From an entry of 230 clubs, Portumna maintained their dominance of the Ulster Bank All-Ireland Women's Fourball tournament at Co Longford GC last weekend. While retaining the trophy, the Westerners extended their unbeaten run in the tournament to 15 matches.
Their latest success was by 2 1/2 to 1/2 against Borris in the final. Earlier in the tournament they had victories over Athlone, Mountbellew, Bearna, Carrick-onSuir, Enniscrone, Hazel Grove and Ballybofey-Stranorlar. Interestingly, there were no repeat wins from the 1996 campaign in which they beat Gort, Galway, Roscommon, Co Longford, Enniscrone, Hazel Grove and City of Derry.
Portumna showed themselves to have formidable strength through the team. In the top match, Connacht interprovincial Suzanne Corcoran and her partner Rose Curley were three down after six but rallied to gain a half with Nora Barron and Linda Donoghue. By that stage the other two pairings had secured victory.
Final: Portumna 2 1/2, Borris 1/2 (Portumna names first) - S Corcoran and R Curley halved with N Barron and L Donoghue; C Lynch and K Lynch bt F Long and N Lucas 3 and 2; A Hynes and M Moloney bt B Whelan and K Mitchell 6 and 5.
Different strokes, but the same result. Hugh O'Neill, the secretary-manager in Sutton Golf Club, and Paul Walsh both used different clubs to record holes-in-one at the same hole.
Walsh used a five iron to score his ace at the 154 yards fifth hole while O'Neill secured his perfect shot with a five wood.
