A wild and blustery weekend
This weekend (9th, 10th, 11th October) if permitted by updated GUI guidelines, will see the men’s club host an 18 hole Open singles, kindly sponsored by Today’s Man Clothes Shop. This is a new sponsor for the club and we wish Joe Hourigan all the best with his new business in the town and as always, would remind our members to remember our sponsors particularly in these times, and to support and shop local whenever possible. Timesheets are now open on the BRS system for online booking. Catering is available for members and visitors for these events.
MEN’S CLUB NEWS
Last weekend saw the men’s club host an 18 hole Open Singles, kindly sponsored by Elite Ambulances. In a marked change from previous weekends it was a wild and blustery weekend particularly on Sunday making for really challenging conditions and any score well earned. As per previous weeks, due to Covid restrictions we are a week behind with results and these will be in next week’s notes.
The previous weekend saw the men’s club host the final Golfer of the Year events, the Sean O’Brien Memorial Cup which in keeping with recent times saw a great turnout to try and win this Cup in memory of one of the club’s most popular members. Also in keeping were the scores required to feature, with a fantastic 42 points needed to claim first prize. This is the total that Denis Howard playing off 9 duly delivered to win by the minimum from Brian Whelan (15) who brought in 41 points. The gross was won by James Sheehan (4) with a fine round to bring in 35 points and in third place was Myles O’Malley (25) who also had the very good total 41 points. The Open Singles run in parallel with the Sean O’Brien Cup was won by Adam Luddy (3) who is no stranger to the winner’s circle with a magnificent total of 41 points. Adam is continuing the fine form which saw him claim the Golfer of the Year prize last year. Speaking of which, our competition secretary Mike Lyons is going through the last round of results and we will have the final GOY standings for the year in next week’s notes.
TUESDAY COMPETITION
Our popular Tuesday night competition is approaching the end of its run with possibly 1 or 2 more weeks depending on updated government guidelines until it’s completion for the year. At this stage, we hardly need to remind that players must book in on the BRS system. To avoid congestion, the timesheet for the Tuesday competition will be open all day and it will be €5 for members and €10 for visitors to enter. Last week’s winner was Pat Kavanagh (12) with a fine total of 28 points. Second was Liam Gamble (24) on 24 points and best lady on the night was Catherine Kavanagh (12) with 25 points.
WEDNESDAY QUALIFIER
The Gents Open Wednesday Qualifier reached its conclusion with the final qualifier held on Wednesday, September 23. All the weekly winners qualified for the final which was held last Saturday, September 26. Despite the often non summer-like conditions, this competition was well supported throughout the summer showing the desire for people to get out and participate in sporting activity in spite of the constraints Covid 19 has tried to place on us all. The results of the final which were not available at time of going to press last week are Adam Luddy (3) taking first place with a superb 41 points followed by Niall Kavanagh (10) on 37 points. As mentioned elsewhere in the notes, Adam is continuing his fine form from last year with a resultant tumble in his handicap. Well played Adam and keep up the fine golf.
SEANOIRI NEWS
On Thursday, October 1 the Seanoiri set out on their 13 hole Champagne Scramble in glorious sunshine accompanied by an autumn breeze but finished in a downpour which flooded the course in about 10 minutes and this led to a reduction to 10 holes. The results were as follows, Team winners were Billy Walsh, Michael Birkett and Jim Griffin with 73pts. Second were Pat Luddy, Jim Flynn and Jimmy Drea with 71pts and third were John McCarthy, Michael O’Sullivan and Dave Russell with 69pts. Liam Gamble won the individual prize with 27pts. Looking forward to more favourable weather next Thursday.
LADIES CLUB NEWS
The results of the competition played last week are as follows kindly sponsored by Mary Kiely. 1st Rita O’Brien (10)38 pts, 2nd Deirdre Mullins (14) 34 pts, gross Catherine Kavanagh (12) 21 pts, 3rd Lucy O’Reilly (28) 32 pts. This week’s competition is the Christmas Hamper kindly sponsored by McMahon Builders Providers. It will be played Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday.
GOLF SOCIETY BOOKINGS
The club is currently formalising the events calendar for the remainder of 2020 as well as preparing for 2021. We have seen good activity in society bookings this year with slots set aside most weekends to cater for visiting golf societies. We have already taken bookings for 2021. To avoid disappointment for next year we are advising that golf society secretaries contact Doloris on 025/24072 during office hours or by email at info@mitchelstown-golf.com to reserve your preferred date and time. We are now offering an excellent catering service at the club and we are geared up better than ever to look after the needs of societies on and off the course. If Mitchelstown’s superb golf course is on your list of “must play” courses for 2021 we look forward to hearing from you asap.
GUI/ILGU PROTOCOLS REMAIN FIRMLY IN PLACE
Members are not permitted to use the course unless they book a tee time. That applies for groups of players or individual players. This is mandatory for HSE traceability in the event of a member contracting the virus. The club has to keep a record of activity on the course and it is the responsibility of our members to comply with this requirement. The GUI/ILGU protocols as well as government and HSE guidelines and restrictions remain in place until changed. This applies to all areas of the course and clubhouse. The onus remains on all of our members to follow the protocols which will be in place for everyone using the golf course until further notice. We are required to continue acting with responsibility and a duty of care to our course staff, to everyone in the club, to our families and neighbours, and most importantly to the different communities we live and work in.
WE’RE OPEN FOR MEMBERSHIP
In spite of the scourge of Covid19 we are delighted to welcome a substantial increase in our membership this year. So far this year we have increased our membership by over 20%. This is well ahead of the target budgeted for in 2020. We welcome all our new members and it’s great to see a good number of our former members from the Mitchelstown area re-joining. Captains Chris and Carmel and our president Ger would like to extend a warm welcome our many new members. In normal circumstances we would have liked to have held a ‘New Members Evening’ but due to current restrictions this is not possible. Therefore, if anybody is looking for help in getting a handicap or has any questions on how the club / competitions are run please contact us on chris.ablett71@gmail.com or carmel.dowling@gmail.com. With our course looking in fantastic condition we have a superb product to offer to golfers of all levels wishing to join us.
We have a range of affordable and attractive membership options available and a top class golf course to offer to new and returning members. Contact sports look like being curtailed for the foreseeable future. Golf offers a sporting outlet and challenge for everyone. We would be happy to welcome you as a new member if golf is something you might be interested in pursuing as a sporting challenge whether you are involved in contact sports or not. Details can be found on our website www.mitchelstown-golf.com or can be had by phoning 025/24072.