A GOOD WALK
2nd Niamh Darcy (24) 152; Class 3 winner Marie McGuirk (32) 149, 2nd Diana Connolly (29) 152. Past Lady Captains prize Anne O’Brien (18) 152, Committee prize Sharon Caine (12) 155, Student/ Junior prize Jessica Quinn (17) 151, Senior ladies prize Lilian O’Kane, Nine-hole qualifying prize Deirdre Gray (15) 33pts, Get into Golf scramble winners Mairead King, Olivia Shiel & Carole O’Neill 29. The Past Captains prize was sponsored by Valerie Breen.
DUNDALK
CONGRATULATIONS to Caolan Rafferty on winning his first Irish amateur golf major when he captured the South of Ireland Golf Championship at Lahinch on Sunday, Everybody in Dundalk Golf Club is very proud of Caolan and delighted that his hard work and dedication have finally been rewarded.
Congratulations are also extended to Eoin Murphy, Joseph Laverty and Gregory McCaughey on their respective achievements over the past week for province and country.
Eoin, who caddied for Caolan in Sunday’s semi-final and final in Lahinch, also had a great week as he starred for Leinster on their way to winning the Boys U18 Interprovincials at Slieve Russell. He picked up 4.5 points out of a possible six from his foursomes and singles matches and his performances saw him rewarded with a place on the Irish team for the Boys Home Internationals at Royal Dornoch, Scotland, from August 7 to 9 where Ireland will be bidding for a first win since 2013.
Joseph was also on interpro duty last week as he was selected on the Leinster U14 team and he finished the week with 1.5 points out of a possible three as Leinster was just edged out for the title by Munster.
Greg was part of the Ireland team that took part in the World Deaf Championships at Carton House and, playing in the Seniors section, he finished 10th in the individual competition while helping Ireland to a silver medal in the team event.
The qualifying rounds of Gerry Byrne’s Captain’s Prize took place over the weekend. The torrential rain on Saturday led to that round being cancelled and refixed for this Saturday but Sunday went ahead and those on 81 or better may book a place on next Sunday’s timesheet along with those from the top 40 in the Golfer of the Year who played on Sunday, The top 20 scores from Sunday have been given tee times in the leaders slot for Sunday and they are: Christy Ward, John Oakes, Clem Walshe, Anthony McCrave, Micheal Gill, Brian Sloan, Derek Murdock, Alan Uzell, Paul O’Callaghan, Gerard Murray, Gerry Campbell, Kevin Redmond, Barry Grennan, Benny O Shaughnessy, Andrew Brodigan, Trevor Giff, John Paul Casey, Paul Lynch, Austin Carroll and Gregory McCaughey. They will be joined by the top ten players from next Saturday’s refixed qualifier.
Senior Panel member Brendan Lawlor issued a timely reminder last Wednesday to team managers Alan McCabe and John Conlon who are preparing for the club’s date with The Island in the Leinster quarter-finals at Mount Juliet next month. Lawlor (2) produced a magnificent round of 42pts to win the Open Singles Stableford competition by one shot from Colm Coburn (19) and also took the gross prize with a four under par total of 40pts. Lawlor round also saw his handicap drop to one. Coburn took Cateogry 2 with Kevin Redmond (12) and Tadhg O’Sullivan (21) winning Categories 1 and 3 respectively while Ruairi McMahon (18) claimed the juvenile prize.
Wednesday, July 25 – Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Brendan Lawlor (2) 42pts. Category 1 (0-12): Kevin Redmond (12) 38pts, Sean Laverty (3) 36/19pts. Category 2 (13-19): Colm Coburn (19) 41pts, Nicholas MacShane (19) 40pts. Category 3 (20+): Tadhg O’ Sullivan (21) 37pts, Tony Hanna (22) 36/16pts. Best Gross: Brendan Lawlor (2) 40pts. Juvenile: Ruairi McMahon (18) 34pts. CSS: 73/35pts.
DUNDALK LADIES
LADY Captain’s Pat’s charity an Open Four Lady Team Event was held on 21st and 24th July. This competition was in aid of The Mater Foundation and PWSI. It was sponsored by Sinead and Fergus O’Callaghan, Precision Cables.
The competition was a huge success with over 40 teams participating. There were ladies from a number of visiting clubs also. This is one of the biggest competitions on the golfing calendar and the results did not disappoint with the winning team Joan Mc Kenna, Claire Mc Kenna, Zara Wadding and Siobhan Rogers coming in with a phenomenal 93pts.
Sinead O’Callaghan from Precision Cables spoke at the presentation at how delighted they were to sponsor this very special competition. Lady Captain Pat thanked the sponsors for their beautiful prizes. She thanked everyone associated with making this fundraising event a huge success.
