Mount Juliet Golf Notes

Summer Series on the Way

The Summer Series for 2009 starts on May 26th and continues on for the months of June, July, August and September with a competition each month.  The series will be a 4 person team event (any combination) with a shotgun start each day at 2.30pm.  The series has an individual sponsor for each competition and will have very attractive prizes on offer.  Last year’s series proved to be very popular with some fine scoring from both the ladies and the men who partook.  This year will prove to be no different with play off the white tees and red tees and all that is required that the weather improves sufficiently and we have not a repeat of last year’s “Summer”.  Tee times can be reserved for any of the series by phoning golf reservations at 056 7773071 or 7773064.

Unfortunately on the inter club scene the news has not been so good with the Pierce Purcell team failing to qualify for the play-off stages and the Duggan Cup team meeting defeat at the hands of Castlecomer.

The Ladies teams did not fare any better with the defeat of the Miele Fourball team to Cahir Park and the Junior Foursomes team facing an uphill battle in their second leg of their match against Courtown ladies having been well beaten in the first leg.

Last weekend saw the May Monthly medal decided and as usual there were four categories. The best score of the day was returned by John Carr, playing off a handicap of 1, he had 37 points which was level par.

John had three birdies to compensate for his three bogies in an otherwise faultless round.  He bogied the 9th, 11th and 14th holes but replied with birdies on the 5th, 16th and 17th to complete his level par round.  Unfortunately this round does not get him to scratch again but he is almost there.  Other winners were Terry Sullivan who had a score of 35 points to win category 2 and Paul Carty won category 3 with 31 points.

On a pleasant but breezy day the course standard scratch score of 32 points reflected the difficulty of the course for the men off the white tees.

The ladies section was won by Ruth Mulholland with 36 points and she just pipped Lynda Hickey on the back nine.  Ruth had only 16 points on the first nine holes by virtue of the fact that she failed to score on the 6th and 8th holes, but she quickly rectified this lapse by scoring 20 points on the back nine and just getting home on a countback as Lynda scored 19 points on her last nine holes.  The ladies coped with the conditions better as their course standard scratch was 36 points.

In the Golfer of the Year competitions, there is a tie in the men’s division with Anthony Gore-Grimes, Tom Duggan and John Carr all on 12 points.

The ladies section has Lynda Hickey as leader with 20 points followed closely by Dorothy Doyle on 19 points with Amelia Drumm and Liz Beatty both on 18 points.

Results May Monthly Medal:

Category 1        John Carr (1)               37 points

Category 2        Terry Sullivan (17)       35 points

Category 2        Paul Carty (21)           31 points

Ladies              Ruth Mulholland (11)   36 points (last nine)

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.

Two more competitions for members and their guests were played last week with the first of the Lady Invitation Days played on Wednesday last and the Member/Guest Team Event played last Sunday.

The Ladies Invitation Day prizes were won by Norma Sullivan and her guest Michelle McCarthy with 36 points, who were clear winners from Jon Hegarty and her guest Phyl Doyle. They in turn just pipped Frances Doyle and her guest Anna Glavin. The format was a fourball betterball stableford and on a pleasant day scoring proved to be difficult.

On Sunday the team event was won by Pat Doyle’s Team which also included Kevin McCartan, Frank Kelly and T.J.McIntyre. They were 3 points clear of the team of Padraic O’Connor, Hugh O’Connor, Colm Darling and Neil Darling who scored 84 points.

The final round of the Waterford Crystal sponsored Winter Series was completed last week with the running of the 3 person rumble. This proved to be a cakewalk on the day for the Kilkenny based team of John Galvin, John Clarke and Bill West. On a very difficult day for scoring, with a strong south westerly wind blowing, the trio had a comfortable 8 points to spare from their nearest opponents. They scored a very good 16 points on the first six holes, followed by 27 points on the next six holes and rounded off a memorable round with 36 points on the last six holes. They now complete the line up of 31 players to take part in the Grand Final on Monday next when play will be off the Blue Championship Tees which measures 7264 yards. The format of the final will be an 18 holes singles stableford for all qualifiers, a daunting task for all competitors but a very enjoyable one. Presentation of prizes will be followed by dinner and as the cliché goes there will be “a prize for everyone in the audience” as well.

With the end of the Winter Series at hand the new Summer Series will be launched on Wednesday 16th April. This will be in the form of a 4 person team event and will be run each month from April through to September. The difference between both series is that the Summer Series will be a shotgun start each day at 2pm and the prizes will be presented after play each evening. There is no grand final similar to the winter series as each competition will stand alone. All competitions will be sponsored by well known firms and there are great prizes on offer each day for anyone lucky enough to win a prize. The entry fee is the same as the Winter Series and the entry is limited to 32 teams each day. Callaway Golf are the sponsors for the inaugural competition and the rules of the competition are that 2 scores will count on the first 17 holes with 3 scores to count on the 18th. The handicap limits are 22 for the men and 32 for the ladies. Tee times can be booked for any of the series by phoning golf reservations at 056/7773064 or 7773071.

On the Inter Club scene our neighbours Mountain View have defeated St. Helen’s Bay and so qualify to meet Mount Juliet in the second round of the Leinster Fourball Trophy. Two of the Ladies Teams were in action on Monday last, the Intermediate Cup Team of Margaret O’Rourke, Jon Hegarty, Pearl Brennan, Maire Shee and Helen Hedigan lost to Borris Ladies on a scoreline of 3 matches to 2 matches.
The Minor Cup Team of Rita Garvey, Gwen Walshe, Susan Mahony, Sarah Jane Costello and Catherine O’Halloran met a similar fate against the Castlecomer Ladies Team losing two of the matches at home on the 19th .
In Ladies Inter Club competitions, apart from the Miele Fourball, this now only leaves the Challenge Cup team who are due to meet Kilkenny next weekend and the Junior Foursomes team to represent the club in the coming week. The Barton Cup and the Irish Mixed Foursomes are in action this coming weekend also.