Dundalk Golf Club and Mannan Castle Golf Club notes

DUNDALK GOLF CLUB

Ronan Murphy (15) shot 65 nett to win the Oriel Cup as Open Week continued at Dundalk Golf Club last week. He had two shots to spare over Fergal Sexton (12), who then bounced back to win the Intermediate Scratch Cup on Saturday.

The Oriel Cup, sponsored by Moran CCTV, took place last Wednesday and is one of the highlights of Open Week, having been first played for 75 years ago in 1950.

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Murphy shot 10 pars and one birdie on his way to carding an 80, which translated to a 65 nett. He went out in 41 or 33 nett and came home in 39 or 32 nett.

His birdie came at the par five seventh with four of his pars coming on the front nine at the second, sixth, eighth and ninth. Down the back he parred the 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th.

Sexton had a 79 gross, which represented a 67 nett, and he too had one birdie and 10 pars with the birdie coming at the par five 12th. He went out in 40 gross, which was 34 nett and came home in 39 gross, which was 33 nett.

His excellent form continued into the Intermediate Scratch Cup, sponsored by Ultan and Deborah Herr, where he went four shots better in shooting a gross 75.

Sexton went out in 37, thanks to birdies at the second and fifth and pars at the third, sixth, seventh and ninth. He came home in 38 with a birdie at the 12th and pars at the 10th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th.

That left him six shots clear of Richard Barry and Anthony O’Donoghue, who both shot 81, with Barry taking second place overall on countback while Aidan Rice (20) shot 68 to win the nett prize.

The Minor Scratch Cup was run in conjunction with the Intermediate competition and resulted in a win for Alan Uzell, who won on countback from Jarlath Purcell after both had shot rounds of 88.

Uzell went out in 48 after pars on the fifth and eighth minimised the damage caused by a triple bogey seven on the third and a double bogey on the fourth.

He was much better down the back nine, where pars at the 10th, 12th, 15th, 17th and 18th helped him to come home in 40 for an overall score of 88.

Purcell went out in 47, his only par coming at the second, and had birdies at the 11th and 13th, followed by pars at the 14th and 15th to leave him in pole position heading into the final three holes.

But a triple bogey seven at the long par four 16th followed by bogeys at the 17th and 18th meant he came home in 41 and lost out on countback to Uzell by one shot after tying with him on 88.

Larry Curtin took third place after shooting 89 while Ciaran Keenan (30) had a 66 for the best nett score.

Anthony McCrave (20) won the Singles Stableford competition sponsored by KMR Accountants, shooting at 62 nett that included two eagles and saw him cover the front nine in level par 36 gross, which was 26 nett.

His first eagle came at the second when he holed his second shot from 175 yards, and the second was at the par-five sixth when he holed a sand wedge after a drive, and an eight iron got him close.

He also had pars at the first, fifth, eighth and ninth, and his only blemish was a double bogey at the index one-fourth.

More doubles followed on the back nine at the 10th, 12th, 13th,14th and 18th, but he also managed to birdie the index two 11th and par the 15th and 17th as he came home in 46 for a nett 36.

His 62 edged out Derek Teather (15) by one shot with Teather producing a superb card that included a birdie at the difficult 16th, 10 pars and seven bogeys as he went out in 33 nett and came home in 30 nett.

Clem Walshe shot a level par 72 to take the gross prize while category honours went to Richard Barry (12), Conor Martin (14) and Andrew Carroll (21).

The Flanagan Motors Open Four Person Team competition on Thursday was won by the team of Mickey Coburn, Ollie Reilly, Gerry Byrne and Noel McGuinness with 87pts.

Club professional Cian Geraghty had his first solo win on the Irish PGA circuit last Friday when he won the Ballymore Newlands Pro-Am.

He defied gusts of over 50kmh to hole back-to-back birdies on the final two holes as he carded a one-under par 71, which was the only sub-par round of the day.

Eoin Murphy contributed 2.5 points from a possible five in helping Leinster to a fourth successive victory in the Men’s Inter-Provincials at Knightsbrook last week. It is the first time since the 1960s that Leinster have four successive titles.

Good luck to Caolan Rafferty, who is part of the Irish team taking part in this week’s European Amateur Team Championships in Killarney.On the inter-club front, there was an agonising defeat for the Barton Cup team as they lost 3-2 to Ashbourne.

Wins for Dennis Cunningham and Barry Cunningham and Maurice Soraghan and John Paul Casey had Dundalk needing just one more point for victory, but they lost each of the remaining three matches by one hole.

Meanwhile, the Barton Shield team lost by four holes to County Louth in Baltray on Sunday.

