Ireland seek team glory in SA: Ireland will be among a record 126 teams (75 men's and 51 women's) competing in the 2006 World Amateur Team Championships to be held near Cape Town, South Africa, over the next two weeks.
Irish champion Tricia Mangan (Ennis), Claire Coughlan (Cork) and Martina Gillen (Beaverstown) will represent Ireland at the Espirito Santos Women's Amateur World Cup at the De Zalze Golf Club and Stellenbosch Golf Club, starting tomorrow, while Rory McIlroy (Holywood), Gareth Shaw (Lurgan) and Simon Ward (Co Louth) will play in the Eisenhower Trophy over the same courses on October 26th to 29th.
Previously, the record for team entries was 48 in the women's competition and 66 in the men's in 2004 in Puerto Rico, where Sweden won the women's title and the US the men's championship.
Fiji are making their first appearance since 1990 and only their fifth time in the men's championship and fourth in the women's championship.
In the Women's World Amateur Team Championship, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are competing individually for the first time since 1964. In the previous 20 Espirito Santo competitions, they competed together as Britain and Ireland.
This season Ireland's women have competed well in the various team events. Although they were second in the Home Internationals, they did secure a notable double earlier in the season.
The team of Mangan, Gillen and Deirdre Smith won the team award at the British Open Strokeplay at The Princes in August, while the trio of Coughlan, Mangan and Gillen, who will compete in South Africa, made up the victorious Irish team at the British Open Amateur Championship at Royal County Down in June.
Both courses in South Africa are located at the foot of the Stellenbosch Mountains. De Zalze Golf Club is a parkland-style course with Kikuyu fairways. The oak tree-lined Blaauwklippen River runs through the course. Stellenbosch Golf Club, a host to the South African Masters and the South African Open, is a narrow, tree-lined layout bordered by vineyards.
Murphy ends season with win
The Leinster Alliance concluded the 2006 season with the Captain's (Alistair Smith) prize at Carton House last week. Sponsored by Tipperary Crystal, the winner with an excellent score of 38 points off a six-handicap was Declan Murphy from Beech Park.
Murphy had just one point to spare over Birr's plus two-handicapper Stephen Grant, with Eamonn Donoghue, also from Beech Park, third on 36.
Declan Kerrigan and Joe Drea, both from Old Conna, took the other nett prizes, with Grant winning the gross from Tony Goode (Lucan) and Brian Keenan (The Heath). The junior prize went to Mark Hoey from Killiney with 34 points.
The new season opens at The European Club on October 29th and the time sheet is available with Michael Neary at 01-2827297.
Victorious in Villamoura
The annual Victor Ludini/BudKev golf tour took place in Villamoura recently when a group of 18 intrepid golfers spent four sunny days in intense but friendly competition.
Handicap secretary John Farrell did a magnificent job to ensure a tight finish over the final nine holes with Peter McParland landing the coveted trophy with a magnificent haul of 20 points over the final nine holes - a truly deserving victor .
Peader McParland and Aiden Reynolds shared the highest overall points total, with Reynolds capturing the BudKev trophy. Daily prize winners were Aiden Reynolds (Victoria Villamoura), Peter McParland (San Lorenzo and Old Course, Villamoura ) and Alf Nicholson (Quinta do Lago South). John Reynolds, Patrick Feeney and Derek Forde were in the final fourball and all played exceptionally well over the four days. Next year is the 10th anniversary and promises to be another great tour.
Captain O'Neill thrives
Hermitage captain Henry O'Neill continued to play excellent golf during his year in office by winning the October monthly medal played over two days, off a handicap of 10, with a score of 70. Meanwhile, the club have appointed a new course superintendent, Mark Harrington, who joins from PGA National.
Scottish Open back on LET
The Scottish Women's Open championship will be restored to the Ladies European Tour in 2007 after a 12-year absence. The event, sponsored by De Vere, will be held at the Carrick on Loch Lomond course between September 20th and 22nd next year.
"This is an exciting new event for the Tour and one I know will be very well received by the players, the media and Scottish golf fans alike," said LET executive director Alexandra Armas.
