Mount Juliet Golf Notes

Last week saw the Ladies Invitation Day for July decided with a good turnout for this 18 holes singles stableford. The scoring was good with 38 points recorded by the top two players. Suzanne Sherry from Powerscourt just pipped Maire Shee from Clonmel by virtue of a better back nine holes. Suzanne scored 22 points for her last nine holes against Maire’s 20 points. In third place with 36 points came Maura Cooney also from Clonmel. The nines were won by Kathy Whyte and Pauline McEnery. The usual social evening followed and the next competition in the series will be held on 5th August. This will be a four person team event for the members and their guests.

Results

Winner Suzanne Sherry (23) Powerscourt G.C. 38 points

Second Maire Shee (18) Clonmel G.C. 38 points

Third Maura Cooney (27) Clonmel G.C. 36 points

1st Nine Kathy Whyte (22) Elm Park G.C. 19 points

2nd Nine Pauline McEnery (36) Mount Juliet 20 points

Par 3’s Cilla Healy (36) Djouce G.C. 10 points

Par 5’s Nora Deane (11) Edmonstown G.C. 11 points

As a result of the Captains Prizes, Lynda Hickey has further tightened her grip on the Golfer of the Year competition in the ladies section and she now holds an emphatic lead over Sally Gleeson with the rest of the competitors trailing in their wakes.

The men’s section is a more open affair with Andrew Nixon holding a slender lead over John Carr with David Kelly in third place and a number of other contenders in the wings. Next weekend sees the July medal down for decision and as this is another competition in the G.O.Y., who knows, there could be a change in the leader boards on Sunday night.

The last of the “majors” for the ladies was played for last week with the running of the Lady President’s(Mrs. Mary Jones) Prize. There was an excellent entry and the recent “Indian Summer” conditions prevailed on the day. The good weather had the desired effect on the scoring and Sarah Newman came out on top with a great score of 40 points. Sarah really powered home on the back nine holes scoring 22 points to add to her first nine holes score of 18 points. In second place, and not for the first time this year, came the Lady Captain, Brona Reidy, with a score of 39 points.

This was Sarah’s first “major” and she was thrilled to make the breakthrough. Only four points separated the first six players and all had tales of “what could have been” but did not happen. In the evening the ladies sat down to a dinner in Mount Juliet House and social get together.

Last week also saw the last of the Ladies Invitation days for 2007. The format was a 4 person team event and this time the Lady Captain, Brona, got it right by leading her team to a convincing victory. The team returned a score of 76 points to win by 2 points from their nearest rivals. The winning team consisted of Brona Reidy, Cumain Curran, Karen O’ Donoghue and Michelle O’ Dwyer. The runners up were led by the Captain’s wife Norma Sullivan and her other team members were Maire Shee, Mary Morris and Mairead Morris. The runners up just pipped the team which consisted of Betty Hendrick, Lynda Hickey, Margaret Logue and Ursula Mason on the last nine holes.

On Sunday last the final 18 holes Member/Guest Day for 2007 also took place. The format was an 18 holes singles stableford and there was another fine entry of competitors. The winner of the men’s section was Joe Hyland with a score of 38 points and he just got home from three players all of whom had 37 points. In the ladies Mary O’ Neill took the honours with a score of 37 points and her nearest rival was two shots adrift. Again the present run of fine weather prevailed for the day after a foggy start to the morning.

This week sees the commencement of the popular Waterford Crystal sponsored Winter Series and there will be one further round on the 25th October before “Summer Time” ends. The competition on the 25th will be a 3 Person Rumble and tee times can be booked by phoning 7773071 or 7773064

Results: Lady President’s Prize:

Winner: Sarah Newman(28) 40 points.
Second: Brona Reidy(16) 39 points.
Third: Malu Treacy(31) 38 points.
Fourth: Mary O’ Neill(34) 37 points.
1st Nine: Norma Sullivan(30) 18 points.
2nd Nine: Helen Comerford(20) 18 points.
Par 3’s: Margaret Twomey(36) 10 points.
Par 5’s: Rita Garvey(24) 13 points.

Member/Guest 18 Holes Singles Stableford.

Men

Winners – Joe Hyland (10) – 38 points
Second – Tom Mulcahy (14) – 37 points (last 9)
Third – Andrew Nixon (15) – 37 points (last 9)
Fourth – Tommy Butler (20) – 37 points
C.S.S. 37 points

Ladies

Winner – Mary O’Neill (34) – 37 points
Second – Terry Egan (16) – 35 points
C.S.S. 36 points

The last of the Ladies Invitation Days for this year was competed for last week and the format was an 18 holes singles stableford. The impressive winner was Mary Maher from New Ross who scored 38 points to win by 3 clear shots from Clare Fitzgerald. Lahinch , with local lady Sally Kavanagh third on 34 points. Mary had nines of 21 and 17 points and her only concession to the course was on the last hole where she failed to score.The final major for the Ladies is this Thursday when the Lady President’s(Mary Jones) Prize will be decided. There are still some vacancies on the timesheet for this competition and after the presentation of prizes a dinner will be held, followed by the usual social evening.

Last Sunday week the J. B. Carr Memorial Fourball was held. This competition is a semi-open event for members and guests. How fitting that late J.B.’s son, John, should emerge from the competitors to snatch the first prize with his wife Sandra. Sandra has had a remarkable year with her handicap tumbling down by over 10 shots in the past year. The winning pair had 45 points to beat Mark Taylor and Damien Walsh on a countback over the last nine holes. Both John and Sandra had 24 points on the last nine holes as against Mark and Damien’s 22 points. In third place on 44 points came the Kilkenny pairing of Denis Treacy and Alan O’ Rourke. The presentation of these prizes and the September medals will take place after play next Sunday at 6pm.

So with these competitions out of the way winter is setting in with the advent of the Winter Series next week. The first of these competitions will be a Four Person Team Event on Thursday week 17th October. This will be followed on Wednesday 25th October by a 3 Person Scramble. As usual there are 12 events over the next 6 months culminating in the Grand Final in late March. This very popular series which is run in association with Waterford Crystal has produced it’s fair amount of drama over the years and the competition for a place in the final will as keen as ever. There are a few places left for the first competion, which is open to ladies, gents or mixed teams, tee times can be booked by telephoning 056/7773071or 7773064 but hurry.
Results: Ladies Invitation Day

Winner: Mary Maher(19) New Ross……………..38 points
Second: Clare Fitzgerald(18) Lahinch……..……35 points
Third: Sally Kavanagh(27) Gowran Park………34 points

J. B. Carr Memorial Fourball Trophy:

Winners: John Carr(1)
Sandra Carr(23)………………………..45 points.

Second: Mark Taylor(10)
Damien Walsh(10)
(Mountain View)………………………45 points.

Third: Denis Treacy(8)
Alan O’ Rourke(3) Kilkenny…………..44 points.