This night was all about the charities. Lady Captain Pat spoke of her delight at being able to support two very worthy charities. She explained that The Heart House charity is part of the Mater Foundation and is directly involved with Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, particularly focused on research and development and screening of those at risk through genetic testing. The Heart House seeks to prevent this and other hidden heart conditions.
PWSI, Prader Willi Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder and PWSI rely heavily on charitable donations in order to support the families and carers of the people with PWS. Lady Captain Pat’s niece was born with PWS and she wanted to make a donation to this Charity.
Dr Hugh McCann a cardiologist from The Mater Hospital was invited to this presentation and spoke to the ladies of Dundalk Golf Club. He spoke of his love of Dundalk being born in Barrack Street and how proud he was to be from Dundalk. He explained that Sudden Cardiac death has no answers and creates huge worries for families. It is rare and undetectable. One person per week per year dies of this condition.
He expressed his thanks at the fund raising done by the ladies. It is needed to get resources to look into this devastating condition.
Lady Captain Pat thanked Dr High McCann for attending the presentation and at the end of the evening announced that over 7500 euros was raised.
Competition results: 1st: 93 Points Siobhan Rogers 21, Joan McKenna 29, Clare Mckenna 35, Zara Wadding 22; 2nd 89 Points Caroline Dunne 36, Eva Beirne 31 Maura Shelly 31, Maeve Ahern 22.
DUNLEER SOCIETY
THIRTY two members of the Society visited Dundalk Golf Club on Saturday 21st July to compete for the Memorial Trophy, which is supported by Halpenny Golf, Drogheda.
The Overall Prize was also provided by Halpenny Golf and presented to the winner Gary Reynolds 39pts at the presentation in the Dunleer Inn that evening. It is worth a mention, that Mary Tiernan, a new member, won her first catergory prize with 32pts, having scored a ‘hole-in-one’ a few days earlier in Seapoint.
The other results were as follows:Cats 1 - 1st Robbie Byrne 35pts, 2nd Paul Flanagan 32pts, 3rd Michael Hughes 32pts.
Cat 2 - 1st Mary Tiernan 32pts, 2nd George Reynolds 30pts, 3rd Paul Mulcahy 29pts.
Longest Drive - Andrew Ward, Nearest the Pin - Peter Grogan, Twos - Ray Moore (2), Ciaran Reynolds, Gary Reynolds and Peter Grogan.
The next outing is to Concra Wood on Saturday 18th August sponsored by Wogans Home Care, Dunleer.
GREENORE LADIES
CONDITIONS were tricky in last Thursday’s Open, with gusting winds and fast-running fairways, but the winning scores were excellent. Fionnuala Breathnach (Westport GC) carded a great 43 points to win. Marie McAnallen came runner-up with 37. Sheila Berrills made a sizeable haul in the Twos with her birdie on the 6th.
The torrential downpour on Saturday forced the cancellation of the second round of Lady Captain Mary Ryan’s Prize. Results based on first round scores were as follows:
1st Anne McDonnell 72 nett, 2nd Patricia Brennan 73 nett. Gross Seana McGuinness 81grs, 3rd:Anne McParland 73 nett; Cat A Rosemary Hanratty 75 nett, Cat B Nora Gormley 74 nett, Cat C: Ethna Dowling 76 nett.
1st Day Mary P. Kirk 75 nett, Committee prize Margaret Hanley 77 nett.
GIG Ladies 12-hole stableford winner Una McGoey 28pts, 2nd Maria Duffy 24pts.
Gents 12-hole stableford winner Dermot Phillips 24pts.
The regular Thursday Open continues this week, with a ninehole stableford available for lady members.
On Saturday August 4th the McHugh Cup Street/Medal/GoY 7 takes place.
Break out your PINK and get your partner organised for the Saturday August 11th National Breast Cancer Four-ball SF. All proceeds will be donated to NBC.
LAYTOWN & BETTYSTOWN
THIS year’s winner of Bryan Collins’ Captain’s Prize to the Men at Laytown & Bettystown Golf Club was Diarmuid Dunne.
The competition was run over two weekends and 255 players took part in qualifying rounds, with half of them going on to contest the final stage on July 21st.
Diarmuid won with a nett score of 68 (three-under par), one shot ahead of a group of six players who were one shot behind. The winner of the Gross prize on the day was John McGinn who had a level-par 71.
At the evening function when the prizes were presented to the winners, Club Captain Bryan Collins thanked all of those who made the event so enjoyable and successful. He had special words of appreciation for Stephen Hoey and his greenkeepers who ensured that the links course was presented at its very best for this major competition, and he also expressed his appreciation for the brilliant work done by Competitions Secretary Declan Smyth and his team.
The bar and restaurant staff, as well as Club Professional Scott Kirkpatrick, were also thanked for their contribution, as was photographer Joe Ryan.
Captain’s Prize results: 1st Diarmuid Dunne 68, 2nd Noel Tubridy