Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The last round of the 2008/2009 Marble City Travel sponsored Winter Series was played last week and the series ended as it began in October with a 4 person team event.  The big difference in the outcome was that the winning team from Faithlegg Golf Club returned one of the best scores ever in the series by scoring 99 points.  They won by the wide margin of 7 shots from their nearest rivals from Kilkenny.  With two scores to count on the first seventeen holes and three on the last, they had nines of 48 and 51 points respectively to easily qualify for the Grand Final which will be played this week and will be reported on in next week’s edition.

A final total of 26 players have now reached this final and the format of the final will be an 18 holes singles stableford off the blue championship tees which measure almost 7300 yards in length.  This will surely test the faint hearted and the winner will have earned the title.

Winter Series Tuesday 24^th March

Winners

Tony Flynn (11) Faithlegg G.C.

Jim Power (16)

Pat Flynn (16)

John Wyse (16) 99 points

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Second Pat Butler (8) Kilkenny G. C.

Jim White (6)

Neil Loy (10)

Ollie Hickey (15) 92 points.(last 9)

Last Sunday saw the first round of the Golfer of the Year competition with the running of the March monthly medal.  As usual, there were four categories and pride of place with the best score of the day, 42 points, was returned by former Captain, Anthony Gore-Grimes, who had nines of 20 and 22 points respectively. This may have been improved upon as he failed to score on the 15^th which was the only blip on an otherwise impressive looking scorecard.

The other categories were won by Colm Hyland and Frank Furey with Dorothy Doyle proving to be the best of the ladies.  So after round 1 of the G.O.Y., Anthony and Dorothy lead the way.

March Monthly Medal:

Category 1       Colm Hyland (12)               33 points

Category 2       Frank Furey (14)                35 points

Category 3       Anthony Gore-Grimes (21) 42 points

Ladies              Dorothy Doyle (17)             35 points

Next weekend is a busy one for the club with the first of the Member/Guest competitions down for decision and there are three inter club matches being played as well.  The first team in action is the Irish Mixed Foursomes team who are pitted against Wexford on Saturday, followed by the Barton Cup team who are playing our neighbours Kilkenny on Sunday.  Finally, on Monday the Ladies Minor Cup team are playing Athy in the first round of that particular competition.  Best of luck is wished upon all three teams against some formidable opposition.

Miele All Ireland Ladies Fourball / National Putting Championships & the new Winter Series for 2008/2009

Last weekend saw the Miele All Ireland Ladies Fourball decided at Mount Juliet with the ladies from Galway Golf Club playing the Northern winners Cushendall from Co. Antrim in one semi-final and local hopes Faithlegg taking on Donabate in the other semi-final.

Both semi-finals were played on Saturday in ideal conditions which is more than can be said for the final.  Both Galway and Faithlegg had easy victories over their opponents and they went head to head in the final which was played on Sunday.  In the final, victory went to the ladies from Faithlegg who won rather easily in the end in atrocious conditions with continuous rain falling throughout the whole evening.

Galway ladies had Kilkenny connections as their Lady President Mary Hanlon, originally hails from Kieran Street and she was one of the McAdams family whose father worked in the Monster House many years ago.

The Winter Series 2008/2009 was launched last week and the dates and formats between now and Christmas are as follows;

8th October 4 Person Team Event
23rd October Fourball Betterball Stableford
6th November 3 Person Rumble
20th November 3 Person Champagne Scramble
4th December 3 Person Team Event
17th December 3 Person Rumble

Mount Juliet is delighted to welcome a new sponsor for the event with Marble City Travel, James Street, Kilkenny coming on board for their first venture into the world of golf  sponsorship.  The time sheet for all events is open at present and tee reservations can be made by phoning 056 7773064 or 7773071.

Next Sunday sees the September Monthly Medal down for decision and this is the last competition for the Golfer of the Year in both the ladies and men’s section.

Both leaders, Mary Quigley and Stephen Price, seem to have a strong grip on both trophies at this stage and their nearest opponents, husband and wife pairing of Rebecca and Andrew Nixon, will do well to wrest the trophies from the leaders grasps.

Last Saturday the National Putting Championship was held on the 18 hole Championship Putting Green. The winner after a “sudden death” playoff was local golfer Niall O’ Sullivan from Callan Golf Club who beat Niall Duggan, representing Abbott Golf Society on a tie hole after both players finished locked together after 27 holes.  In third place was the former winner Pat Foley from Borris Golf Club.

Winner Niall O’Sullivan, (Callan Golf Club)
Second Niall Duggan, (Abbott Golf Society)
Third Pat Foley, (Borris Golf Club)

Niall Duggan-second, Lady Captain Rita Garvey, Niall O'Sullivan-winner, Pat Foley-third