Golf notes

DUNDALK GOLF CLUB

Fergus O’Callaghan produced the round of his life to win the 2024 Dundalk Intermediate Scratch Cup sponsored by Captain Ultan Herr and Deborah Herr. 

He shot a four over par 76 to win by two shots from Sean Matthews and three from John Paul Casey with all three shooting in the seventies. O’Callaghan, whose form, by his own admission, had been indifferent in recent weeks, turned it on when it really mattered.

He opened with two pars followed by two bogies and a par at the par-three fifth before recording the first of his birdies at the par five sixth. Two more pars followed before a bogey on the ninth saw him turn in two over par 38.

Pars at the 10th and 12th and a bogey at the 11th followed before another birdie arrived at the par three 13th. After parring 14 and 15, O’Callaghan bogeyed 16 and 17 before clinching victory with a par on the last as he came home in 38 for an overall of 78.

Matthews was just as steady going out in 39 and home in 39 with those two extra bogies the difference between him and O’Callaghan. Vincent Jackson (14) took the nett prize with a 66 while Paul O’Callaghan had a hole in one when he nailed his seven iron tee shot at the 13th.

Billy Curran won the Minor Scratch Cup which was also sponsored by Captain Ultan and Deborah Herr. He shot 85 after going in out in 40 thanks to four pars and a birdie on the ninth.

He came home in 45 despite starting the back nine with two double bogeys but steadying the ship with three successive pars from the 13th. Curran had one shot to spare after a back surge by Patrick Clarke came up one shot short.

After managing just one par on the front nine as he went out in 48, Clarke charged down the back nine and recorded one birdie and six pars as he came home in 38 for an 86 and second overall with Conor McClenaghan a shot further back in third. Robert McCaughey (21) shot 67 to win the Nett Prize.

On a day of tough playing conditions with persistent rain and wind, Kevin Henry (23) rose to the challenge to claim the overall winner’s prize in the midweek Open Singles Stableford Competition sponsored by McKenna Man with 45 points.

He produced a solid outward nine with five three pointers that included pars at the first, fifth, and ninth holes to turn on 21 points. He boosted his scoring significantly early on the back nine with a par four at the 11th hole for four points, tagged on another four points with a birdie two at the 13th hole, maintained his consistency with back-to-back three pointers at the par fours 15th and 16th holes and ended with a brace of two pointers to come home in 24 points.

Paul Hanratty (29) also shot 45 points but had to be satisfied with the Division 3 inner’s prize, losing out because of a weaker back nine. The other divisional winners were Colin Roche (4) and Eugene J Hanratty (12) who both had 37 points.

The Junior Cup team have qualified for the Leinster North final after a 4-1 win over Corballis. There were wins for Odhran MacShane, Conor Murphy and Brian Óg Renaghan and halves for Ciaran Traynor and Clem Walshe.

The Senior Cup came agonisingly close to causing a major upset when they lost 3-2 to Castleknock with the final match being decided on the 22nd tie hole. Having trailed 4-1 halfway through their Leinster North quarter-final at Westmanstown, Dundalk came bouncing back down the back nine.

While Neal MacKell and Ben Cahill both taste defeat there were wins for Chris Clarke and Joe Laverty to leave the match level at 2-2 as Eoin Murphy headed down the 19th with 2022 Irish Close Champion Quentin Carew with the Castleknock man eventually prevailing on the 22nd hole of an absorbing contest. The Boys Foursomes team’s run also came to an end last week as they lost away to Clontarf.

Saturday, July 6 – Intermediate Scratch Cup sponsored by Captain Ultan and Deborah Herr – Overall: Fergus O'Callaghan 76, Sean Matthews 78, John Paul Casey 79. Nett: Vincent Jackson (14) 66.

Saturday, July 6 – Minor Scratch Cup sponsored by Captain Ultan and Deborah Herr – Overall: Billy Curran 85, Patrick Clarke 86, Conor McClenaghan 87. Nett: Robert McCaughey (21) 67.

Sunday, July 7 - Mixed Foursomes sponsored by O'Callaghan Insurance - Winner: Katherina Conneally Sloan & Laurence O'Hanlon 58.5. Runner up: Miriam & Derek Williams 60.0. Third: Anne McEntegart & David Smyth 63.0.

Sunday, July 7 – Fourball sponsored by McKenna McArdle Solicitors - Nigel Giff & Sean Ward 46pts, Paul Hanratty & Sean Dunne 45/24/16pts, Ray Pepper & Colm Garvey 45/24/15pts.

Wednesday, 10 July - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford – Overall: Kevin Henry (23) 45pts. Division 1: Colin Roche (4) 37pts. Division 2: Eugene J Hanratty (12) 37pts. Division 3: Paul Hanratty (29) 45pts.

MANNAN CASTLE GOLF CLUB

Mannan Castle Men

With an incredible score of 49pts, Kevin Kenna was our overall winner this weekend. Division 1 was won by Andrew Boylan on a score of 39pts. A superb birdie 2 on the first hole got Andrew off to a flyer. Runner up was Pauric Dowdall with 37pts.

