Golf notes
Mannan Castle Golf Club News
The PJ McArdle Cup took centre stage this weekend, with both men and women taking to the course to play for one of the most impressive cups you’ll see.
Plenty of history comes with it, and it was an extra special year as only a few months ago the passing of PJs wife Kathleen, both PJ and Kathleen were the driving force when Mannan was starting up nearly 30 years ago.
The scoring across the weekend was impressive and none more so than Darren Campbell who shot a brilliant 43pts, playing a very steady round, this saw Darren win the PJ McArdle Cup by one shot.
Ryan Carolan shot an incredible 26pts back nine to finish on 42pts. This was enough to finish in second place.
Finishing in third place was Oran Martin who also shot a brilliant 42pts. Making up the podium positions was Eamon Sherry who finished on 42pts.
PJ McArdle Cup - 26th 28th April
1st Darren Campbell (PH.16) 43pts
2nd Ryan Carolan (PH.26) 42pts c/b
3rd Oran Martin (PH..8 ) 42pts c/b
4th Eamon Sherry (PH.22) 42pts
Mannan Castle Seniors
The golfers of Mannan Castle Seniors showed their true competitive spirit on Tuesday last, turning out in large numbers for their weekly competition in wet and windy conditions.
They made light of the adverse conditions to return some exceptional scoring over 11 holes. Very much to the fore was Philip McEntee whose score of 27 points was the best of the day.
He scored steadily throughout with three pars and a birdie being the difference between a good and an exceptional card. Unsurprisingly he took the overall prize.
Philip's playing partner Paddy Kingham had an error-free card which included 4 pars for 23 points and was good for the Category 1 prize.
In Category 2 there was a maiden win for a newcomer to the seniors, Vincent Litchfield with 21 points. The highlight of his round was a great birdie 2 on the third hole.
Category 3 was closely contested by Sean Harvey and Tommy Duffy, each with 24 points. Sean came out on top thanks to a back 6 of 15 as against 14 for Tommy. Both cards showed remarkably steady golf.
Category 4 was also a tight finish between Jim McMahon and Joe Harlin with again a one-point difference in the back 6. Both players returned 19 points with Jim's back 6 of 10 points being the better.
Result Tuesday 30th April -11 Hole Competition
Overall: Philip McEntee (23) 26pts (27-1)
Category 1: Paddy Kingham (16) 23pts
Category 2: Vincent Litchfield (19) 21pts
Category 3: Sean Harvey (22) 24pts c/b (Tommy Duffy)
Category 4: Jim McMahon (32) 19pts c/b (Joe Harlin)
Mannan Castle Ladies
May Day was far from distressing for Noreen Murphy, who showed some of her best golf in the second half of the shortened weekly competition to finish as the clear winner by 2 points.
Consistent as ever, Rita O'Loughlin excelled on the par 3s, finishing in second place with 26 points, one ahead of Marie Finnegan whose strong play showed in 5 pars over the thirteen holes.
Women's 13 Hole Stableford Weekly Competition 1st May 2024
1st Noreen Murphy (PH30) 28 pts
2nd Rita O’Loughlin (PH22) 26 pts
3rd Marie Finnegan (PH13) 25 pts
Interclub Team Updates
Men's Ulster Four-Ball captained by Finbar Boylan had a great win last Sunday against Clogher GC 3.5/2.5, three matches in Mannan Castle and three in Clogher GC, this team now waiting to see who they meet either Blacklion GC or Donegal GC.
Sadly, our ladies were defeated by Concrawood in the AIG Intermediate Foursomes captained by Gill Rouiller, with the final score of 2.5/1.5. We wish our neighbours all the best in future rounds.
Junior Cowdy Team captained by Vincent Duffy played Clones last Sunday, the score after the first leg was 4/1 in favour of Clones.
Mannan Castle and Clones met on Sunday 5th May in Mannan Castle for the return leg of the first round, a tough ask; but team captain Vincent Duffy is super proud of his team who kept the faith and they won all their matches in Mannan Junior Cowdy Team to go through to the second round. Well done lads.
