Mount Juliet Golf Notes

Doom and gloom on the Inter Club front in the past week with the elimination of the Ladies Junior Foursomes team by Moate and the demise of the Duggan Cup men’s team at the hands of neighbours Callan.

The Ladies Junior Foursomes team just failed in the second leg of their match against Moate ladies again on a 2/1 result. Hopes were high after the first leg but unfortunately Moate just proved too strong and so the last representatives left standing in any competition is the Ladies Challenge Cup team who meet Killerig next week in the quarter final.

The Duggan Cup team lost by a 3/2 margin winning one match at Callan but unfortunately losing the vital match of two played at Mount Juliet on the 18^th green. So our hopes lie with Helen Comerford’s charges to bring back a trophy in 2008.

Last week saw the June Ladies Invitation Day take place and the format was a 3 person team event. Unfortunately the weather proved to be a spoilsport with incessant rain falling for most of the day. However as the day improved towards late evening an enjoyable event was concluded with some good scores returned despite the conditions. Mary Fulton’s Team just pipped Rebecca Nixon’s team on a countback with Laura Mahony’s team bringing up third place.

Results:

Winners

Mary Fulton (18)

Viv Johnston (10)

(Castle Golf Club)

Sylvia Henning (19)

(Warrenpoint Golf Club) 77 points

Second

Rebecca Nixon (18)

Margaret Geoghegan (18)

(Borris Golf Club)

Mary Morrissey (25)

(Borris Golf Club) 77 points

Third

Laura Mahony (18)

Helen Close (10)

(Luttrellstown Golf Club)

Ciara Smith (23)

(Malahide Golf Club) 73 points

The J. B. Carr Memorial Trophy was decided last Sunday and again some very good scores were recorded on a very warm sultry Summer’s day. The best score of the day was recorded by Ruth Mulholland with 39 points and she beat Pat Price Jr. on a countback to decide who is the holder of the trophy for 2008. Ruth had nines of 19 and 20 points against Pat’s 21 and 18 points. Great scoring indeed for both players in the difficult and warm conditions.

In the ladies section Rebecca Nixon was second with 38 points and Sheila Williams recorded 37 points for third place. Runner-up in the men’s section was Paul Barrett with 37 points and Gavin Pierce was third with 36 points. The nines were won by John Thompson and Michael Doyle.

Results:

Ladies:

Winner Ruth Mulholland (13) 39 points.

Second Rebecca Nixon (18) 38 points

Third Sheila Williams (28) 37 points

Men

Winner Pat Price Jr. (14) 39 points

Second Paul Barrett (10) 37 points

Third Gavin Pierce (4) 36 points

1^st Nine John Thompson (14) 20 points

2^nd Nine Michael Doyle (16) 19 points

After the results on the week-end the Golfer of the Year competitions have not altered significantly with Mary Quigley and Stephen Price still maintaining their overall leads in their respective sections.

The Captains’ Prizes take place on 27^th and 28^th of this month with the timesheet opening at noon next Monday.

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.

On the Inter Club scene two teams progressed to the next round of their respective competitions. The ladies won a hard fought victory over Rosslare in the second round of the Ladies Challenge Cup and now progress to the third round where they will meet the winners of Waterford or Tramore. Mary Quigley won the vital away match of three in Rosslare and this added to the two matches won at home by Anne Murphy and Mary Cotter to give the overall result reading of a 3/2 victory having lost the other two matches at Rosslare.

The second team to win were the Ladies Junior Foursomes Team who defeated The Curragh in rather unusual circumstances. After the first leg at The Curragh, Mount Juliet ladies stared defeat in the face with the Co. Kildare ladies holding the upper hand after winning all three matches comfortably. But they were dealt a cruel blow of fate when it was discovered some days later that one of their ladies, Maria Donnelly, had unknowingly played with a non-conforming driver and then in a very sporting gesture informed her team manager of the situation and she in turn conceded the particular match to Mount Juliet. So it meant that instead of being 3-0 down they were now 2 matches to 1 down but with an advantage of holes won as the concession meant that it was a 10/8 victory in that particular match. So low and behold in the second leg Mount Juliet won two matches and lost one to draw level overall and on a countback of holes up Mount Juliet just had the upper hand as a result of the conceded match. This indeed was a very sporting gesture on behalf of Maria and the ladies from The Curragh and one that has to be congratulated.

Junior Foursomes Team: Maire Shee, Susan Mahony, Rita Garvey – Lady Captain, Pearl Brennan, Margaret O’Rourke, Gwen Walshe

The only team to make their exit was the Irish Mixed Foursomes team who conceded a walkover to Woodenbridge in rather different circumstances and unfortunately was not in the same sporting manner as the match outlined against The Curragh.

The Golfer of the Year competitions are now beginning to take shape and with two rounds completed the early leaders are Stephen Price and Lynda Hickey in their respective divisions. Some fascinating matches will be played in the McCalmont Cup matchplay as a result of the draw after the qualifying round. Four ladies have made the matchplay proper and they are Mary Quigley who plays Bill Hutchinson, Lynda Hickey plays Ray O’Malley, Rita Garvey plays Richard Duggan and Noel Murphy plays Una O’Sullivan. Richie Guilfoyle will have to be at his best to give John Mulholland 18 shots in his first round. A new name will be added to the trophy this year as the 2007 winner Rebecca Nixon failed to make it through to the matchplay.

The next round of the Summer Series takes place on Tuesday 13th May with a shotgun start at 2pm. The presentation of prizes takes place immediately after play and the format is a four person team event over 18 holes with two scores to count on 17 holes and three scores on the last. The prizes for this round are sponsored by Heineken Ireland. The time sheet for this competition is filling up fast so intending players should ring 056 7773071 or 056 7773064 for a tee time.