Mount Juliet Golf Notes

Last Sunday there was a Member/Guest Fourball Stableford played for and this was won in emphatic fashion by Norman Williams and his guest, Willie Horgan, with a score of 47 points.  Norman was on fire in his round with birdies at the 3^rd, 4^th and 11^th holes but the pair also had bad holes scoring only one point at the 1^st, 14^th and 15^th holes.  The winning combination had nines of 24 and 23 points respectively.  However, this scoring was good enough and they held on to win by a shot from the mother and son combination of Una and Graham Robinson, they in turn were a shot clear of Sean Brett and Therese Maher in third place.

The May Men’s Invitation Day was held last week and the format was a four man team event with two scores to count at each hole.  This competition was open to a member and his three guests and is an ongoing event each month until next September.  Kilkenny may have held the balance on the hurling field recently but the Tipperary golfers held sway in this event when a team from Thurles Golf Club swept the main prize by a whopping 10 shots from their nearest rivals.  On a day with a stiff north westerly breeze blowing and some of the tee boxes that were in play positioned on the championship blue course, conditions were testing for a large turnout of competitors.  The winners returned a great score of 94 points under the circumstances with two nines of 47 points each.  They recorded 6 points on the 1^st, 4^th, 8^th, 10^th, 15^th, and 17^th holes and a seven pointer on the 3^rd and on the remainder of their card they never dipped under 4 points.  The runners-up were 10 points adrift when they scored 40 and 44 points for their nines and just held on by a point from the third placed team.  All prize winners will qualify for the final day to be held in October with the other invitation day prizewinners over the coming months.

In the Golfer of the Year competition, the early lead in the men’s section after three rounds is held by Alan Hearn with 20 points.  John Mulholland, Mark Magnier, PJ Aylward and Conor Spain are tied for second place on 12 points.  There is a tie in the ladies section between Helen Walsh and Adrienne Walsh with both ladies on 18 points.  Second place is shared by Karan Murphy and Ruth Mulholland on 16 points and the next round of the G.O.Y., will be held in conjunction with the Jack Nicklaus Trophy on Sunday week 26^th May, for which the timesheet is already open.

On the Inter Club front the last two teams are in action next weekend with the Pierce Purcell Team, managed by Paul Madigan in action in the regional qualifying round in Wexford Golf Club.  The Junior Cup Team, managed by Alan Hoyne is also playing in Courtown Golf Club in their regional qualifier.  We wish both teams the best of luck in their quest for honours.

The first round of the club match play for men and ladies must be completed by 31^st May and players who as yet have not played their respective matches are reminded to contact their opponents as soon as possible and to arrange any outstanding matches.

Results – Member/Guest Fourball Stableford, Sunday 19^th May

Winners       Norman Williams (13)

                   Willie Horgan (13) (Kilkenny)        47 points

Second        Graham Robinson (6)

                   Una Robinson (19) (Wexford)        46 points

Third            Sean Brett (8)

                   Therese Maher (36)                      45 points

Results – Men’s May Invitation Day 4 Person Team, Wednesday 15^th May

Winners       Pat Stakelum (18)

                   Pat McEvoy (14)

                   John McGrath (15)

                   Donal Hurley (18)                         94 points

Second        Jim Gorey (15)

                   Liam Duggan (11)

                   Sean O’Neill (15)

                   Fr. Pat Duggan (18)                     84 points

Third            PJ Aylward (7)

                   Seamus Grace (15)

                   Kevin Fennelly (9)

                   Eamon Brennan (11)                    83 points

Last Sunday saw the Intermediate Scratch Cup run for the first time and this was a singles stroke competition over 18 holes. This proved to be a very popular competition with visitors and members alike with quite a large entry on the day. The winning score was 81 gross which is nine over par for the course and this was returned by Aidan O’Keeffe from Cobh Golf Club who played very steady golf throughout his round.

Aidan had nines of 39 and 42 shots respectively with his only birdie coming on the long 2nd hole. He completed his round with bogies on the 16th and 18th but held on by 2 shots from his nearest rivals to record an impressive victory. In second place came John McGrath who just pipped Billy Mernagh on a countback over the last nine holes. The best nett score for the day was won by Keith Richards with a 70.

Last weekend saw the second round of the Summer League completed and this was completed before the start of the
Intermediate Scratch Cup. The ladies were very much to the fore in the league with some excellent scoring. In first place came Helen Walsh with 43 points closely followed by Karan Murphy with 41 points. The only man to feature on the podium was Conor Mulholland and he was some six shots behind the winner. Helen started her round rather unimpressively with a treble bogey seven on the 1st but settled down well to record 21 points for her first nine holes. Apart from failing to register a point on the 12th, she scored a further impressive 22 points for her last nine holes.

On the Inter Club front the Ladies Miele Fourball team were well beaten by Borris on a 3½ to 1½ scoreline and this week the Men’s Duggan Cup team will take on neighbours Callan in the second round. Callan have the home advantage of the odd match of five in what should be a close encounter.

Results – Intermediate Scratch Cup Sunday 5th May

Winner Aidan O’Keeffe (14) (Cobh) 81 shots

Second John McGrath (12) (Lisheen) 83 shots

Third William Mernagh (13) (Callan) 83 shots

Best Nett Keith Richards (13) (Fermoy) 70 nett

Results – Summer League Sunday 5th May

Winner Helen Walsh (31) 43 points

Second Karan Murphy (34) 41 points

Third Conor Mulholland (17) 37 points

The first team in the Inter Club competitions run under the auspices of the Golfing Union of Ireland was in action last Saturday. The competition was the Leinster Fourball and the opposition was Waterford Golf Club. Due to the present inclement weather, all five matches had to be played at Mount Juliet as the Waterford course was unplayable. Unfortunately for the home side, Waterford prevailed on a score of 3 matches to 2 with the visitors holding the upper hand in all three matches that they won. The winning pairs were Padraic O’Connor/Dermot Divilly and Pat Stakelum/Bryan Higgins and the team was ably managed by Kevin McCartan.

Two stroke competitions were also held over the past week and the most important one was the March Monthly Medal which took place last Sunday. This was the first competition carrying points to decide the Golfer of the Year for 2013. As is usual in all member’s medal competitions, play was off the white tees for the men and with a bitter wind blowing from the east throughout the day, conditions for good scoring proved to be very difficult for all competitors. The target for the day proved to be 35 points which was achieved by Alan Hearne in Category I. The nearest to Alan’s score was Ronan Murphy who had 34 points in Category III. The other men’s category was won by Ger Dowling and nice to see Adrienne Walsh winning the ladies category with 31 points.

On St. Patrick’s Day there was an open singles played and scoring was very good with Richie Guilfoyle proving to be a convincing overall winner. Richie scored 40 points which equated to a one under par gross for the 18 holes. In second place, former Lady Captain Myra Phelan scored 38 points with John O’Dwyer filling third spot with 36 points.

On Sunday next, Easter Sunday, a Member/Guest Fourball Stableford will take place and the following Wednesday the first Ladies Invitation Day for 2013 will also take place and the format for this will be a 3 Person Rumble.

Results St. Patrick’s Day 18 Holes Open Singles

Winner Richie Guilfoyle (3) (Kilkenny) 40 points
Second Myra Phelan (22) 38 points
Third John O’Dwyer (5) (Callan) 36 points

Results, March Monthly Medal Sunday 24th March 18 Holes Singles

Category 1 Alan Hearne (7) 35 points
Category 2 Ger Dowling (16) 33 points
Category 3 Ronan Murphy (25) 34 points
Ladies Adrienne Walsh (23) 31 points