Last Sunday the “Vice Versa” competition was played for, which to the members of Mount Juliet means the Lady Captain’s Prize to the Men and the Captain’s Prize to the Ladies. Some fine scoring was recorded in each section with the best score on the day in the adult competitions recorded in the men’s section. This score was recorded by John Keane who returned a great 40 points, off his handicap of 6, he just edged out four other players who returned 39 points each. John had scores of 22 and 18 points respectively for each nine holes and his one real mistake came at the long par four 13th where he visited the water with his approach shot and he slumped to a six. John was closely followed by David Kelly, another 6 handicapper, who had a relatively quiet first nine holes for which he only scored 16 points but came to life on the back nine to record a two under par gross of 34 shots for a closing 23 points. David in turn was closely followed by Tom Duggan and Alan Hearne with similar scores only to be beaten on countbacks. All of the first three prizewinners were single handicap golfers and it was obvious that they coped better with the long course on offer to players on the day. Alan Hearne still leads the Golfer of the Year but John Keane has closed the gap considerably.

The junior prize was won by Flora Stevenson with a great 42 points and she follows in the footsteps of her sister, Iona, who featured in the Residential Trophy the previous week. Flora registered nines of 18 and 24 points respectively and had a comfortable winning margin.

In the ladies section the winner was Amelia Drumm, who is having a fantastic golf year, and as a result of her latest win has almost assured herself of the Golfer of the Year title for 2011 as well. She holds a very solid lead on her nearest rivals with only two more competitions left to decide the title. On Saturday last, she returned a score of 38 points to beat her nearest rivals by two shots. She had nineteen points for each nine holes and had only one real mistake on the 13th at which she failed to register a point otherwise she was utmost consistent throughout her round. The runner-up was Lynda Hickey with 36 points and she just pipped Sarah Jane Costelloe on a countback. As the start last Saturday was a “shotgun” one, all competitors finished within 20 minutes of each other which added to a very sociable evening among the players and friends before the presentation of prizes which took place at 6pm in the Hunters Yard.

Results – Men

Results – Ladies

There was a great turnout for the “Vice-Versa” competition which is the Captain’s Prize to the Ladies and the Lady Captain’s Prize to the Men.  This year they were won in spectacular style by Sandra Carr and Liam Reidy who returned good scores of 38 and 40 points in their respective competitions.

Liam was consistency right through his game returning 19 and 21 points for his nines and won by 2 shots from John Keane.  John had a very poor start only scoring 2 points in the first three holes but turned up the heat on the last 15 holes by scoring a further 36 points.  But for failing to score on the 7th hole he may have made it to the winner’s rostrum as he scored an impressive back nine holes of 23 points which was one under par gross.  In fairness to Liam it was his day and was duly rewarded for his consistency.

The Ladies competition was a much tighter affair with Sandra coming out on top by just a shot from Margaret Clandillon.  Again, Margaret must rue her chances especially for failing to score on the 14th and 16th holes.  Sandra also had a blank on the long 13th but apart from that she had nines of 17 and 21 points to emerge the victor.

Results Lady Captain’s Prize to the Men

Winner              Liam Reidy (14)                   40 points

Second             John Keane (8)                    38 points

Third                Peter Quigley (7)                  37 points

Fourth             Wilf Stevenson (19)              36 points

Past Captain      Tom Duggan (7)                   33 points

1st Nine            James J. Brett (16)               20 points

2nd Nine           John Leahy (18)                   20 points

Par 3’s              Stephen O’Connor Jr

Par 5’s              Michael Whelan

Junior              Luke Mulcahy (16)               38 points

Captain’s Prize to the Ladies

Winner              Sandra Carr (19)                  38 points

Second             Margaret Clandillon (26)        37 points

Third                Lynda Hickey (26)                36 points

1st Nine           Kathryn O’Connor (36)          21 points

2nd Nine           Wendy Beirne (36)               20 points

Par 3’s              Helen Comerford

Par 5’s              Mary Quigley

Summer Series

The Summer Series was played on Wednesday 12th August and this as usual is a four person team event with a fine entry of players.  The winners were friends from four different clubs but they combined well together to score 97 points and won by 3 clear shots from their nearest rivals.  The winners had nines of 47 and 50 points and all team members were single figure golfers.  The runners up were again from a variety of clubs and they had nines of 46 and 48 points respectively and just held on by a shot from the third placed team.

The last round of the Summer Series will take place on Thursday 17th September and the format is again a 4 person team event.  Tee reservations can be made for this day by phoning 056/777301 or 7773064.

