Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The final qualifying round of the Winter Series took place last week and the winning team’s score was well clear of the runners-up. The winning team was led by well known racing commentator, Des Scahill, and his team consisted of a combination of Laois, Kilkenny and Kildare personnel. The winners had an impressive round of 97 points with nines of 47 and 50 points respectively. They had three shots to spare over a team comprised of four members from Galway Golf Club. The winners qualified for the final day which will be decided over 18 holes this Wednesday and the format of the final, as always, will be stableford singles.

The first of the inter club teams in action for 2011 was the Fourball Trophy Team and their opponents were Athy Golf Club. The draw advantage was with Athy, with three matches at Athy and two matches at Mount Juliet. The overall match was won in thrilling style by Mount Juliet by a three matches to two aggregate. Heroes of the tie were Ken MacDonald and Ronan Murphy who won at Athy by a margin of 5 and 4. Both matches at Mount Juliet were won narrowly, but decisively, with John O’Connor and Bryan Higgins winning by 2 and 1. The final pairing of Dermot Divilly and Pat Hegarty won 2 up with Pat closing the door on the 18th by sinking a 25ft., putt to seal the victory.

The other pairings of John Mulholland / Frank Kelly and Billy Murphy / Padraic O’Connor lost narrowly at Athy. Hopefully this early vein of form will act as a catalyst for some of the remaining teams in competitions.

Results Winter Series

Winners

Des Scahill (9) (The Heritage)

James Farrell (8) (Kilkenny)

Lar Ryan (9) (Rathdowney)

Shay Quinn (17) (The Heritage) 97 points

Runners-Up

B. McGraughan (8) (Galway)

D. O’Kelly (6)

P. Shallow (6)

R. Ramberg (12)

(Galway) 94 points

A very busy weekend at Mount Juliet saw the Pro-Am take place on Friday last with the top 30 Irish professionals teaming up with 30 teams of three amateurs to play over 18 holes for valuable prizes. This was followed by the Lexus Race to Mount Juliet on Saturday and this was the last round of the order of merit for the members of the Irish P.G.A. with an impressive €50,000 up for grabs.

On Sunday the Member/Guest competition took place and like the professional tournament of Saturday both sections of this competition was won with an impressive score as well. The final round of Ladies Invitation days took place on Wednesday last also. Plenty of golf with the condition of the course coming in for loud praise from the professionals and amateurs alike.

A great week of golf was enjoyed by the Lady Captain, Sally Gleeson, who featured in the three competitions on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Sally led her team to victory on Wednesday in the 3 person rumble on Lady Invitation day. She then proceeded to be third in the pro-am on Friday and was second in the 18 holes singles on Sunday.

On Friday last the Pro-Am was won by a team from Lexus with 93 points led by professional, John Dignam. In second place with 90 points came the team led by Robert Giles who just beat the Mount Juliet team on a countback. The format of the team event was two scores to count on each hole and a very enjoyable day was had by all with the day finishing with a dinner in Kendals Restaurant with after dinner entertainment by Barry Murphy of Aprés Match fame.

On Sunday the member/guest 18 holes singles was played for and after an initial delay of nearly 2 hours, due to frost, all players got finished with some hot scoring deciding the outcome of the prizes. Best score of the day was returned by Brendan Meehan from Galway who had a remarkable 43 points. This score was made up of nines of 21 and 22 points respectively. Brendan was level par for seventeen holes and the only slip-up he made was at the 15th where he failed to score. He just edged out Liam Brett from Callan by a point and this result could have been reversed if Liam had scored on the 15th or the 18th where he drew blanks on both holes.

The ladies section was won by young Darcey Carr who returned an impressive score of 40 points off her handicap of 9. The good weather meant a great turnout of competitors for all competitions last week.

Results Ladies Invitation Day 3 Person Rumble
Wednesday 13th October

Winners

Sally Gleeson (14)

Judy Daly (14) Little Island G.C.

Anna Maloney (9) Clonmel G.C. 79 points

Second

Brona Reidy (13)

Maeve O’Reilly (14) Powerscourt G.C.

Edel Barron (12) Powerscourt G.C. 78 points

Third

Helen Scully (19)

Ann O’Shea (12) Powerscourt G.C.

Siobhan Fahey (14) Powerscourt G.C. 72 points

Results Member/Guest 18 holes Singles
Sunday 17th October

Men

Winner Brendan Meehan (9) Galway G.C. 43 points
Second Liam Brett (18) Callan G.C. 42 points
Third Bryan Phelan (15) 39 points

Ladies

Winner Darcey Carr (9) Milltown G.C. 40 points
Second Sally Gleeson (14) 37 points

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