Shay’s Short Game: Dundalk geared up for Cups and Shields finals

After last week’s GUI finals at Carton House, Dundalk Golf Club takes centre stage for the AIG Ladies Cups and Shields National finals starting on Wednesday. Kilkenny Golf Club stand out as favourites for the Senior Foursomes as they have recently been crowned All-Ireland Senior Cup Champions. They will face stiff competition from Milltown, who also fared well in Senior Cup, having reached the All-Ireland semi-finals. The two Leinster teams meet in the quarter-finals, while East Cork and Portumna will meet in the other semi-final and a strong Royal Portrush await the winners of Kilkenny v Milltown.

Belvoir Park go in search of a Junior double in the cup and foursomes. They meet Tramore in the quarter-final of the Junior Foursomes, while Stackstown will play Castlebar. The winners of Tramore and Belvoir Park will play Cahir Park. In the Junior Cup they have been drawn against Wexford in the quarter-final. Roscommon will take on Castle, who have reached the All-Ireland finals for the second consecutive year, after being crowned 2015 All-Ireland Senior Foursomes Champions. Munster District Champions, Castletroy will play the winner.

The Intermediate Cup is the first of the matches to tee off at Dundalk and will see Ulster’s Malone and Munster’s Ballykisteen take to the course in the quarter-final. The winners of the quarter-final will take on Portumna while Edmondstown and Wicklow will play in the other semi-final.

Webb claims Senior British Amateur

Less than two weeks after she helped Ireland win the European Senior Team Championship in Poland, Laura Webb of East Berkshire Golf Club has been crowned Senior British Open Amateur Champion. Rounds of 71, 72 and 76 for an overall level par total, the lowest total score this century, was enough to finish with a three shots cushion over her nearest competitor Julie Brown (Trentham) who finished on 222.

Webb, nee Bolton and originally a member at Cairndhu Golf Club, represented Ireland and Ulster at both under-18 and Women’s levels from 1977 to the mid 1990’s. During that time she claimed the 1979 Irish Girls’ Close Championship at Tramore and the 1994 Irish Women’s Close Championship at Rosses Point. She first represented Ireland at Senior level at the European Senior Team Championships in 2013 and has been a backbone of the team ever since. In 2014 she became the first person to claim three Irish Close titles when she won the Irish Seniors Close Championship at Athenry.

Webb will now join her Irish team mates as they travel to the Senior Home International Matches at Alyth in Scotland from September 27th-29th where, as European Champions, they will be hoping for more Silverware to add to the success of Irish Ladies and Girls’ Golf in 2016. The next best of the Irish at Caldy was last week’s Irish Seniors Open Strokeplay champion Gertie McMullen (The Island) who added a 77 and 76 to her opening 79 to finish tied for ninth place. Sheena McElroy (Grange) finished in the top 20 after scores of 78, 79 and 80.

Le Blanc helps Ireland to promotion

Ireland beat Slovakia 5½-1½ to win the European Boys Division Two Team Championships at Mlada Boleslav and win promotion to division one for next year. After a clean sweep of the foursomes, Ireland quickly secured the title when Hugh O’Hare and Kevin Le Blanc won their singles matches. Earlier Le Blanc had partnered John Brady to a 5 and 3 success in the foursomes while John Murphy and Mark Power combined for a 5 and 4 win. Murphy, Le Blanc and O’Hare were all victorious in the singles while Alan Fahy was held to a half.

McCarthy fights back at Duke of York

Irish International Julie McCarthy (Forrest Little) finished in a tie for 13th place on a total of 224 at the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy. McCarthy finished the tournament with a round of 76, after day one and two scores of 71 and 77, respectively. It was an unfamiliar start for the Forrest Little golfer in round three, as she racked up two double bogeys in her opening holes. She focused thereafter and came home in level par.

Canadian Chloe Currie shot the joint lowest round of the week, 68 and climbed to the top of the leaderboard as she stole the trophy from overnight tournament leader Marke Braadie (Norway). Currie finished on a total of 214, one shot clear of Braadie.

Harold and Real come out on top in mixed foursomes

Castletroy’s Fergus Harrold and Shirley Real captured the East of Ireland Mixed Foursomes Championship at Skerries Golf Club with a two round total of 156. They finished two stokes clear of Woodbrook’s Peter McNeill and Malone’s Louise Coffey, who took the runner up spot on a count back from Castle’s Eoghan McKeever and Carlow’s Aedin Murphy. The best neet was won by Damien Fogarty and Honoria Fogarty (Castlecomer) on 168 from Allan Lilley and Pearl Lilley (Ballyclare) on 170.

Lytham and St Anne’s for 2018 Women’s British Open

The Ricoh Women’s British Open will take place at Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club, Lancashire for a fifth time in 2018. The Championship was last played there in 2009 when Catriona Matthew famously became the first Scottish woman to clinch a Major title, remarkably only 11 weeks after giving birth to her second daughter. Matthew, who was a member of this summer’s UK Olympic team and was recently announced as a vice-captain for the 2017 Solheim Cup, commented, “I am absolutely delighted to hear the 2018 Ricoh Women’s British Open will be played at Royal Lytham. Winning there so soon after Sophie’s birth was undoubtedly the best achievement in my career and I think it is wonderful news that we will be returning there in a couple of years.”

Johnson to captain LET team

Trish Johnson has been named as the playing captain of the Ladies European Tour’s team for The Queens presented by Kowa, the second edition of the exciting team match play competition, which will be played at Miyoshi Country Club in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on December 2nd-4th, 2016.

The 50-year-old Englishwoman will lead a team of nine players in the event, which will once again be contested between four of the world’s leading women’s golf tours: the LPGA of Japan (JLPGA), Korean LPGA (KLPGA), the Ladies European Tour (LET) and Australian Ladies’ Professional Golf (ALPG).

The 1990 LET Order of Merit winner, Johnson recently earned her first Legends Tour victory at The Legends Championship presented by Old National Bank in late August, edging Hall of Famer Juli Inkster in a marathon six-hole play-off, which was the longest in the history of the tour.