Thursday, July 3 - Flanagan Motors Open 4 Person Team Competition - Winning Team: Micky Coburn, Ollie Reilly, Gerry Byrne, Noel McGuinness 87pts. Runner Up: Brian Crombie, Jim Burlingham, Oliver McGinnity, Dermot McDermott 86/46pts. Third: Johannes Steenvoorden, Gerry Mulligan, Edmund Sheridan, Brian McCamley 86/40pts.

Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29 - KMR Open Singles Stroke – Overall: Anthony McCrave (20) 62, Derek Teather (15) 63. Gross: Clem Walshe (4) 72. Division 1: Richard Barry (12) 68. Shaun Ward (8) 70. Division 2: Conor Martin (14) 67/33/20, Ben O'Connor (18) 67/33/21. Division 3: Andrew Carroll (21) 66/33.5, David Murdock (26) 66/34.

Monday, June 30 - Cathedral Financial Seniors Stableford – Overall: Garth McDonald (22, Banbridge) 43pts. Veteran: Timothy Jewell (25) 39pts. Division 1: Gearoid Ó Conluain (13) 38pts. Division 2: Eamonn Arthur (20) 40pts. Division 3: Edward Jones (35) 39pts.

Wednesday, July 2 –  Moran CCTV Oriel Cup Open Singles Stroke – Overall: Ronan Murphy (15) 65pts, Fergal Sexton (12) 67/33. Gross: Joseph Laverty 70. Division 1: Conor Murphy (7) 67/33.5, Ben Walsh (10) 70. Division 2: Mark David McDonnell (18) 68/32, Conor Monahan (15) 68/36.5. Division 3: Anthony McGuinness (25) 69, Brendan Tinnelly (22) 71.

Saturday, July 5 – Intermediate Scratch Cup sponsored by Ultan and Deborah Herr – Overall: Fergal Sexton 75, Richard Barry 81/36, Anthony O’Donoghue 81/38. Best Nett: Aidan Rice (20) 68.

Saturday, July 5 – Minor Scratch Cup sponsored by Ultan and Deborah Herr – Overall: Alan Uzell 88/40, Jarlath Purcell 88/41, Larry Curtin 89/44. Best Nett: Ciaran Keenan (30) 66.

MANNAN CASTLE GOLF CLUB

Weekend Singles Stableford 28th and 29th June - Our overall winner this weekend was Liam Thornton with a very impressive 42pts on Saturday morning. A superb back nine of 23pts saw Liam win by two shots.

Philip Hughes won Division 1 with a great score of 40pts. A level par back nine, which included three birdies, helped Phillip win by two shots.

Division 2 was won by Gerry Matthews on a score of 38pts. Three players finished on 38pts, and it was Gerry who won on the count back. Clifford Clinton won Division 3 with a score of 39pts. A strong front nine of 22pts helped Cliff win by one shot.

Division 4 was won by Liam Kenny, who shot a score of 39pts. The highlight of Liam’s round came on the very first hole, a brilliant birdie two to get him started.

Overall winner - Liam Thornton (PH.25) – 42pts; Division 1 - Philip Hughes (PH.11) – 40pts; Division 2 - Gerry Matthews (PH.13) - 38pts c/b; Division 3 - Clifford Clinton (PH.22) – 39pts; Division 4 - Liam Kenny (PH.28) – 39pts.

MANNAN CASTLE SENIORS

The first July competition for Mannan Castle Seniors saw 60 eager golfers tee up for nine holes of friendly rivalry.

Peter Sloan(PH13) was the clear winner overall with 21 points, with an excellent round capped off with a brilliant par on the final hole.

In Category 1, it required the countback to separate Philip McEntee (PH8) and Oliver Fox (PH7), who both scored 19 points. A number of one-point holes was Oliver's undoing.

Category 2 winner Vincent Litchfield (PH10) had a very good score of 20 points. He was, however, subject to a penalty of 2 points.

In the event, his nett score of 18 points was good enough to hold off Joe Mullen(PH12) and Fergus Lane (PH11) on countback. Countback was also required in Category 3, where no less than 5 players had 20 points.

Ultimately, David Flynn (PH13) came out on top ahead of Richard Rountree (PH13), Sean Harvey (PH13), Martin Kelly (PH15) and Sam Duffy (PH16).

Tuesday, 1st July 9 Hole Competition (9 hole handicaps) - Overall: Peter Sloan (13) 21pts; Category 1: Philip McEntee ( 8 ) 19pts c/b; Category 2: Vincent Litchfield (10) 18pts c/b; Category 3: David Flynn (13) 20pts.

Congratulations to our Ulster Trophy Team, captained by Rita O'Loughlin, who are now through to the 5th round of the competition after beating a strong team from Concra Wood Golf Club.

All the matches were played with great sportsmanship, and the final result was 4.5 to 1.5 in Mannan Castle's favour. The next round is against County Donegal GC.