Mount Juliet Golf Notes

The final qualifying round of the Winter Series took place last week and the winning team’s score was well clear of the runners-up. The winning team was led by well known racing commentator, Des Scahill, and his team consisted of a combination of Laois, Kilkenny and Kildare personnel. The winners had an impressive round of 97 points with nines of 47 and 50 points respectively. They had three shots to spare over a team comprised of four members from Galway Golf Club. The winners qualified for the final day which will be decided over 18 holes this Wednesday and the format of the final, as always, will be stableford singles.

The first of the inter club teams in action for 2011 was the Fourball Trophy Team and their opponents were Athy Golf Club. The draw advantage was with Athy, with three matches at Athy and two matches at Mount Juliet. The overall match was won in thrilling style by Mount Juliet by a three matches to two aggregate. Heroes of the tie were Ken MacDonald and Ronan Murphy who won at Athy by a margin of 5 and 4. Both matches at Mount Juliet were won narrowly, but decisively, with John O’Connor and Bryan Higgins winning by 2 and 1. The final pairing of Dermot Divilly and Pat Hegarty won 2 up with Pat closing the door on the 18th by sinking a 25ft., putt to seal the victory.

The other pairings of John Mulholland / Frank Kelly and Billy Murphy / Padraic O’Connor lost narrowly at Athy. Hopefully this early vein of form will act as a catalyst for some of the remaining teams in competitions.

Results Winter Series

Winners

Des Scahill (9) (The Heritage)

James Farrell (8) (Kilkenny)

Lar Ryan (9) (Rathdowney)

Shay Quinn (17) (The Heritage) 97 points

Runners-Up

B. McGraughan (8) (Galway)

D. O’Kelly (6)

P. Shallow (6)

R. Ramberg (12)

(Galway) 94 points

Two competitions were completed in the past week, the penultimate round of the Winter Series for 2010/2011 and the popular Member/Guest competition. The Winter Series proved to be a triumph for Co. Galway, who seem to have a hoodoo on Kilkenny on the playing fields at the moment, as a team from Ballinasloe Golf Club literally ran away with this event. They scored an impressive 99 points with scores of 53 and 46 points respectively for each nine holes. The aggregate score for the first nine holes was almost 6 points per hole which was indeed an impressive tally.

In the Member/Guest competition, the format of which was a fourball betterball stableford, the father/son combination of James E. and Niall Brett ran out deserving winners with a score of 43 points. They had a shot to spare over Frank Kelly and his Kerry based partner Joe Healy. The winners had nines of 20 and 23 points respectively and a par on the 18th by James proved to be the clinching score.

The final round of the Winter Series takes place next Wednesday 30th March and as usual it is for teams of four golfers, any combination, with two scores to count. Next Sunday sees the commencement of the Golfer of the Year competition with the running of the March Medal over 18 holes and play will be off the white tees. Last year’s winner, Stephen Price, will be out to retain his crown. On the inter club scene the first team in action will be the Fourball Trophy team and they are pitted against Athy Golf Club who are expected to be formidable opposition. The month of April will see the majority of teams in action, both ladies and gents, hopefully with success.

Results Winter Series

Winners

R. Fitzgerald (11) (Ballinasloe)

T. Kelly (14) (Ballinasloe)

N. Egan (20) (Ballinasloe)

E. Moloney (18) (Ballinasloe) 99 points

Member / Guest Fourball Stableford

Winners

James E. Brett (14)

Niall Brett (10) (Callan) 43 points

Second

Frank Kelly (23)

Joe Healy (10) (Dooks) 42 points

At long last two competitions got off the ground in the past two weeks and these were the first round of the Winter Series and also the first member/guest competition of the new season. Both the Winter Series and the member and guest competitions proved to be a triumph for members of local clubs. The Winter Series was won by a team from Callan Golf Club and the Member/Guest competition included members of Gowran Park and Carlow Golf Clubs.

The Winter Series was won with 87 points and the winning team put together nines of 43 and 44 points. The team started well scoring 7 points on the long 2nd and thereafter scored solidly with their worst score on any hole being four points.

The Member/Guest competition was a fourball betterball stable ford and this was won with 41 points. The winners had 18 points for the first nine holes but really came to life on the second nine amassing a further 23 points. The runners-up scored 40 points with a solid 20 points on each nine holes.

The next round of the Winter Series takes place on Wednesday 9th March and next Sunday there is a member/guest competition with a one tee start as the two tee starts are now finished with the arrival of March. The competition next Sunday is a three person rumble over 18 holes for a member and his/her two guests and scoring is by stableford.

Results, Winter Series

Winners

Sean Brett (9) Callan Golf Club

John O’Dwyer (5)

Paul Cashin (16)

Paul Madigan (5) 87 points

Member/Guest Fourball Betterball Stableford

Winners

Michael Collins (13)

Richard Dowling (14) (Gowran Park) 41 points

Second

Bill Connolly (14)

Bill Fanning (15) (Carlow) 40 points