Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The fourth round of the Waterford Crystal sponsored Winter Series was played last Thursday and it produced a win for the locally based team of John O’ Dwyer, Nigel O’ Donovan and Tom Duggan, all from the Callan area of Kilkenny. The competition was a three person scramble and they had a remarkable round of 63 shots gross which was nine under par. This score, together with their handicap allowance of just over one shot, brought down their score to a winning 61.8. They won by one shot from the New Ross team of Andrew Ryan, Andrew Ronan and Emmett Ronan who also had an excellent score of 64 gross shots and with a similar handicap allowance brought their score to 62.8 shots. The only difference in both scores was at the first hole where the winners had a birdie to the runners-up par. This resulted in the winners going out in 31 shots to the Wexford boys 32 shots. Both teams then finished the back nine in 32 shots and the winning team had to get up and down from sand on the 18th for a par otherwise victory would have gone the other way. Both teams are to be commended as they had very little handicap allowance. The winners now go forward to the Grand Final in April along with the other qualifiers.

There are now only two more competitions in the series before the Christmas break and these are scheduled for 6th and 18th December.

Results

Winners:
John O’Dwyer (5) Callan Golf Club
Tom Duggan (2) Clonmel Golf Club
Nigel O’Donovan (5) Callan Golf Club 61.8 shots

Second:
Andrew Ryan (3) New Ross Golf Club
Andrew Ronan (5) New Ross Golf Club
Emmett Ronan (4) New Ross Golf Club 62.8 shots

Third:
Sean Kiely (10) Gowran Park Golf Club
Ger Treacy (7) Gowran Park Golf Club
Martin Donnelly (10) Gowran Park Golf Club 63.2 shots

Last Sunday saw the last of the Member/Guest series for 2007 draw to a conclusion with the running of a 16 holes fourball betterball hamper. This resulted in a win for the mother and son combination of Sally and David Gleeson with a fine score of 39 points. With a large turnout on a fine November day they beat off some stiff opposition and got home by a shot from the Alan Byrne/Paul Curran partnership with the Joe Hyland/Joe Teehan combination in third position. The winners posted a fine 23 points for the first nine holes and added a further 16 points for the last 7 holes. The first nine holes score was matched by the third pairing but they faltered by having a bogie on the 10th hole. All three pairings will receive some Christmas fare for their endeavours.

Results

Winners:
Sally Gleeson (12)
David Gleeson (15) (Dooks Golf Club) 39 points

Second:
Alan Byrne (11)
Paul Curran (12) (Tulfarris Golf Club) 38 points (last

Third:
Joe Hyland (10)
Joe Teehan (7) (Kilkenny Golf Club) 38 points

Next Sunday sees the new Captain and Lady Captain drive into office and as usual there will be two nine hole competitions played in conjunction with the “Drive In” followed by a social get-together in the Hunter’s Yard afterwards.

More good news on the Inter Club scene with the success of the Miele All Ireland Ladies Fourball team in their match against Waterford Castle. The overall result was 2 ½ to 1 ½ and they now advance to play Faithlegg in the next round. The team consisted of Eileen Duggan & Hilary Behan, Sally Gleeson & Pearl Brennan, Brona Reidy & Rita Garvey and Myra Phelan & Gwen Walsh. In the next round Faithlegg has the slight advantage of the home venue as regards the lower handicaps.

On next weekend two more teams are in action against two teams from Rosslare, both in the Leinster Fourball and the Irish Mixed Foursomes, so fingers crossed that some success ensues.

Last week saw the Member/Guest series down for decision and the competition was a Fourball Betterball Stableford and once again the partnership of Stephen Price and Darren Kelly came out on top by virtue of a better back nine from Michael Brennan and Dermot Fennelly. This is the winning pairs second prize within two weeks and as a result their handicaps are up for review.

Also on the competition front the Jack Nicklaus Trophy was decided last Sunday. This is one of the major competitions in the club and counts for Golfer of the Year points as well. As usual there were two sections with the overall winner of the trophy open to both the men and ladies. This year it was the turn of the men , but only just, as both Dave Wyer and Sarah Newman returned excellent scores of 40 points each but Dave won out by virtue of a better back nine. On a untypical cold ,blustery day with intermittent showers scoring was very difficult with no one else threatening the winners of both sections. Dave played very consistently throughout his round and he scored at every hole with nines of 21 and 19 points respectively. Sarah had nines of 22 and 18 points in her round of 40 points and only failed to register a point on the par three 14th which was to eventually cost her outright victory. As can be seen from the results both players blitzed their respective competitors and were deserved winners in their categories.

Subsequent to the results of the Jack Nicklaus Trophy the Golfer of the Year competition leaderboard has tightened up considerably. In the men’s section Dan Kavanagh leads by five points from Joe Hyland and Dave Wyer. In the ladie’s section Rebecca Nixon leads by four points from last year’s winner Lynda Hickey with Adrienne Walsh a further four points adrift in third place. Still all to play for but after June all these situations could change radically with two more G.O.Y. competitions down for decision.