Golf notes

DUNDALK GOLF CLUB

Team Hazel have climbed into top position after week two of the Precision Cables Winter League at Dundalk Golf Club. They now sit on 259pts and lead Team Ash by three points and Team Alder by seven points.

They scored 130pts in week two led by captain Sean Ward who contributed a fabulous 36pts with John McKeever delivering 34pts while John Paul Casey and David Cairns scored 30pts each.

Team Ash, captained by Patsy Cole, were the biggest movers of the round with 132pts and moved into second place.

Eamon McEneaney was their top scorer with 36pts followed by David Kelly with 34 pts with captain Patsy also contributing a fine 32 pts to the cause, Laurence Hanratty was their other scorer with 30pts.

Team Alder captained by Alan Uzell have dropped down to third place on 252pts followed by Brian Ward’s Team Hawthorn on 248pts in fourth place.

With four rounds to be played in the New Year there is still a lot to play off as five teams are within 20pts of the leaders.

A stronger finish on the closing holes saw Eamon McEneaney, playing off a 12 handicap, emerge with the best overall score in the weekend Singles Stableford Competition played over 14 holes with the final four holes on the back nine not in play.

His 36 points saw him edge past Sean Ward (22) and Anthony McGuinness (19), who also both finished on 36 points, but just came up short on a countback.

After a solid start of three two points in a row on the opening holes, Eamonn, who won the 2024 Captain’s Prize, upped his game with back-to-back pars for three points at the par four fourth and par three fifth holes and added another brace of three pointers with pars at the par five seventh and par four eighth holes, boosting his front nine tally to 22 points.

He went on to par all of his remaining five holes on the back nine, accumulating four three pointers and a two pointer, to close out with 14 points and take the accolade as the winner of Division 2. For Sean Ward, playing off a handicap of 22, it was a case of what might have been.

He showed real intent from the start, his solid brace of two pointers on the opening two holes was followed with back-to-back pars for three points at the fifth and sixth holes before finishing his opening nine in style with pars for four points at the par four eighth and par three ninth holes to reach the turn on 25 points.

He battled to maintain his high scoring momentum on the remaining five holes, recording four two points and one three points to finish out with 11 points. His overall total of 36 points won him the Division 4 honours.

Anthony McGuinness, playing off a 19 handicap, also finished on 36 points, but was just nudged out by Ward on a countback and had to settle for runner up in Division 4.

This was despite an impressive scoring streak on the front nine, recording three three pointers, interspersed with four two points, on the first seven holes before finishing with a flourish with par at the par four eighth and a birdie at the par three ninth holes, both for four points, to reach the turn on 25 points.

There was also a tight finish for the Division 1 honours, with Gerry Murray, playing off a six handicap, just edging it over Michael Gill (9) on a countback after both had finished on 31 points. Division 3 was won by David Kelly (13) with 34 points, one point ahead of Danny Gallagher (14) who was runner up.

Saturday, 14th December and Sunday, 15th December - Singles Stableford - Division 1: Gerry Murray (6) 31pts, Michael Gill (9) 31pts. Division 2: Eamon McEneaney (12) 36pts, Cathal Connolly (9) 35pts. Division 3: David Kelly (13) 34pts, Daniel Gallagher (14) 33pts. Division 4: Sean Ward (22) 36pts, Anthony McGuinness (19) 36pts.

Precision Cables Winter League Leaderboard (after Round 2): 259 - Team Hazel (Capt Sean Ward) 129/130. 256 - Team Ash (Capt Patsy Cole ) 124/132. 252 - Team Alder (Capt Alan Uzell) 132/120. 248 - Team Hawthorn (Capt Brian Ward ) 130/118. 242 - Team Birch (Capt Sean Hession) 119/123. Team Willow (Capt Austin Shaw) 113/129. 236 - Team Oak (Capt Nigel Giff) 114/122. 232 - Team Cherry (Capt Colm Coburn ) 119/113. 229 - Team Rowan (Capt Tommy Renaghan) 117/112. 190 - Team Elm (Capt John McCann) 110/80.

Dundalk Golf Club Ladies

Winter League Week 6 Saturday 30th November & Tuesday 3rd December 2024.

Week 6 saw the final week of the Ladies Winter League for 2024. Team “Neptune” captained by Anne McEntegart, along with Pauline Campbell, Mags Coburn, Ruth Connolly, Catherine Duff and Joan McKenna held out to be crowned the winners with a fabulous score of 441 points.

In second place was Team “Uranus” captained by Grainne Gallagher along with Maeve Ahern, Paula Cahill, Fionnuala Dullaghan, Anne McDonnell and Isla Smith with a score of 429 points.

14 Hole Competition Division 1: Winner: Sinead M O’Callaghan 21.2/27 (19) 39 pts, Runner up: Mags Coburn 17.5/22 (16) 35 pts, Third: Anne McDonnell 16.4/21 (16) 35 pts;

Division 2: Winner: Sinead O’Callaghan 25.7/32 (23) 34 pts,Runner up: Grainne Gallagher 24.1/30 (23) 34 pts, Third: Angie O’Hara 24.7/31 (23) 34 pts

Division 3: Winner: Hermione Duffy 44.7/55 (40) 37 pts, Runner up: Anne McEntegart 40.3/49 (37) 36 pts, Third: Oonagh Quinn 40.3/49 (28) 35 pts.