"We look forward to working with Event Scotland, De Vere Cameron House and (tournament promoters) WSM to make this an event that Scottish golf can be proud of."
The Scottish Women's Open has featured on the Ladies European Tour schedule on five previous occasions, the last of which was at Dalmahoy in 1995.
Women best at Connemara
It's not every day women get the chance to take on men. But last Sunday week at Connemara Golf Club they did. And they made it a memorable day too.
Up for grabs was Mary A Joyce's President's Prize, and it was one of the fairer sex who claimed the prestigious prize - and by a comfortable margin.
Winning with a superb score of 43 points was 36-handicapper Maureen O'Malley. It gave her a four-point winning margin over Diarmuid Dunne (16) who had 39 points, beating Julian Jeffries (22) on a countback, with Michael King (15), Pat Ridge (18) and Evelyn King (21) next best on 38 points.
The gross winners were Margaret Lavelle (10) in the women's section and Billy Reilly (11) in the men's category with 25 and 28 points respectively, while maintaining the good day for the women was Deirdre Murphy (16), who took home the Past President's honour with 33 points. The juvenile prize winner was 12-handicapper Rory Sweeney with 36 points.
Kingdom conquers Shannon
Michael Corry of the Irish Association of Golf Club Secretaries held his President's Day at Shannon Golf Club last week, and it proved to be fantastic day for golfers from The Kingdom, as two Kerry club representatives took the main prizes.
Victory went to two-handicapper Michael Coote from Castleisland Golf Club, who claimed the top prize with a score of 38 points, good enough for a single-point victory over his fellow Kerry native Tom Prendergast, playing off seven from Killarney.
Next best in third place was Townley Hall's Joe Grennan (14) with 35 points, the same score as East Clare's Michael O'Hanlon (17) and Hilary Madden, playing off 14 from Monkstown.
The ladies section winner was Susan Curtin, off five from Mallow with 29 points, while the captain of the host club, Shannon, Matt Danaher (9), was the visitors' victor with a highly impressive 38 points.
Sheehy blitzes Ballybunion
Blowing the rest of the field away despite having very few shots to play around with last week in Ballybunion was Mary Sheehy. Playing in the weekly voucher competition over the Old Course, the four-handicapper blitzed the course with superb 39 points, to be a runaway winner. Her nearest challenger was Mary Stack (31) with 35 points, while Patsy Lydon (33) was a further four points adrift in third place.
Lockhart on the double
It may have been a different format of the game, but it was the same result for Greystones' Mary Lockhart last week at the Co Wicklow course. In the mini-hamper last Thursday the nine-handicapper was the gross winner with 25 gross points. The event itself was won by Trish Haughton (14) with 39 points.
That was her second win of the week, as on the Tuesday she had teamed up with Liz Burke (35) as they won the weekly fourball competition with 31 points, one better than Hilarie O'Dea (26) and Joan Caffrey (36).
Harrington adapts well
Rosemary Harrington enjoyed her golf last week proving that she is more than adaptable to different courses. A member of Ceann Sibéal on the Dingle peninsula in Co Kerry, she took part in their exchange day to Dooks.
And playing off 35 she blitzed the rest of the field with a fantastic score of 43 points. That gave her a massive winning margin, as her nearest challenger was Carmel Collins (23) with 31 points.
But back on her home course, she didn't stop her good form. Although she was now playing off 31 following her exploits at Dooks, she recorded another good score. This time she had a nett 73 in the Vera O'Keeffe Memorial Trophy.
However, she missed out on win number two, as victory was claimed by Liz Higgins (24) with a nett 70, while Vera Curran - playing off 24 - was third with a 74. The gross winner was Maighreead Uí Chiobháin (11).
Meanwhile, at Westmanstown Golf Club there was another runaway winner as 29-handicapper Fiona McMahon fired 40 points to win last Tuesday's Lady Vice-Captain's Prize, which was a full five points clear of her nearest challenger.
The class winners on the day were Brid McTague, Joan Reynolds, Yvonne McBride and Maureen Brady.
