By SHAY KEENAN
Finalists set for Jimmy Carroll Cup
TUAM, Dundalk, Knockanally, Powerscourt, Nenagh, Bandon, Clandeboye and Strabane are the eight clubs that will compete for the Jimmy Carroll Cup – the All-Ireland Seniors Team Fourball event, which will once again be held in Westmanstown GC on Monday next, September 5th.
The Jimmy Carroll Cup tournament has been held since 2000 when it started as a Leinster event, but since 2005 it has been held as an All-Ireland competition.
Forty eight clubs began competing in the event at 16 different regional venues at the start of the season, progressing through provincial semi-finals to next Monday’s All-Ireland final.
The competition is organised to honour the memory of Jimmy Carroll, who died in April, 2000. Carroll represented Ireland 28 times from 1948 to 1962. He was a member of An Garda Síochána.
Carroll was the Irish Close champion twice, in 1950 and 1953, while he also won the Irish Senior Cup with Sutton on five occasions, in 1948, 1949, 1950, 1958 and again in 1963.
HAZEL Grove GC will take a 4-1 lead into the second leg of the Best Cup final against Malahide on Sunday, September 18th, at Malahide GC.
Molloy claims North of Ireland Strokeplay
THE North of Ireland Open Strokeplay Championship at Galgorm Castle proved a great success in its first year as a 72-holes event with victory going to Ardee’s Ciarán Molloy.
Molloy, opened with a course record of 67, then equalled it in the second round before adding 74 and 72 for a total of 280 and a four-shot winning margin over Reeve Whiston from the Mourne club.
Whiston carded 75, 70, 69 and 70 for 284 – three clear of third-placed Tiarnan McLarnon from Massereene, who shot rounds of 70, 73, 72 and 72 for 287.
Holding amateur world ranking points, there was a stellar field with the event attracting 50 per cent of players with a handicap of scratch.
SOME 136 golfers were at Castle GC last Monday for the annual Mother and Daughter Open foursomes competition. Paula Church from Castlewarden and Doireann (Grange) returned a score of 36 points for a one-point win over Ann and Alyson Doyle from the host club. Woodbrook’s Margaret and Claire Ryan were third (34).
MOUNTBELLEW’S Kathleen Bergin and Caroline Delaney won the All-Ireland Australian Spoons title with 44 points at Co Longford last Monday, winning by eight from Siobhán O’Connor and Olga Price from Gort, who were one ahead of Killarney’s Ann Moynihan and Amy Arthur. Barbara Kelly and Cliodhna McCarthy of Stackstown won the gross prize.
Mount Temple Scratch Cup
SHANE LOWRY’S course record of 67 will be the target for the field in this year’s Mount Temple Scratch Cup which takes place on Sunday, September 18th.
The competitions, sponsored by Teligence, who are one of Lowry’s sponsors, will be played over 27 holes, with the par-three 15th of 230 yards one of the feature holes.
Returning home to successfully defend his title is last year’s champion Richard Bridges, from Stackstown.
The Junior Scratch Cup will also be run in conjunction with the senior event and a timesheet is in operation. Contact Michelle on 090 6481841 or email mounttemple@eircom.net.
THE North Dublin Golf Club Captains’ Association will hold their President’s (Paul Darby) Day on Friday, September 9th, at Hollywood Lakes.
The tee is booked from 9am to 2pm with the dinner scheduled that evening for 7.30pm.
Ireland seeking four in a row
IRELAND will be seeking their fourth Seniors Home Internationals title in a row, following wins at Tenby in 2008, Westport in 2009 and Crail last year when they tee-up at Woodhall Spa Golf Club from September 13th-15th.
Irish Seniors champion Hugh Smyth from the Mourne club will lead a strong Irish side that also includes Michael Coote (Tralee), Maurice Kelly (Killeen), Séamus McParland (Greenore), Adrian Morrow (Portmarnock), Arthur Pierse (Tipperary) and Garth McGimpsey (Bangor) – team captain is Barry Doyle (Carlow).
Since its inception in 2002, Ireland have won the trophy five times.
Grant claims Mullingar Scratch Cup
IRISH International Nicky Grant from Knock produced two excellent rounds of 69 to win the 72-hole Mullingar Grant Thornton Scratch Trophy over the weekend.
Two shots off the pace at the halfway mark, after opening rounds of 73 and 71, Grant moved into the lead with a 69 on Sunday morning and followed with another in the afternoon to win by five shots from John Ross Galbraith from Whitehead GC, who carded rounds of 72, 70, 71 and 74. Paul Cutler, a member of the Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team against the USA at Royal Aberdeen in two weeks’ time, shared third place with Geoff Lenehan from Portmarnock.
Cutler, from Portstewart, was tied for the halfway lead after rounds of 70 and 72 and was still in contention when he added a third round of 71. However, a final 75 left him six shots adrift of the winner. Stephen Healy from Claremorris produced the best round of the event when carding a 67 in the final round.
Boucher adds Irish title to Scottish
AFTER his breakthrough victory at the Scottish Under-15 Boys recently, Carton House’s Marc Boucher is going from strength to strength, adding the Irish Under-15 Boys Amateur Open trophy to his cabinet recently at Galway GC.
Boucher added a second-round 72 to his opening 73 to clinch the title by one shot in a finish of high drama in Salthill, edging out Athlone’s Charlie McMickan and Hermitage’s Rowan Lester.
Lester, playing with Boucher in the final match, played tremendously on the back nine after Boucher had taken the initiative on the way out, and only two strokes separated the pair playing the last, where Boucher found trouble.
However, he remained composed to limit the damage to a six, only one stroke worse than Lester’s bogey. A large gallery hailed the player’s efforts on the 18th green, and that of McMickan, playing two groups behind.
THERE was little change to the Lexus Race to Mount Juliet in association with Ping Order of Merit after last week’s Balbriggan Pro Am, with one or two players changing places although the biggest mover was Killarney’s Daniel Sugrue.
Sugrue moved up three places to 15th following his second place finish in Balbriggan. His fine round of 67 (-5), however, was not enough to catch the winner, Gary Murphy, who shot an excellent seven-under 65.
