Short game

By SHAY KEENAN

5,002 amateurs on ranking list

THIS week, the number of players ranked in the R and A's World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) passed the 5,000 mark
– 5,002 players are now listed by the ranking, which following a 24-month trial, was founded on January 1st, 2007, with the aim of providing an alternative, form-based entry criterion for the British Amateur Championship, rather than going solely on a player's current handicap.

The WAGR system ranks the top amateur golfers in the world on the basis of their average performance in counting events, of which there are now almost 1,500, on a rolling cycle over the previous 52 weeks.

McVeigh progresses to final qualifier

IRELAND’S Danielle McVeigh from Royal Co Down, added a closing round of level-par 72 to opening rounds of 76, 75 and a third round of 71 at last week’s LPGA Tour Qualifying school Stage One at the Plantation Golf and Country Club, Venice, Florida.

McVeigh’s 72-hole total of 294 saw her finish in tied 22nd place and progress, as one of the top 30 players and ties, to the final qualifying stage which is scheduled for the LPGA National Club, Florida, on December 8th-12th.

The event was won by Lucy Nunn of Lawton, Oklahoma, who carded four birdies and two bogeys in her final round and saved par from six feet on the 18th hole for rounds of 73-70-69-70 for a six-under 282 total on the Bobcat Course at Plantation Golf Country Club.

The former University of Arkansas collegian edged out former LPGA Tour members Mollie Fankhauser (69) of Columbus, Ohio, and Lee-Anne Pace (70) of Mosselbay, South Africa, who tied for second at five-under-par 283.

Nunn hit 13 greens in regulation and needed only 28 putts in her closing round. Her only hiccup was taking bogey on the seventh hole in each of the three rounds played on the Bobcat.

Nine players finished the week under par, with a total of 12 players at even-par 288 or better in the 72-hole qualifier.

Walsh puts local knowledge to good use at Milltown

TWO-handicapper and home-club member Deirdre Walsh used her local knowledge to good benefit recently when she was an easy winner of the Ladies Senior Scratch Cup played at Milltown Golf Club.

With an opening 18-hole score of 78, Walsh followed that up with a 37 to give her a 27-hole total of 115 to leave the rest of the field trailing in her wake.

In second place on 127 was 10-handicapper Darcy Carr, following rounds of 85 and 42.

In the Junior Scratch Cup, for those with handicaps from 13 through to 36, Maureen Flavin (13) was victorious with a score of 132, six better than Sarah Brophy, also playing off a handicap of 13.

JAMES O’BRIEN, a 14-handicapper, and James Keane (16) won the Munster final of the Holmpatrick Cup at Killarney last week to qualify for the All-Ireland final at St Andrews later this month.

The Ballykisteen pair carded 36 points to win by one from John Sweeney and Séamus O’Brien from Kenmare.

And in recognition of the workload competition secretaries undertake during the golfing year one secretary is invited from the five clubs represented in the final – this year the Curragh, Newlands, Foyle and Ballykisteen – to accompany the group to the final.

An open draw took place last week and Tommy Nelson from Newlands will accompany the finalists to Scotland.

Ireland finish second at seniors event

IRELAND defeated Scotland on the final day to record their highest finish at the Senior Women’s Home Internationals at Sheringham Golf Club, England, last week.

Having only once secured a point against England, Ireland shared the spoils with Wales on the first day and defeated Scotland 5-3 to finish second behind England, who won the Sue Johnson Trophy after an absence of three years.

English won for a sixth time in eight years with a 100 per cent record after the three-day competition. They followed up wins of 7-1 over Ireland and 6½-1½ over Scotland by beating a gritty Wales challenge 5½-2½.

The seniors’ home internationals did not start until 2003 and England won the title in the first five years of the competition, Wales won it in 2008 and Scotland in 2009.

Next year’s senior internationals will be held in Ireland at Tramore Golf Club, Waterford, from September 27th to 29th.

Ireland manage win at Portstewart

PORTSTEWART Golf Club was the venue recently for the annual match between the Irish Secretary Managers and their Scottish counterparts.

And home advantage proved decisive as once again the silverware was kept on these shores as the Irish team retained the trophy.

After the opening day’s play the match had been very evenly poised with the scores level at 3-3 after the six matches.

However, on day two the home side were in dominant form in their bid to win. They lost just the one of the six matches – with two games being halved – as they took the session on a 4-2 scoreline to win the match on an overall scoreline of 7-5 and retain the trophy.

On the successful Irish team were Hilary Madden, Jim Melody, Mike Corry, Michael Ross, Michael Delany, Ronan Smyth, Donard McSweeney, Paul Wisniewski, Joe Considine, Michael Walsh, Donal Flinn and Mark Steen.

Killarney pair lift greensomes title

THE Killarney pair of Amy Arthur and Anne Moynihan won the final of the ILGU/Lancôme National Greensomes Championship at Killarney Golf Club on Sunday.

It is the first time in the 31-year history of the highly-popular tournament that a local pair have lifted the much-coveted Lancome trophy after what was an extremely close encounter.

In glorious sunshine, Arthur, playing off a handicap of 12, and Moynihan, an eight handicapper, used their obvious local knowledge and carded a tremendous score of 44 points to win by a single point.

They recorded an impressive 24 points on the back nine thanks in no small way to birdies on the 13th, 15th and 18th holes and with just two bogeys on their scorecard.

In second place were Limerick’s Gráinne D’Alton (5) and Angela Cullinan (12) from Lahinch who finished on 43 points in a countback from the Waterford and Faithlegg combination of Evelyn Hearn and Lucy Fowler.

And on a day of good scoring Mary Scully, from Tralee, in partnership with former Curtis Cup captain Ada OSullivan, from Monkstown, edged out Geraldine Chambers and Rita McNally from Corrstown after both pairings finished on 40 points.