Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The Summer Series played last week proved to be a triumph for four golfers from Newbridge Golf Club as they swept to victory in a very decisive manner returning a fine score of 97 points.  They had seven points to spare from their nearest rival competitors who all hailed from Tipperary.  The Newbridge team were consistent throughout their round with nines of 48 and 49 points respectively.  The next and final round in the series will take place on Wednesday 21st September and already the timesheet for this is filling up at this point, almost four weeks out.

Last Sunday, a Member/Guest competition took place and this was won in emphatic style by Pat Doyle and his guests from the Ring of Kerry Golf Club who obviously thought it unnecessary to cheer on their football team in Croke Park.  This competition proved to be a landmark for Pat as well as he scored three birdies on three of the four par 3’s.  Pat registered birdies on the 3rd, 6th and 11th holes as part of his team’s winning score of 86 points.  The format of the competition was a three person rumble and Pat’s team scored 20 points, 32 points and 34 points for each six holes. With a fine entry of 30 teams in the competition Pat’s team had 3 points to spare from his nearest rival teams led by Sean O‘Neill and Jim Cusack.

The final stages of the McCalmont Cup are drawing to a conclusion with Amelia Drumm waiting to play the winners of the match between Ruth Mulholland and Jeff Howes.  This competition could yet end up as an all ladies affair for the first time in its history.  Amelia is having such a good year as she is almost assured of the Golfer of the Year title as well as possible victory in the cup.  The men’s competition in the Golfer of the Year is still up for grabs but it looks now like a straight fight between Alan Hearne and John Keane with Alan holding the upper hand with only two ranking competitions to go.

The President’s (Des Fitzgerald) Prize takes place on Saturday 10th September with a shot-gun start at 12 noon and the timesheet for this “major” opens on Monday 29th August.  Presentation of prizes will take place after play and this will be followed by dinner in Kendals Restaurant.

Last week there was a bag of mixed luck on the Inter Club front with two ladies teams in action. The Challenge Cup team were pitted against Kilkenny Golf Club at the neutral venue of Callan and they came out on top by a margin of 3½ matches to 1½ matches. The format of the competition was 5 singles and Mary Cotter, Ann Murphy and Wendy Beirne all won their respective matches with Dorothy Kilroy securing a half in her match. While on the course. Brenda O’Sullivan lost narrowly to her opponent.

The All Ireland Fourball team lost narrowly to the ladies of Carrick-on-Suir Golf Club but only on a countback. In this competition two pairs play at home and two pairs play away. While our two home pairs achieved victory, the away players lost and on a countback of holes won and lost, Mount Juliet came out on the wrong end. The pairings were Helen Scully/Ruth Skehan and Helen Hedigan/Mary Fulton, both of these pairings played at Mount Juliet. At Carrick-on-Suir, the pairings were Sally Gleeson/Jon Hegarty and Myra Phelan/Rita Garvey. It is interesting to note that Helen and Ruth were 5 down after nine holes but recovered for a great victory on the 18th.

Next Sunday sees the running of the J.B. Carr Trophy in memory of our former illustrious President Joe, and this is a Golfer of the Year competition with extra points available.

On Tuesday next the open Summer Series for teams of four players continues and reservations for tee times can be made by phoning 056 7773071.

On Friday last the fundraiser for the Special Olympics was held which included golf, dinner in Kendals Brasserie Restaurant and the evening concluded with an auction of sporting memorabilia and other items.

The auction was conducted by former rugby international, Fergus Slattery, and although it did not take too long to auction all items, it greatly contributed to a very deserving cause in helping some of our athletes to partake in the Special Olympics. Full credit to the chief organiser of the event, Norman Kilroy, a former captain of the club and a person who gives his time every year to run the events of the day. Over €30,000 was raised on the day and this will be added to the overall fund to cover the enormous costs of sending the Irish team to the games.

Last Sunday saw the May competition for Member/Guest decided and the format was a fourball stableford. The winning score of 42 points was returned by Pat Price Sr., and his guest David Kelly. They were two points clear of their nearest rivals Michael Williams and Aidan McDonald. Because of the inclement weather and the recovery rate of some players who played on Friday, the entry for this competition was smaller than usual.

Next Thursday sees the next round of the Summer Series which an open competition for teams of four players. Tee times can be obtained for this competition by phoning golf reservations or the golf shop.

On Sunday next the first of the “majors” is down for decision with the running of the Jack Nicklaus Trophy. This singles competition will count for points in the Golfer of the Year for men and ladies.

On the Inter Club scene, the Duggan Cup team are due to meet our neighbours Gowran Park on Friday next.

May Member & Guest Fourball Sunday 22nd May

Winners

Pat Price Snr. (14)

David Kelly (7) (Malahide) 42 points

Second

Michael Williams (20)

Aidan McDonald (6) (Kilkenny) 40 points