9 Hole Competition Winner: Mary Connor 29.1/18 (17) 24 pts, Runner up: Maureen Sheridan 19.2/12 (12) 23 pts
Lady Scramble Competition Results 10th December 2024.

Results for 14-hole 3 Lady Scramble - Winners: Olive Jones, Maeve Ahern, and Mags Coburn HC 10.5 with a net score of 50.5; Runners up: Anne McEntegart, Sinead O’Callaghan, and Ide McDermott HC 14.2 with a net score of 50.8.

9 Hole Lady Scramble: Winners: Marie Griffin, Una Kelly, and Catherine MacGuinness HC 9.1 with a net score of 34.9
Dundalk Golf Club Men

Three players - Peter Cunningham, Frank Byrne and John Mulligan - returned the best scores in the Singles Stableford competition held on December 8.

All three returned excellent cards of 35pts which earned Cunningham and Byrne top spot in Divisions 3 and 2 respectively while Mulligan took the runner-up in Division 2 after losing out to Byrne on countback.

The 14 hole competition did not include the third or fourth holes on the front nine and the 15th and 16th on the back nine.

Playing off 14 Cunningham had four-point birdie twos at the ninth and 13th and had five three point pars which came at fifth, sixth, 11th, 12th and 17th as he went through the front seven holes in 17pts and the back seven in 18pts for his 35pts.

His score beat Byrne and Mulligan on countback and he took Division 3 by one point from Danny Gallagher (14).

Byrne, the recently crowned 2024 Golfer of the Year, was off nine and opened up with a three-point par and four-point birdie on the first two holes.

Three three-point pars followed at the seventh, eighth and ninth as he completed the opening seven holes in 19pts. His back seven was bookended by three-point pars at the 10th and 18th and in between were five solid two-pointers as came home in 16pts.

Mulligan, playing off nine, took the runners-up spot in Division 2 losing out by one point on countback to Byrne. His 35pts included three birdies which yielded three points at the sixth and 14th and four points at the 18th. He also had three point pars at the first, second, seventh, eighth and 10th.

Turlach King (9) took Division One on countback from Peter Durnin (30) after both shot 32pts while Colm Garvey (16) with 34pts won Division 4 by one point from Ciaran Corbett (17).

The aftermath of Storm Darragh, which saw a tree blocking Birch’s Lane at the entrance to the Golf Club on the Saturday morning, meant that the second round of the Precision Cables Winter League had to be postponed.

Sunday, 8 December - Singles Stableford - Division 1: Turlach King (9) 32/21pts, Peter Durnin (3) 32/20pts. Division 2: Frank P Byrne (9) 35/22pts, John Mulligan (9) 35/21pts. Division 3: Peter Cunningham (14) 35/24pts, Daniel Gallagher (14) 34pts. Division 4:Colm Garvey (16) 34pts, Ciaran Corbett (17) 33pts.

MANNAN CASTLE GOLF CLUB

Mannan Castle Men

Unfortunately, storm Darragh caused havoc across the country Friday & Saturday. But thankfully our greens staff worked hard to get the course open for golf on Sunday.

The overall winner on Sunday was Barry Conroy. A very consistent round of golf saw Barry shoot 31pts over 13 holes.

Division 1 was won by Ciaran Marron on a brilliant score of 30pts. Ciaran capped off a great day with a birdie on his final hole.
Frank Kelly won division 2 with a score of 30pts. Continuing his fine form from the summer, this saw Frank win by one shot.

Division 3 was won by Kevin Gavigan on a score of 29pts. A strong finish saw Kevin win on the count back to Eamonn Murphy.

Sunday Singles Stableford 8 December 2023

Overall Winner - Barry Conroy (PH.16) – 31pts; Division 1 1 st - Ciaran Marron (PH.11) – 30pts; Division 2 1 st Frank Kelly (PH.13) – 30pts; Division 3 1 st Kevin Gavigan (PH.20) - 29pts c/b; 2nd - Eamonn Murphy (PH.24) – 29pts.

Mannan Castle Seniors

Mannan Castle Seniors had their annual Christmas Scramble and Lunch on Tuesday last. It was great to see the clubhouse full of senior golfers having a meal, a drink and plenty of craic. They were joined by the greenkeeping staff whose efforts on the frosty morning to enable golf to take place was greatly appreciated.

Thereze Martin and her very helpful staff made sure that everyone was well fed and watered. The scramble which preceded the lunch was in general very competitive but the team of Con Hanneffy, Tom Lynch, Richard Eakin and Jim McMahon stood out.

They had four birdies and an eagle on their card over nine holes and there was no way that was going to be beaten.

In second place with a very good score of 3 under par was Graeme Woodcock, Denis Murphy, Fred Fitzsimons and Brian Flanagan who pipped the third placed by 0.1 on the handicap.

As part of the day the seniors had a food appeal on behalf of the Carrickmacross Food Bank and the Senior Captain and Secretary would like to thank the members for their very generous support.

Seniors Christmas Scramble Tuesday 10th December

1st: C. Hanneffy/T. Lynch/R. Eakin/Jim McMahon 27; 2nd: G. Woodcock/Denis Murphy/F. Fitzsimons/B. Flanagan 30; 3rd: P. McGovern/John Hanratty/P. Sloan/S.O'Hagan 30