus designed championship golf course