Mount Juliet Golf Notes

Mount Juliet Golf Notes Monday 4th March 2013

Members of Callan Golf Club were very much to the fore when
some very good scoring was registered last Sunday in the
Member/Guest Fourball Stableford played on a dry but cold day
with a chill wind blowing all day. Early frost delayed the start
to the competition and the best score on the day was 44 points
and this was recorded by two pairings but on a countback Sean
Brett and his partner Brian Duggan from Callan Golf Club emerged
the winners. The winning pair registered a total of four birdies
with three of them coming together on the 5th, 6th and 7th holes
and a further birdie on the 11th completed the quartet of
birdies. Both players contributed two birdies each and had nines
of 22 points to just get the better of Eamon Murphy and Sil
Lester. The runners-up must have regretted failing to register a
score on the long 8th hole as this proved to be the losing of the
competition as they scored 23 points for the other eight holes on
the first nine and then added a further 21 points for last nine
holes. In third place came the Thurles pairing of John Stakelum
and John Nevin with 43 points.

In the Inter Club competitions run under the auspices of the
Golfing Union of Ireland, Mount Juliet have drawn some very
difficult opponents in the 1st round of both the Barton Cup and
Leinster Fourball competitions. In the Barton Cup, the opponents
are Gowran Park and in the Leinster Fourball, Mount Juliet have
drawn Waterford Golf Club with both the opposing clubs having the
home advantage.

Results Member/Guest Stableford Fourball Sunday 3rd March

Winners Sean Brett (8)

Brian Duggan (2) (Callan) 44 points

Second Eamon Murphy (16)

Sil Lester (13) (Callan) 44 points

Third John Stakelum (14)

John Nevin (13) (Thurles) 43 points

The last “major” for the ladies took place last week with the Lady President’s(Mrs. Mary Jones) Prize down for decision and this proved to be an exciting affair with Pauline McEnery just getting the better of Rita Garvey on a countback after both players finished with 36 points. Pauline played very consistent golf throughout her round with nines of 19 and 17 points respectively and scored on all holes. Rita started impressively and recorded 21 points for her first nine holes but failed to score on the 15th and 16th holes and this proved to be the losing of first prize as she only scored a total of 15 points on the last nine holes to add to her first nine score. Third place was won by Myra Phelan with 34 points and she just pipped the newly crowned Golfer of the Year, Brenda O Sullivan, by virtue of a better last nine holes. Presentation of prizes took place after a superb dinner and the evening finished with an enjoyable social night.

Two competitions were played on the Saturday and Sunday of All Ireland Hurling Weekend. The Saturday competition was a Member and Guest Fourball Betterball Stableford and this was won by Paul Madigan and his guest Liam Delahunty on a countback from Pat and John Stakelum. Both partnerships scored a fine 46 points with the winners just edging out the Tipperary pairing on the back nine holes.
On Sunday there was an 18 holes singles stableford and again this competition ended in a tie for first prize with Aidan Keegan from Waterford just getting the better of Mick O’ Riordan from the K Club. Both players finished on 36 points.
Last Sunday saw a team representing the Captain, Alan Hoyne, taking on a team representing the Lady Captain, Ruth Mulholland. The format of the competition was an 18 holes singles stableford with the best 5 cards from each team to count for the overall prize. Victory was achieved by the Captain’s team who defeated the Lady Captain’s team by an emphatic margin on this occasion.
Best score of the day was achieved by the lady in form, Brenda O’ Sullivan, who together with Mark Logan scored animpressive 39 points to win both their respective categories. Presentation of prizes took place afterwards where the Lady Captain was presented with the wooden spoon.
This week will be a busy one at Mount Juliet with the big Pro-Am taking place on Wednesday prior to the Irish P.G.A. Championship which commences on Thursday and this will continue through to Sunday. The competition will be 72 holes stroke play over four days with the top 50 players plus ties qualifying for the final 36 holes on Saturday and Sunday and there is substantial money on offer for the overall leaders on Sunday. There should be some excellent golf played over the four days and spectators will be able to follow play over all four days.

