Mount Juliet Golf Notes

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.

Last Sunday saw one of the “majors” decided with the running of the Jack Nicklaus Trophy for both the ladies and men.

With a very large entry, on the only really nice day that came this year, the scoring was very competitive amongst the members.  The winner and holder of the trophy for 2009/2010 is David Kelly who scored 38 points off 5 handicap.  David had nines of 18 and 20 points respectively scoring a 75 gross and dropped shots to par on the 2nd ,13th and 18th holes and added a double bogie on the 4th , but for all this he recorded birdies on the 1st and 12th for a three over par total.  He won from Hugh O’Connor who also recorded 38 points but with a inferior last nine holes.  Hugh had 21 points on the first nine holes but could only add 17 points for the back nine.  In third place came John Carr with 36 points, which represented a one over gross total of 73 shots.

The ladies section was won by Sally Gleeson with 36 points, playing off 13 handicap, she had nines of 20 and 16 points respectively and just got home from Lynda Hickey with 35 points and in third place came Sandra Carr with 32 points.  The Carr family rounded up the day on a high note as young Darcey Carr won the special junior prize with 38 points, great scoring off her handicap of 15.  This result means that Lynda Hickey holds a commanding lead in the Golfer of the Year (Ladies) competition with 32 points and she leads by 8 points from Sally Gleeson and Ruth Mulholland who are tied with 24 points.

The Golfer of the Year (Men) competition is a getting a slight “strung out” look also after the Nicklaus Trophy with John Carr in the lead with 24 points followed by John Brennan and Jim Cusack with 19 and 15 points respectively.

Results

Winner                       David Kelly (5)                    38 points

Second                      Hugh O’Connor (13)            38 points

Third                          John Carr (1)                      36 points

1st Nine                      Jim Cusack (14)                 22 points

2nd Nine                      Kevin McCartan (17)           20 points

Ladies:

Winner                       Sally Gleeson (13)              36 points

Second                      Lynda Hickey (26)              35 points

Third                          Sandra Carr (20)                 32 points

Special Junior Prize         Darcey Carr (15)                 38 points

On the Inter Club front only two teams survive in their respective competitions.  The only men’s team to continue are pitted against Castlecomer in the Leinster Fourball and the Ladies Intermediate Cup team play Enniscorthy in the third round of that competition.  This team had a fine win against Woodlands in the previous round winning by the odd match of five, Mary Fulton getting the required win.

The Jack Nicklaus Trophy was played for last weekend and some good scoring was recorded in blustery conditions. The overall winner on a countback was Sarah Newman who had 39 points and just pipped Lynda Hickey by virtue of a better back nine holes. The winner of the men’s section was Hugh O’ Connor with 38 points but in this unique competition the player with the best score of the day is deemed to be the holder of the trophy for the coming year.

Sarah had nines of 17 and 22 points respectively and just beat Lynda’s score of 39 points by virtue of the fact that she had 22 points against 21 points for Lynda on the last nine holes. Both players carded a blank during their rounds, whereas Sarah had hers on the 6th – Lynda had her blank on the 15th and this in turn possibly cost her the overall prize.

Young Hugh O’ Connor also scored a very commendable score, especially after the start he had, which yielded no score for the first two holes. But he more than made up for that by returning all his 38 points for the remaining 16 holes. Hugh just beat Pat Doyle who had 37 points and he in turn failed to score on the par three 14th. This should prove a boost to Pat as he recovers from heart surgery last year and is showing a great return to form. In third place came Sally Gleeson for the ladies and David Kelly for the men both of whom scored 36 points.

In the Golfer of the Year competitions Stephen Price leads from Pat Doyle by only 5 points now and Mary Quigley still maintains a lead on Lynda Hickey in the ladies section.

Congratulations go the Ladies Challenge Cup team who have now reached the quarter final stage by disposing of Tramore last Saturday in convincing fashion. The overall result was a 4/1 win, with victory secured in the three matches played at Mount Juliet and one match at Tramore. The winning quartet were Ursula Mason, Ann Daly, Ann Murphy and Mary Cotter with Mary Carr, making her debut at Inter Club level, losing narrowly at Tramore. Mount Juliet will now meet the winners of Carlow and Killerig in the quarter final. Best wishes also go the Ladies Junior Foursomes team who play the second leg match against Moate next Sunday and provided they win will also qualify for the quarter final in that competition also, they trail by two matches to one after the first leg.

Forthcoming fixtures include the Ladies Invitation Day for Wednesday June 4th and the J. B. Carr Trophy on Sunday 8th June

Results Jack Nicklaus Trophy:

Ladies: (C.S.S : 36)

Winner: Sarah Newman(25) …. 39 points
Second: Lynda Hickey(27) …… 39 points
Third: Sally Gleeson(12) ………. 36 points

Men: (C.S.S : 35)

Winner: Hugh O’ Connor(14) … 38 points
Second: Pat Doyle(14) …………. 37 points
Third: David Kelly(6) …………….. 36 points

First Nine: John Thompson(14) ….. 19 points
Second Nine: Michael Doyle(15) … 20 points

The Ladies Junior Foursomes lost their the second leg match against Moate 2/1.