Prize Presentation
Winter/Spring League prizes were presented by Captain Fergal Brady last Sunday in the Clubhouse, thank you to all the prize winners who attended.
Winter/Spring League Final Standings
Division 1
1st - John Clarke - 167pts
T2nd - Barry Hand - 163pts
T2nd - Oran Martin - 163pts
T2nd - John Hand - 163pts
Division 2
1st - George Farrelly - 181pts
2nd - Joe Liffey - 177pts
3rd - Rory Lennon - 165pts
Division 3
1st - Kevin Gavigan - 199pts
T2nd - Vincent Duffy - 174pts
T2nd - Joe McGeown - 174pts
T2nd - Eamonn Murphy – 174pts
Dundalk Golf Club News
Peter Cunningham (19) led home the 64 qualifiers in the Gold Medal after shooting a magnificent 62 nett over the last weekend in April as the top 11 qualifiers shot scores in the sixties.
A burst of hot scoring on the front nine when he birdied the par three fifth and parred the third, fourth and sixth holes saw him turn in 30 nett and produced two more bursts down the back nine with successive pars at the 10th and 11th followed by pars at the 13th, 14th and 15th to come home in 32 nett.
He finished four ahead of Ciaran Traynor (5) who shot a 66 nett with a round that included birdies at the sixth, 10th, 14th and 17th. Cunningham will now play Sean Gallagher in the first round of the matchplay with Traynor meeting Padraig Hassett.
A round of solid consistent scoring saw Roan Norton Quigley (25) with 42 points emerge as the overall winner by two points in the Wednesday Open Singles Stableford Competition sponsored by McKenna Man.
Roan set out on his outward nine in fine style with a par four on the first hole for three points and added three-pointers at the par fours fourth and eighth holes and par three ninth to boost his score on the turn to 21 points.
On the back nine, he mainly maintained his consistent round with back-to-back three-pointers at the par four 11th and 15th holes and the par five 12th with an impressive birdie two at the par three 13th for four points added in as he came home in another 21 points.
On the inter-club front, the Pierce Purcell team won their first-round match against Roganstown by 2.5 to 1.5.
They won both matches in Dundalk and were two up with two to play in the top match away when it was called in as the half-point needed for victory had been secured.
The Leinster Men’s Fourball team were beaten on the first hole of a sudden death playoff after finishing 2-2 against Ardee. Both teams had one win at home and one away.
Gold Medal Matchplay Draw – First Round - John MacGuinness v Carl Stewart; Peter Jnr Moran v David Brennan; Padraig Hassett v Ciaran Traynor; Andrew Cumiskey v Marki Gorham; Nicholas MacShane v Eamon McEneaney;
Stephen English v Daniel Woods; John Paul Casey v Gareth Halpin; Ciaran Daly v Christy Ward; Senan Duffy v Paul Murphy; Seamus Bailey v Sean McErlean; Shane Smith v Clem Walshe; Gary O’Brien v Neil Mullooly;
Brian Whately v Andrew McCaughey; Kevin Barry v Conor Oakes; Eamon Hoey v Michael Flynn; Conor Martin v Sean Og Cairns; Chris Connolly v Gerry Murray; Ciaran Corbett v Terry Conlon;
Sean Hession v Joseph Laverty; Ultan Herr v Sean Morgan; Edward Rogers v Martin McDonnell; Tony Ryan v Barry Grennan; Peter Durnin v David Lawrence; Niall Morgan v David Kelly; Andrew Shekleton v Michael Begley jnr;
Dennis Cunningham v Cameron Kilcoyne; Peter Cunningham v Sean Gallagher; Aidan Rice v Anthony McCrave; Billy Curran v Brendan Keane; Ken Norton v Vincent Conlon; Odhran MacShane v Shaun Callan; Neal Mackell v Aaron Hoey.
Wednesday, May 1 - McKenna Man Open Singles Stableford Competition – Overall: Roan Norton Quigley (25) 42pts. Division 1: Edward Rogers (6) 39pts. Division 2: Cameron Kilcoyne (15) 38 pts. Division 3: Alan Uzell (23) 40pts.