Dundalk Golf Club news

Eamon McEneaney held off the challenge of Paul O’Reilly to win Ultan Herr’s Captain’s Prize in tough conditions on Sunday afternoon. McEneaney, playing off 18, led the field into the final round after shooting a 65 nett in the qualifying round the previous weekend.

Four pars and birdie on the front nine saw him go out in 31 nett and three more pars down the back nine saw him come home in 34 nett to finish on seven under par nett.

As a former senior inter-county footballer and manager, McEneaney had plenty of big-game experience to draw on as he teed off in the final group and he opened with six solid bogeys before dropping a shot with a double bogey at the seventh.

However, he got that back with a birdie on the ninth to turn in 35 nett and a par at the 11th and a birdie at the 14th saw him move to 11 under par nett for the competition.

Disaster struck at the difficult par four 15th, which was playing into a three-club wind. He walked off with a 10 and dropped to six under par nett opening the door for O’Reilly who had started the day on two-under nett but turned on one-under par nett.

Playing off 23, O’Reilly was burning up the back nine having parred 11, 12, 13 and 16 to move to seven under nett but he dropped back to six under-nett after a double bogey six at the last.

That left him tied with McEneaney, who was still out on the course. McEneaney, drawing on all his experiences, showed great character in responding to his disaster at the 15th by finishing bogey-par-bogey to move to seven-under par nett and nudge ahead of O’Reilly to claim his first Captain’s Prize.

Paul O’Callaghan (14) was a shot further back in third after an excellent four under par 68 in the second round edging out Mark McDonnell and Ross Kehoe on countback for that podium place.

Caolan Rafferty with rounds of 69 and 73 was the gross winner in 142, six ahead of Ben Cahill while Frank Byrne (15) took the Veteran’s Prize and George Rogers (28) claimed the Super Veteran’s Prize.

The prizes were presented by Captain Ultan Herr in a packed Clubhouse on Sunday evening with many tributes being paid to the Captain for his leadership and contribution during the year.

A scorching run of scoring on the back nine that yielded a remarkable 28 points saw Paul Hanratty (26) streak ahead of the field to win the midweek Open Singles Stableford Competition sponsored by McKenna Man with a final tally of 50 points.

It was a round that started with no score on the first hole but after that gradually grew in momentum on the outward nine with back-to-back three-pointers on the third and fourth holes before adding a brace of four-pointers with a par four at the eighth hole and a birdie two at the ninth to turn on 22 points.

Paul’s back nine was every golfer’s dream, parring the par five 10th and 12th holes, par four 14th, 15th and 18th holes and par three 17th, accumulating six three-pointers and two four-pointers in what overall was a memorable round.

He had five points to spare over his nearest contender, Desmond McKeown (9), who finished with a highly respectable 45 points. His round kicked off with a birdie three at the first for four points and was followed with birdies for three points at the par three fifth and ninth holes and par-five sixth to reach the turn in a challenging position on 25 points.

His back nine of 20 points, while including pars for three-pointers at the 11th, 12th, 15th and 16th holes, could not keep pace with the performance over the closing holes of overall winner Paul Hanratty. Divisional winners were Neal Mackell (1), Tony Ryan (17) and Paul Murtagh (26).

Saturday, June 27, Sunday, June 28 and Sunday, August 4 - Captain Ultan Herr’s Prize – 36 Hole Stroke – Overall: 137 - Eamon McEneaney (18) 65/72. 138 – Paul O’Reilly (23) 70/68; 139 – Paul O’Callaghan (14) 71/68; Mark McDonnell (21) 71/68; Ross Kehoe (18) 67/72. Gross: Caolan Rafferty 142, Ben Cahill 148. Division 1: John Sharkey (8) 142 (71/71). Division 2: Laurence O’Hanlon (17) 142 (75/67). Division 3: Tommy McDonnell (24) 141 (73/68).

Saturday Qualifier – Overall: Flyn Kiernan (16) 64. Division 1: Graeme Smith (6) 69. Division 2: Malcolm Drake (18) 66. Division 3: John McKenna (25) 69. Gross: Shane Hession (3) 74.

Sunday Qualifier – Overall: Sean Gallagher (12) 66. Division 1: Sean Hession (13) 69. Division 2: Sean McErlean (16) 71. Division 3: Conor Boyle (25) 69. Gross: Aidan Lawless (4) 74.

Sunday (18 Holes) - Overall: Noel Reid (21) 69. Division 1: John Neary (9) 69, Eoin Hamill (12) 69. Division 2: Brendan Keane (13) 70, Ciaran Dunne (19) 71. Division 3: John McLaughlin (23) 71. Gary O’Brien (23) 71.

Wednesday, 31 July - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford - Overall: Paul Hanratty (26) 50pts, Desmond McKeown (9) 45pts. Division 1: Neal Mackell (1) 40pts. Division 2: Tony Ryan (17) 42pts. Division 3: Paul Murtagh (26) 42 pts. Gross Recognition: Shane Hession 38pts.