Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The first round of the Summer League took place last Sunday and the convincing winner was P.J. Alyward with a score of 39 points. P.J. had nines of 20 and 19 points respectively and had a shot to spare over Jack Condron who returned 38 points. Jack had nines of 18 and 20 points respectively for his round and he in turn had a shot to spare from Tim Kavanagh.The next round of the Summer League is scheduled for Sunday June 3rd. In between there are the competitions for the May Monthly Medal next Sunday which will be followed by a Member/Guest Fourball Stableford on Sunday 20th and then the Jack Nicklaus Trophy is down for decision on Sunday 27th May. The May Medal competition and the Jack Nicklaus Trophy day carry Golfer of the Year points. This Wednesday sees the May Ladies Invitation Day with the Men’s Invitation Day the following Wednesday on 16th May.
The Irish Mixed Foursomes team suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Carlow in the 2nd round of the competition and unfortunately are now eliminated. All three matches at Carlow were lost together with the two home matches at Mount Juliet. The next men’s team in action are the Pierce Purcell team and they face a very difficult task in the regional qualifying round.
On Friday 25th May the annual charity team day to raise funds for the Special Olympics will take place and deserves support. Over the past few years it has proved to be a very popular day for competitors and has raised badly needed funds for a deserving cause.

Over the weekend two competitions were decided. On the inter club scene the Irish Mixed Foursomes team were pitted against Bunclody but unfortunately for Mount Juliet the Wexford side were comprehensive winners. The two matches at Mount Juliet were lost and once one victory was secured at Bunclody the remaining two matches were called in.

The monthly medal for April was played on Sunday last with the top sixteen players, regardless of gender, qualifying for the McCalmont Cup match play. In the medal competition some fine scoring was recorded in all categories. The lower category was won by Stephen Price with a fine score of 37 points and he had two shots to spare over his nearest rival in this category. The middle category was a closer affair with David Gleeson just getting home on a countback from Gerry Kinsella, both competitors scoring 38 points. The higher category was a triumph for David’s brother, Tim, who had an easy victory scoring another 38 points. In the ladies’ section Amelia Drumm triumphed with a great score of 40 points and she just secured her win by a shot from Ruth Skehan.

The draw for the match play took place immediately afterwards and there was a good divide of men and ladies in the draw with six ladies getting through to the first round as against ten men. Some interesting matches make up the first round which has to be completed by 31st May and the draw can be seen on the notice boards in the two locker rooms. The cut off score for the match play was 33 points with two scores of 32 points just getting the last two places.

After two rounds of the Golfer of the Year competition the leaders are:

The inter club draws for this year have been completed by the Leinster Branch of the G. U. I. and Mount Juliet have some stern tests in front of them if they are to make any progress. The Pierce Purcell Shield qualifying round will be held in Enniscorthy Golf Club on Saturday 22nd May with the top four qualifiers out of 10 teams going through to the match play stages on the following day. In the Barton Cup, the opponents are near neighbours Kilkenny, with the home advantage resting with Kilkenny. The Leinster Fourball team are also away to Waterford and the Irish Mixed Foursomes team are drawn against Bunclody with Mount Juliet getting the home advantage. All matches have to be played by early April so the managers of the various teams have a busy two months to prepare their respective panels of players.

The draws for the competitions in the Midland District of the ladies branch of the I.L.G.U. will be made this week and these draws will be available on their website soon.

Next week, weather permitting, sees the next round of the popular Winter Series and tee times can be booked by phoning 056/7773071 or 77773064.