Results Summer Series 4 Person Team Event

Winners

John O’ Mahony (5) (Lismore)                 97 points

Mark White (9) (Thurles)

Paddy White (9) (Cahir Park)

Michael O’Leary (7) (Ring of Kerry)

Second

David Daly (13) (Gort)                             94 points

John Daly (18) (Gort)

Pat Curtis (12) (Kilrush)

Peter O’Brien (9) (Carton House)

Third

Ronan Freyne (14) (Co. Meath)               93 points

Michael Gaynor (9) (Co. Meath)

Ger Griffin (15) (Tara Glen)

Gerry Lloyd (12) (Skerries)

Last Sunday saw the Lady Captain’s (Rita Garvey) Prize to the Men and the Captain’s (Peter Quigley) Prize to the Ladies played for.  These competitions usually herald the end of school holidays for parents and children alike and the reduction in daylight hours.  A good entry of competitors was the order of the day and the winners were Brona Reidy in the ladies section and David Moore in the men’s section.

The early morning starters had the best of conditions as the now customary rainfall came in the early afternoon making conditions difficult for the late starters.  However, competition was keen and the scoring good.

Brona Reidy just pipped Norma Sullivan on the back nine with both ladies scoring 38 points.  The winning of the competition for Brona was her last hole birdie which gave her 4 points as against Norma’s bogie.  In third place 3 shots adrift was Frances Doyle.

In the men’s competition, David Moore also scored 38 points to win by a shot from Michael Whelan who in turn beat Jim McGuigan on a countback as well.  Michael may well rue his failure to score on the par four 15th which made the crucial difference to his overall placing.

As a result of both competitions the Golfer of the Year categories are beginning to take shape with John Keane now joining long time leader Stephen Price at the top of the leader board followed by Andrew Nixon in third place four points adrift.  In the ladies section, Mary Quigley still leads but her lead has been reduced by Rebecca Nixon.  Both sections have two more competitions to be played for before the overall result is known.

Men’s Results
Winner:  David Moore (15), …….. ……. 38 points
Second: Michael Whelan (8), …. ……. ..37 points
Third:  Jim McGuigan (20), ……. ……. . 37 points
Fourth:  John Keane (9), ……….. ……. . 37 points
1st Nine:  Tim Kavanagh (17), . ……. ..19 points
2nd Nine:  John Carr (1), ……. ……. …. 20 points
Past Captain:  Padraic O’Connor (18),. 35 points
Par 3’s:  Jim Blanchfield (19), ……. ….. 11 points
Par 5’s:  Bill Hutchinson (14), ……. …… 9 points

Ladies Results
Winner:  Brona Reidy (15), ……. ……. .. 38 points
Second:  Norma Sullivan (31), ……. …..38 points
Third:  Frances Doyle (21), ……. ……… 35 points
1st Nine:  Rita Garvey (25), ……. …….. 20 points
2nd Nine:  Jon Hegarty (23), ……. …… 20 points
Par 3’s:  Julie Godson (32), ……. …….. 10 points
Par 5’s:  Ann Gavagan (15), ……. …….. 11 points

The very popular Summer Series for August was held last week and on another showery August day the deserving winners hailed from Woodstock Golf Club in Co. Clare.

The team led by Robert Dormer won with 91 points beating the fellow Munster led team of Jed O’Dwyer from Castletroy who had 88 points.  They in turn beat Martin Devlin’s team, some of whom hail from Ballyragget, and they had a better back nine than Philip Wardick’s team from Boystown Golf Club.

On a day when the course played every bit of its 7000 yards in length off the white tees, players found the going tough with the wet grass making scoring difficult.  The winners who started with only 2 points on the first hole and finished with only 4 points on the last, where all three scores counted, were consistent without being brilliant in between.  However, it was enough to win easily by three shots shooting nines of 46 and 45 points respectively against the runners-up score of 43 and 45 points.

Results
Winners
Robert Dormer (9)
Jason Dormer (13)
Michael O’Brien (15)
Jimmy Kelly (14)    (Woodstock Golf Club)
91 points

Second
Jed O’Dwyer (12)    (Castletroy Golf Club)
Conor Moroney (12)    (Limerick County)
Frank Moloney (14)
Tony Finan (17)    (Nenagh Golf Club)
88 points

Third
Michael Dowling (22)
Martin Devlin (13)
John Gleeson (11)    (Rathdowney Golf Club)
Willie Dempsey (17)    (Borris Golf Club)
87 points

Fourth
Philip Wardick (9)
Jack Slattery (11)    (Boystown Golf Club)
Seamus Doherty (10)
Paul Doherty (13)    (South County Golf Club)
87 points