Mount Juliet Golf Notes

Last Sunday saw the May Monthly Medal decided with fine, cloudy, weather and a tricky wind for players to contend with. However the scoring was good with Kevin McCartan returning the best score of the day in the men’s section and Sally Gleeson almost matching his score in the ladies category.

Kevin had nines of 21 and 18 points respectively to beat John Barrett by a shot in category 2. The other categories were won by Hugh O’Connor and Frank Kelly, both players scoring 36 points each to edge home from the opposition. This is Hugh’s second medal this year and he is obviously retaining his early season form. Sally just got the better of Amelia Drumm in the ladies section and consequently both players are leading contenders in the Golfer of the Year competition. In the G.O.Y competition for the men, the leader now is Kevin McCartan as a result of his achievement over last weekend, and he is 3 points clear of his nearest rival, Alan Hearne, who in turn is 2 points clear of Stephen Price and John Barrett.

In the ladies section, Amelia Drumm and Liz Beatty top the table on 20 points and they in turn are 3 points clear of Ruth Skehan and Sally Gleeson. The C.S.S. for Sunday was 36 points for the men and 37 points for the ladies.

Last Wednesday the Ladies Invitation Day for May took centre stage and the format was a 4 person scramble. Myra Phelan led her team to success with 84 points and they just pipped the team led by Lady Captain, Margaret Twomey, with Elizabeth McCalmont’s team in third place.

On the Inter Club front, the Pierce Purcell foursomes team made their exit in the qualifying round at Borris G.C. last week. On a day of disappointment, the pairing of Kevin McCartan and Alan Hearne returned the best score of the day with a score of 81 gross. Unfortunately the rest of the pairings failed to match this fine score and as a consequence failed to make the knockout stages of the competition. The full team comprised of Alan Hearne/Kevin McCartan, Pat Doyle/Tim Kavanagh, John Barrett/Tadhg Gleeson, Terry Sullivan/Frank Kelly and Terry O’Reilly/John Browne.

May Monthly Medal

Ladies Invitation Day Wednesday 11th May – 4 Person Scramble

The May Monthly Medal was decided last Sunday and after some early fog, the day turned out to be a pleasant and sunny one. The best score of the day was returned by Michael Brennan with 38 points and he duly won category 2 for his troubles. Michael had nines of 18 and 20 points, having failed to score on the second but he more than made up for it on the last sixteen holes by adding 36 points to the two points he scored on the first hole.

In category 1, Stephen Price was the narrow winner with 36 points from John Keane and again, like Michael, Stephen had a slow start by dropping seven shots on the first nine holes and only scoring 16 points. But again, like Michael Brennan, made up for his early lapses by scoring 20 points on the back nine. Category 3 was won by Tony Hoyne, on a countback, with 31 points whilst Rebecca Nixon won the Ladies section with a fine score of 37 points. Rebecca showed a fine return to form by scorching home on the last nine holes with 22 points and just finished a point clear of Mary Quigley. The C.S.S. for both the men and the ladies was 35 points.

In the Golfer of the Year competitions, Stephen Price is the clear leader in the men’s section whilst Mary Quigley leads the ladies section convincingly.

Last Wednesday saw a large turnout for the May Ladies Invitation Day which was an 18 holes singles stableford. Helen Comerford spreadeagled the field with a winning score of 39 points and she was four points clear of her nearest pursuers, Mary Power, Powerscourt and Jeannie Ronan, Clonmel. Deirdre Farrell, Castleknock, was in fourth place and the “nines” were won by Ann Marie Wilsden, Gowran Park, and Winifred O’ Connor, Glencullen.

On the Inter Club scene the Duggan Cup team will play neighbours Callan in the next round with the Pierce Purcell team playing at Wexford next weekend in the regional qualifying round. The Ladies Junior Foursomes team have reached the quarter final and will play Moate next weekend in the first leg. Finally, the Ladies All Ireland Miele Fourball team played Borris in the first round of that competition and having lost both matches at Borris they won the first match at Mount Juliet and the second pairing were called in “all square” after the 15^th hole. At that stage, it was not possible for Mount Juliet to win as overall they were down a total of four holes in the previous three matches and as a consequence with only three holes to play in the last match the result was already decided.

Back row: Brona Reidy, Mary Quigley, Myra Phelan – Team Manager.
Front row: Helen Hedigan and Sally Gleeson

Results May Monthly Medal:

Category 1. Stephen Price(10)……………36 points.

Category 2. Michael Brennan(13)………..38 points.

Category 3. Tony Hoyne(20)………………31 points.

Ladies: Rebecca Nixon(19)…………..37 points.

Last Wednesday saw the Ladies Invitation Day for May decided over 18 holes singles stableford. On a blustery day, with intermittent showers, the scoring was very good. The winner with a great score of 40 points was Rebecca Nixon and she was two shots clear of her nearest rival Ruth Mulholland who returned a fine score of 38 points off 13 handicap. Rebecca had nines of 18 and 22 points respectively and her only mistake was on the 4th where she scored no points. Ruth just held on to second place by a shot from Sally Gleeson.

The May Monthly Medal was played last Sunday and there were the usual four categories with points being allocated for the Golfer of the Year Competitions as well.
On a day that started off with dull, fine weather the day steadily went downhill with consistent rain for most of the morning and early afternoon. With the tees being well back and pin placings in tight positions scoring proved to be quite difficult. However the three category winners were Conor Spain, Dan Kavanagh and Kieran O’ Malley with Rebecca Nixon capping a fine week by easily winning the Ladies Section. In the Golfer of the Year Competitions Brendan Clarke and Joe Hyland are now tied on 18 points apiece with Dan Kavanagh bringing up third place with 15 points. The Ladies Section has a runaway leader at present with Rebecca Nixon on 24 points which is seven points clear of her nearest pursuers Liz Beatty and Brona Reidy.
On the Inter Club scene the Pierce Purcell Team were in action at St. Helen’s Bay last weekend but they just failed to qualify for the playoffs on Sunday.

The Leinster Fourball Team played against Arklow in Round 2 of this competition and they had a very convincing victory by a margin of three matches to one match with the fifth match called in. In the fifth match Mount Juliet were one up with three to play but were called in as the result of this match did not affect the overall result. The home pairings of Finbar O’ Neill & Pat Hegarty and John Thompson & John Flynn both won by a 4 and 3 margin. Whilst away Tommy Butler & Chris Mc Hugh won the vital match by a margin of 4 and 2, Tim Kavanagh & Arthur Hickey lost on the 16th and Kevin Mc Cartan & Ken MacDonald were the pair called in. This team are now drawn against Rosslare in the third round and hopefully they will keep up the good work. Rosslare are the team to beat as well in the Irish Mixed Foursomes Event as Mount Juliet have also drawn them in the next round of that competition.