Weather disrupts Barton Shield

Old rivals Ballybunion and Tralee will fight it out another day in the Barton Shield as the persistent rain and howling winds forced the cancellation of the West Munster Area final at Dooks on Sunday last.

My predictions in last week’s issue had stated that Ballybunion would meet Killarney in the final with the North Kerry club winning, so at least I have a chance of being half-right when play is resumed.

The action began on Saturday morning at Dooks where Newcastlewest beat Glengarriff by two holes, Tralee beat Doneraile by one hole and Ballybunion beat Kanturk also by one hole, giving me a perfect start to my predictions.

In the afternoon, Newcastlewest beat Dooks by one hole, Ballybunion beat Ring of Kerry by one hole and Tralee beat Killarney by two holes but the withdrawal of both Ceann Sibeal and Killorglin who were meant to clash in round two, meant that Ballybunion went straight into the final scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

Tralee beat Newcastlewest in Sunday morning’s semi-final to set up a clash with Ballybunion but the weather had deteriorated to such an extent in the afternoon that balls were being blown off the greens and a decision was made to postpone the final until Saturday next at 4.30pm.

The winners will then play Tramore in the Munster semi-final at Cork Golf Club on the weekend of August 13 and 14 while the hosts Cork Golf Club play Limerick Golf Club in the other semi-final.