Results Lady President’s(Mrs Mary Jones) Prize
Winner: Pauline McEnery (34)…………….36 points.
Second: Rita Garvey (23)…………………..36 points.
Third: Myra Phelan (23)………………….34 points.
Fourth: Brenda O’ Sullivan (26)……………34 points.
1st Nine: Geraldine Higgins (35)…………….18 points.
2nd Nine: Helen Scully (16)…………………..17 points.
Nearest Pin: Emer Foley.

Member/Guest Fourball Betterball Stableford Saturday 29th Sept
Winners;
Paul Madigan (3) Callan G.C.
Liam Delahunty (16) Rathdowney G.C….46 points

Runners-Up;
Pat Stakelum (18) Thurles G.C.
John Stakelum (14) Thurles G.C…………46 points.

Open 18 Holes Singles Stableford Sunday 30th September
Winner: Aidan Keegan (15) Waterford G.C………..36 points.
Runner-Up: Mick O’ Riordan (6) The K Club…………36 points.

Lady Captain’s Team v Captain’s Team Sunday 7th October
Lady Winner: Brenda O’ Sullivan (26)…………………..39 points.
Second: Myra Phelan (23)………………………….38 points.
Third: Marie Costello (16)………………………..34 points.
Men’s Winner: Mark Logan (11)…………………………..39 points.
Second: Ken MacDonald (26)……………………….38 points.
Third: John O’ Dwyer (5)…………………………..37 points.

To herald the arrival of Spring the final rounds of both the Open Winter Series and the Members Winter League concluded last week. The popular Winter Series for teams of four concluded with an 18 holes singles stableford for all the players who qualified over the past few months and this was played last Wednesday in testing conditions off the white tees. The impressive winner was former Limerick hurler, Liam O’ Donoghue, who left the remainder of the field in his wake by returning a very impressive 40 points. Liam had nines of 20 points respectively and would have been an evewn easier winner but for failing to score on the long 18th. Liam was chased home by another clubman, Tom McDarby, some four shots behind on 36 points. In third place came another Munster man, John Nevin, from Thurles G.C. Liam picked up a nice prize of a stay in Mount Juliet House which includes dinner, spa treatment and golf for two people. This concluded the popular series for 2011/12 and will be followed soon by the Summer Series for teams of four.

The other competition which was confined to members and which was concluded last Sunday was the final round of the Winter League. The last round of the competition on Sunday was won by Ted Hoyne with a fine score of 40 points. In second place on 38 points came this year’s captain, Alan Hoyne, who was three shots clear of third placed, Tim Kavanagh, on 35 points. The league proved to be a repeat win for last year’s winner and long time leader Alan Hearn. Alan won the overall from Frank Kelly with this year’s captain Alan Hoyne in third place.

Next Sunday sees the McCalmont Cup match play get underway with the running of the April Monthly Medal and 48 qualifiers will emerge from next Sunday to do battle over the next few months for the trophies. This year the format will be slightly changed as there will be two competitions in the match play event. Thirty two men will qualify for the match play stages and there will be a separate competition for sixteen ladies who also qualify on scores returned. In previous years the ladies and men did battle for the same trophy but because of the keen interest shown, the Committee decided to run a separate competition simultaneously for each category and both of them will carry Golfer of the Year points. This is the second round of the monthly medal competitions and this medal will also carry G. O.Y. points for both the ladies and men. The early leaders in the G.O.Y. are Kevin McCartan and Imelda Drumm.

Results Winter Series Final Wednesday 4th April

Winner: Liam O’ Donoghue (19) Limerick G. C.……….. 40 points.

Second: Tom McDarby (18) Limerick G.C………………   36 points.

Third: John Nevin (14) Thurles G.C……………………….  35 points.