The Short Game: Veteran Irish professional Jimmy Heggarty will carry the name of a leading west of Ireland club on the European Seniors Tour in 2007.
Heggarty has teamed up with Claremorris Golf Club as their resident and teaching professional, and he will also sport the club's name on his bag as he treks around Europe .
Heggarty, who lives in Claremorris, had top-three finishes in the Cannes, Irish and Portuguese Opens during his 10 seasons on the main tour. He has turned his attentions to the Seniors tour since turning 50 last year.
"Golf has been good to me. This joint venture with the Claremorris Club, which has recently carried out drainage and other improvements, is a new challenge. I am looking forward to giving lessons to members and others, as well as helping the club in any way I can," said Heggarty, who was attached to the Spawell Golf Centre in Dublin from 2000 to 2006.
European Lakes chosen
The Irish-owned European Lakes Golf Club in Hungary will stage the EPD Central European Tour Classic, which will be played on July 30th.
Delighted owner William O'Brien confirmed the contracts were signed last week and that he and his staff regarded it as a great honour for the club.
It comes in a year when they will also play host the Hungarian Open and the International Amateur Seniors, so they will be busy.
European Lakes has gained a great reputation throughout Europe and in recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Irish groups playing at the Hungarian venue close to the historical city of Pecs.
A limited number of places in the pro-am on July 29th are available from www.europeanlakes.com or www.epdtour.com
Boyne win after marathon
The Leinster Schools Matchplay final between Boyne Community School, Trim, and St Peter's, Wexford, went down to the wire at Lucan GC last week.
In fact, it took two days before the outcome was decided after the sides ended level at two matches each when bad light stopped play.
Chris Drumm and Caolan Barron gave St Peter's a good start with wins over Ciarán Boggan and Peter Hannon respectively, but Boyne hit back when Colm Doyle beat Gavin Kinsella 3 and 2 and Diarmuid Higgins squared the match with a 2 and 1 win over Tiernan Rossiter.
So it was left to the last match between Dudley Regan and Ryan Hickey. The pair were all square when they were called in and they returned on Friday to play the decider over 18 holes. Again the drama continued when Regan, dormie three, lost the last three holes but secured a place in the All-Ireland final for Boyne CS with a birdie at the 19th - the 37th hole of an absorbing match.
McVeigh stars in Texas
Danielle McVeigh (Texas A&M), the Ireland girls champion in 2005, finished sixth overall as Texas A&M won the team event at the Central District Invitational college event at River Wilderness Golf Club, Parrish, in Florida.
McVeigh, a member of Royal Co Down Ladies Club, shot rounds of 77, 72 and 73 for a 222 total that included 10 birdies over the three days. Team-mate Ashley Knoll won the individual title by the runaway margin of six shots from Sara Brown (Michigan State). Knoll finished with a seven-under-par total of 209, with rounds of 67, 73 and 69.
Meanwhile, sisters Tara and Karen Delaney from Carlow helped the Kent State University team to an eighth place finish in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic on Sunday.
Tara Delaney finished in a tie for 21st place in the individual event with rounds of 73, 77 and 72 for a six-over-par total of 222, while Karen shot 84, 82 and 79 for 245. Auburn won the team title by five strokes over number one Georgia and Oklahoma State. Host Purdue finished fourth.
Kent State are next in action on March 10th/11th at the Lady Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Florida.
Aitchison top in Europe
England's Holly Aitchison is the number one female amateur golfer in Europe - and that's official. She won the first counting event in the new European Golf Association women's amateur rankings, the Portuguese Women's Open amateur championship on the Algarve. The next three in the rankings, Sandra Gal (Germany), Pernilla Lindberg (Sweden) and former British girls champion Azahara Munoz (Spain), have all earned their points so far with their performances on the American college circuit.
Another Harrington coup
Dunmurry Springs in Co Kildare was the latest venue for the Emerald Pro Tour last Friday and it provided a real test for the 48 competitors thanks to a tricky and strong wind. At the end of a difficult day, victory among the professionals went to Mark Staunton with a score of 77, three ahead of Paul McDonald, with Order of Merit leader Eamonn Brady next best in third.
The leading amateur with a fine score of 37 points was Tadgh Harrington, one ahead of Mick Wright.
The tour moves to St Anne's this Friday with the timesheet booked from 10.10am to 12.30pm.
For a place on the timesheet phone or text Ciarán on 086 0807280 or email teetimes@emeraldprotour.com
GUI to get Walker tickets
The Golfing Union of Ireland will be allocated a number of tickets by the R&A to be offered for sale to members of their affiliated golf clubs for the 2007 Walker Cup matches, which will be played at Royal Co Down Golf Club on Saturday and Sunday, September 8th and 9th.
Application forms for tickets will be sent to affiliated clubs at the end of March/early April.
If the demand for tickets exceeds the allocation, the GUI will decide by ballot on the number of tickets to be allocated to each club.
Sponsorship confirmed
The ILGU has lined up a new sponsor for the season with Balisto chocolate to sponsor the Northern, Southern, Western and Midland Senior and Junior District Championships in 2007.
The partnership reflects the continuing popularity of women's golf in Ireland and sees the first blanket sponsorship of the ILGU's District Championships, although Clarins will continue their sponsorship of the Eastern District Championships.
The first of the Balisto-sponsored championships (Senior and Junior) takes place from April 2nd-6th with the Munster Ladies Championships at Douglas.
After that, Warrenpoint host the Ulster Ladies Championships from May 1st-3rd; the Midland Championships are at Mullingar from May 29th-31st; the Clarins Leinster Championship is at County Louth from June 6th-8th, while Enniscrone is the venue for the Connacht Championships from June 12th-14th.
Rice joy for O'Callaghan
Cork golfer Aaron O'Callaghan, a student at Southeastern Louisiana University, started his spring campaign in style with a victory at the 54-hole Rice Intercollegiate tournament in Texas.
Played at the Westwood Golf Course in Missouri City, the Irish international won the individual championship with a three-round total of one-over-par 217 after winning a play-off against Harrison Moore from the College of Charleston.
Moore made a 20-foot birdie putt on the play-off, but O'Callaghan shot an eagle after making a 12-foot putt to clinch the championship.
It was a superb victory for O'Callaghan, a member of Douglas Golf Club, as he had begun with rounds of one-under-par 71 and 77 to trail Moore by five going into the last round.
He played great golf, shooting a 69 to force the play-off.
Omagh's Fergal Rafferty shot 232 (76, 81, 75) for 27th place, while O'Callaghan's fellow Douglas player Peter O'Keeffe shot 224 for Southeastern with rounds of 73, 77 and 72 for a tie of eighth place individually.