Kieran Crozier won Division 2 on a score of 39pts. With 22pts on the back nine, this was enough for Kieran to beat Gene McEnroe on the count back. Division 3 was won by Artur Mulholland also on the count back. Artur shot a score of 38pts. In second place was Kyle Erasmus.

Kyriakos Delkos won Division 4 on a brilliant score of 45pts. Kyriakos played super golf on the back nine, the highlight a birdie on the par 5 15th. Runner up was Martin McDermott on a great score of 42pts.

Weekend Singles Stableford 6th & 7th July - Overall Winner - Kevin Kenna (PH.21) – 49pts. Division 1: 1st - Andrew Boylan (PH.11) – 39pts. 2nd - Pauric Dowdall (PH,8) – 37pts. Division 2: 1st - Kieran Crozier (PH.16) - 39pts c/b. 2nd - Gene McEnroe (PH.17) – 39pts. Division 3: 1st - Artur Mulholland (PH.22) - 38pts c/b. 2nd - Kyle Erasmus (PH.18) – 38pts. Division 4: 1st - Kyriakos Delkos (PH.24) – 45pts. 2nd - Martin McDermott (PH.24) - 42pts

Mannan Castle Open

Yet again the elements weren’t in our favour, with windy and showery conditions across both days. The week 2 winner was Gerry McMahon. A brilliant two on the first hole on Thursday got Gerry off to a flyer, and he continued it through the 18 holes, posting a brilliant 41pts. Runner up was Donard McCabe with a score of 39pts. Sean Pierson finished in third place with 38pts.

Summer Series Week 2 4th & 5th July - 1st - Gerry McMahon (PH.19) – 41pts, 2nd - Donard McCabe (PH.21) – 39pts, 3rd - Sean Pierson (PH.12) - 38pts.

Mannan Castle Seniors

Twenty five hardy souls arrived last Tuesday morning for the Mannan Castle Seniors weekly competition. Played over nine holes the scoring was very competitive with four strokes covering half the field.

Out on his own with 20 points was Gerry Smyth. He started well picking up 3 points on each of the first two holes before a no score on his third hole threatened to ruin his card. However he recovered well and finished without further mishap to win category 2.

Category 1 was won by Graeme Woodcock on countback from David MacGuinness with each scoring 19 points. Graeme's victory was thanks to pars on his final three holes.

Liam Kenny won a category for the second successive week. He was carrying a two shot penalty which reduced his score to 17 points but was still good enough to win on countback from Tom White in Category 3.

Result Tuesday 9th July 9 Hole Competition (9 hole handicap) - Category 1: Graeme Woodcock (8) 19pts c/b (David MacGuinness).Category 2: Gerry Smyth (11) 20pts. Category 3: Liam Kenny (13) 17pts (19-2) c/b (Tom White)

Mannan Castle Ladies

No less than three birdies on par 3s lit up this week's winning round by Loraine Delkos.  Add another four pars on top, Loraine finished with the marvelous score of 41pts.

The sister act of Marie Finnegan and Anne McKenna excelled in the less favourable conditions of Wednesday. Just the one birdie for Marie but ten pars beefed her score to 38 pts, enough for second place, with Anne coming into a great run of form finishing in third with 37pts.

Women's 18H STB sponsored by The Jockeys Bar & Restaurant 10th July 2024 - 1st Loraine Delkos (16) 41 pts, 2nd Marie Finnegan (14) 38 pts, 3rd Anne McKenna (45) 37 pts.

Congratulations Loraine, Marie and Anne, and well played everyone who took part this week. Many thanks to this week's kind sponsor The Jockeys Bar & Restaurant, Anne Street, Dundalk https://www.thejockeys.ie/ Please remember to support the businesses that support Mannan Castle.

A fantastic turnout this week’s nine-hole competition, weather conditions were perfect for golf on Monday morning. As impressive as the scoring was from our winners, all three scratched one hole.

Winner Angela Evers carded a notable five pars finishing with 21 points, to secure first place. Bernice McHugh pipped Anne McKenna on the countback but both feature in the prizes with 19pts. Bernice parred the 3th hole, after Anne birdied the 3rd hole, impressive golf from last year’s ‘Get Into Golf ‘graduates.

Women's Monday 9 Hole Stableford 7th July 2024 - 1st Angela Evers (12) 21 pts,2nd Bernice McHugh (23) 19 pts c/b.3rd Anne McKenna (21) 19pts.

Well done, LC Carol McMahon, Eilish Crawley, Imelda Hanratty, Maureen Crawley, and Frances Molloy. The final result after two legs was 5 matches all and it went to holes, and what a comeback in the end the team won by 6 holes!

Finally, congratulations to Lady Captain Carol McMahons Hilton Shield Team who won the 2024 Junior Hilton Shield after a fantastic comeback against Clones Golf Club.