LETTERKENNY GOLD CLUB NEWS: The Cat.4 competition resumed on Monday 24th and continuing their run of fine form were Gavin Mc Gahey [26] returning 30pts over 13 holes to win by three over James Mc Daid [25] on 27pts.
Once again there was a great turn-out for the presentation night “meet & greet” which showed that the club’s Cat.4 is proving very popular, especially with so many of the new members.
Wed. 26th saw the Derryveagh Crystal sponsored Open and once again the Barnhill course proved extremely popular with almost one hundred entries on the day.
Taking top spot was the club’s “golfer of the season” so far, Michael Costello [9] proving that brain as well as brawn is required to play single handicap golf, in relegating Eamonn Mc Glinchey to second place by virtue of BOT.
With two of the club’s most consistent golfer’s to date going neck and neck, Michael’s birdies at 12th and 14th holes gave him the edge over Eamonn, whose regrettable bogeys at the par 5 second and eleven left him with a gross 74.
In third place was Tim O’ Farrell [16] returning 39pts with the help of a birdie at 4th and 21pts on back nine.
Sat. 29th Open was sponsored by Neary’s Pharmacy, Letterkenny, and once again it was the “in-form” Michael Costello [8] with back-to-back victories to consolidate his status as the club’s most consistent single figure handicapper.
Starting and finishing his round with birdies at 1st and 18th, Michael’s only blemish on the day was an unusual double bogey at 9th, but still recording 20pts on front nine to return a prizewinning 39pts.
Following closely on the day was the club’s most consistent juvenile golfer Jack Patton [9] who, with a double bogey at 4th and a blank at 7th, regained his composure to shoot 21pts on back nine with the help of a birdie at 18th and an overall score of 38pts, relegating one of the elder statesmen of Letterkenny Golf Club, Hugo Daly [21], to third place on BOT. Hugo will regret that “blank” at the par 5 eleventh.
Sunday 30th gave Patrick Lynch [13] a fine finish to his golfing month as he followed on from his Open Week success by returning 41pts to win the members confined competition. Playing steady handicap par golf, Patrick returned 21pts on back nine to win by just one point from Patrick Murray [13] on 40pts. Patrick’s fantastic front nine of 25pts included birdies at 2nd, 3rd and 5th, but a disastrous run of seven bogeys and a double bogey on back nine saw him lose that first slot. In third place was Kevin Hannigan [10] who, despite a front nine consisting of double bogeys at 1st and 9th, recovered with birdies at 15th and 18th to return a back nine of 23pts and an overall score of 39pts.
Letterkenny Golf Club’s Centenary Open Week has proved one of the most successful to date, with over one thousand members’ entries and upwards of almost three hundred visitors.
The club captains’, Henry Mc Cahey and Sandra Mc Monagle would like to extend their congratulations to all of the gents and ladies competition winners and entrants, and also give their sincere thanks to all of the competition sponsors, organizers, greenkeepers and volunteers who helped in so many ways to make this year such a success.
Team News:
Hearty congratulations to the club’s Fred Daly team who defeated Castlerock 5-2 at home in Barnhill on Sunday. With a great team performance by all the young lads, we are so proud of them for the way they were able to turn around a first away match deficit. James Moreton, junior captain, led by example in the first match by winning convincingly and this filtered down through the field and gave a lift to all the young players in the matches following. One of the players who was 3 down through 12 holes rallied so well and won 2 up in the end. There was a great crowd of spectators following these games around the course and especially standing around the 16th tee giving great support to these young lads and they are now into the last eight in Ulster. Team Captain Seamus Patton said the standard of golf on the day was something to behold from such young players, and also stated that watching these lads “hit our 11th green in two shots in such windy conditions was fantastic golf”. Seamus also praised both teams and followers for the manner of sportsmanship in both the home and away matches and it was also pleasing to see the teams represent their clubs in such a professional and mannerly way at such a young age.
Congratulations also to the senior league team who put on a great display of golf on Sunday evening by winning 6-1 at home to a very strong Ballybofey team. Following a first leg deficit of 5-2 away, the pressure was on team captain Joe Coyle to come up with something special and “proving himself something in the Alex Ferguson mould” he took the tough role of management and brought in three fresh faces from the bench who duly won their matches and helped a team winning captain inspired performance to qualify to the next round.
Another club team doing extremely well at the moment is the Pat Mc Grath led Ulster 4Ball, who have defeated Edenmore by 6 matches to 4 and have qualified to the final sixteen of that GUI competition.
Monday 1st July Juvenile competition was won by Matthew Curley [14] with 41pts, closely followed by Aaron Martin [27] on 40pts. With birdies at 6th and 14th, Matthew consolidated his win with 21pts and 20pts respectively on each nine.
This weekend competitions will see the Crumlin Children’s Hospital Classic on Saturday and the Signal Signs sponsored Open on Sunday. Wednesday 10th will host the Speers Drapery sponsored Open.
Rules of Golf: Match Play: [rule 10c]
If an opponent plays out of turn, there is no penalty, but the player could be asked to retake his shot in proper order.
Cat. 4 prizewinners at the prizegiving on Monday last pictured with club captain Henry Mc Cahey, seated right.
Everton and Republic of Ireland international soccer player Shane Duffy pictured at Letterkenny Golf Club Open Week. Shane’s fourball included his father, Michael, Eugene Gallagher and Pat Bonner.