Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The Lady President’s (Mrs. Mary Jones) Prize was played on Thursday last in very testing conditions with a very strong South Westerly wind blowing which made scoring very difficult. The very convincing winner was Sandra Carr who returned 32 points to win by four shots from her nearest opponent. It was a case of keeping the ball in play in the conditions and Sandra executed this to her advantage over the eighteen holes. In second place came the Lady Captain (Margaret Twomey) with 28 points. No player broke the C.S.S. for the day so the competition became a non-counting one as it was deemed to be for reduction only for handicap purposes. Mrs. Jones made the long trip over from the South of England for the occasion. The evening ended with a dinner and presentation of prizes in Mount Juliet House.

This week-end sees the final of the Lexus Race to Mount Juliet with the top Irish Professional Golfers playing for the Order of Merit title which will be defended by the 2010 winner, David Higgins, and will include Kilkenny Professional, Jimmy Bolger, in the line-up. The Pro-Am takes place this Friday with the professionals taking pride of place on Saturday and Sunday.

Results of Lady President’s (Mrs. Mary Jones) Prize

Winner Sandra Carr (18) 32 points

Second Margaret Twomey (36) 28 points

Third Laura Mahony (17) 27 points

Fourth Myra Phelan (22) 27 points

1st Nine Mary Divilly (25) 14 points

2nd Nine Brenda Fitzgerald (21) 14 points

Par 3’s Hilary Hegarty 8 points

Par 5‘s Ursula Mason 9 points

Longest Drive Ruth Mulholland

The President’s (Des Fitzgerald) Prize for ladies and men was played last week and the format, as usual, was 18 holes singles stableford. On a very testing day weather wise, the scoring was reflected in the conditions that players had to endure to complete their rounds with a strong blustery wind accompanied by occasional showers. The standard scratch scores of the day tumbled to their lowest with 32 points for the men’s competition and 33 points for the ladies. However both Ray Moore and Mary Fulton beat the conditions to win their respective sections of the competition. With a “shotgun” start all players had to endure similar conditions for their round.
Ray recorded a winning score of 35 points to win the men’s section and Mary returned 34 points to beat off her rival competitors in the ladies section.

Ray started his round with a double bogey six and only had 15 points after nine holes. He started his back nine with a double bogey seven for a further point but then turned on the style to record a further 19 points for his last eight holes giving him a total of 35 points. He just got home by a shot from Norman Kilroy who played very consistently to record scores of 17 points for each nine holes. Norman had the misfortune to blank the third hole and double-bogied the long 17th in an otherwise faultless round.

Mary also started her round in a slow manner and after five holes had only recorded 6 points but for the remaining 13 holes she was the model of consistency with a further 28 points. She finished with two very solid pars on the 17th and 18th, both par 5′s, for a closing six points which clinched the title for her. In second place came Amelia Drumm who after scoring three points on her opening hole proceeded to blank the 2nd, 3rd and 4th holes and finished her first nine holes with a total of 11 points. She then proceeded to register a great 22 points for her last nine holes only to come up short by a shot from catching Mary for the winner’s prize.

Last Sunday the September Monthly Medal was played for and with a blustery wind blowing, scoring again was difficult. The best score of the day was by Alan Hearne, who spreadeagled his field of fellow competitors by shooting 38 points which was five shots better than his nearest rival. The foundation of Alan’s round was his first nine holes which he covered in 38 shots, just two over par, to record 21 points. He added a further 17 points on his back nine to end up a comfortable winner of his category. James E. Brett won category 2 with 31 points and Ken MacDonald had a fine 33 points to win category 3.

The ladies section was won by Sandra Carr with 33 points who started her round with two sixes and also failed to score on the long 5th hole but she steadied the ship on the last nine holes by adding a further 18 points to her first nine holes of 15 points to emerge a worthy winner. The conditions reflected in the C.S.S. for the day with the men’s standard scratch reaching its lowest figure of 32 points and the standard scratch for the ladies becoming non-counting at 33 points.

As this was the last counting competition for the Golfer of the Year, the clear winners in each section were Alan Hearne and Amelia Drumm. Both golfers had a very successful year and their respective handicaps came tumbling down during the last few months. There will be more details of their achievements next week as Amelia plays Jeff Howes in the McCalmont Cup final this week.

Next Sunday sees the Captain’s Team play the Lady Captain’s Team in the annual challenge with a “shotgun” start at 11 o’clock and there are still vacancies on both teams for members to put their names in the hat for this fun event which will be a fourball stableford.

The popular Winter Series Team Event commences on Thursday 13th October and tee times can be booked in the usual manner by contacting reservations or the golf shop at Mount Juliet.

Results September Monthly Medal

Results President’s Prize

Ladies Section

Tipperary to the fore again!

The last of the “majors” was played for on Saturday and it foretold pending doom for Kilkenny with the winning of the President’s (Des Fitzgerald) Prize by Tipperary member, Tadhg Gleeson, and he did it as convincing as the hurlers did. Tadhg, who was Captain of Mount Juliet in 2005 and had never won a competition in his long association with the club, like the hurlers certainly came good on the day that mattered. He spreadeagled the large entry of competitors with a stunning round of 45 points off the white markers to win easing up.

The President’s Prize for the ladies was played in conjunction with the men’s prize and this proved to be a family affair with Des’s wife, Brenda, winning the honours by the narrowest of margins from Tadhg‘s daughter Sarah. Snapping at both players heels came Nora Deane just a point behind with Tadhg’s wife, Sally, a further point behind Nora in fourth place.

Tadhg had nines of 23 and 22 points respectively on each nine holes and had a total of 11 pars with the remainder of his round comprised of 7 bogies off his handicap of 16 which has now been reduced to 13 as the S.S. for the day was 35 points. I am sure that little adjustment is the least of Tadhg’s worries after his great victory and Tipperary‘s All Ireland. In second place came Paul Barrett who is certainly playing very consistent golf at the moment which he indicated by almost winning the last competition played.

Brenda played very good golf as well and but for failing to score on the short par three 11th, she would have reached the 40 point mark. This was her only hole not to register a point at, which was an indication of her consistency. Congratulations to both Tadhg and Brenda on their achievements and Brenda still has a chance of the double if she wins the Lady President’s Prize in October.

As a result of the weekend results, the Golfer of the Year competitions in both categories has tightened up considerably with only the September medal to decide the outcome. At the top of the men’s competition, Stephen Price and Michael Brennan are locked together on 36 points and they are just in front of Alan Hearne who has 35 points.

In the ladies section, Amelia Drumm is 5 points clear of Ruth Skehan but both can improve their total by featuring in the September Medal next Sunday and a top three finish by either player could decide the winner.

Last Wednesday the Ladies Invitation for September took place and this was a fourball betterball competition with the usual good entry. The winners of this competition were Myra Phelan and her visitor from Milltown, Helen Cosgrove, who had 40 points. They just beat the mother and daughter combination of Sandra and Darcey Carr, also Milltown, by a point. The Kilkenny and Borris visitors came up trumps in the nines.

Forthcoming fixtures include the September Medal next Sunday and the last of the Summer Series, which as usual is a team of four event, takes place next Wednesday 15th September. The Winter Series is scheduled to commence on the 20th October. Bookings for any of these competitions may be made by phoning 056 7773071 or 7773064.

President’s (Des Fitzgerald) Prize, Saturday 4th
September 2010

Ladies Invitation Day, Wednesday 1st September 2010

Next Sunday the September Medal is down for decision