A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Meadow joint third in South Carolina
FORMER Irish Girls champion Stephanie Meadow, from Co Antrim, and a student at the International Golf Academy at Hilton Head Island, finished joint third on 146 with rounds of 70 and 76 in the recent Verizon Junior Heritage girls 36-hole championship at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.
Meadow had birdies at the fourth, 10th, 11th and 16th, but a double bogey six at the 13th and bogeys at the second, third, seventh, ninth, 12th and 18th in halves of 39 and 36 made the difference between victory and runner-up.
Her total of two-over-par 145 saw her finish one shot behind US “wonder girl” Alexis Thompson and Laetitia Beck, the Israeli who attends a Florida golf academy.
Both scored 72 in both rounds.
Scotland’s Sally Watson faded from an overnight joint fourth place to a final position of joint 15th after a disappointing 62 in the second round.
Cutler leads six-man team in Spain
THE GUI will have a six-man team in the Spanish Amateur Open Championship and Nations Cup at El Prat Golf Club, starting tomorrow.
The team is led by Paul Cutler from Portstewart, and he is joined by Alan Dunbar (Rathmore), Paul Dunne (Greystones), Luke Lennox (Moyola Park), Dermot McElroy (Ballymena) and Richard O’Donovan (Lucan).
Dunne won the Irish Youths Amateur Close Championship last year and was also a member of the European Amateur, Home Internationals and Boys Home Internationals teams.
Also included in the team is the 2010 Irish Boys Amateur Close champion McElroy, who was also a member of the European Boys Amateur and Boys Home Internationals teams.
Leinster Youths Amateur Open champion O’Donovan finished runner-up in the Munster Youths Amateur Open Championship and also won the Joe Carr Award in 2010.
Kennedy's local knowledge proves key at Rosapenna
LOCAL knowledge proved beneficial on Saturday as the North Western Golfing Alliance held their latest outing at Rosapenna Golf Club in Donegal.
Playing the Sandy Hills links course, local scratch golfer Enda Kennedy used the benefit of knowing the course well as he came out tops in the gross section.
He topped the scoring charts with a fine score of 74, which was four shots clear of his nearest challenger, Noel Callan (Faughan Valley GC, Co Derry), who was also playing off a scratch handicap.
Callan had the best of the 78s, beating North West’s three-handicapper John Harding on a countback.
Meanwhile, in the nett category, the plaudits on the day went to Letterkenny’s Stephen Harris, playing off a handicap of 20, who despite the difficulty of the course had an excellent score of 71.
That gave him a three-shot winning margin over two members from Strabane Golf Club, where Kieran Doherty, a six-handicapper, edged out his clubmate and fellow six-handicapper Mark McColgan on a countback.
It was indeed a good day for Strabane members as Odran McGettigan (24) and Ben Corry (4) also featured in the prizes on the day.
The alliance are back in action this Saturday when they have their next outing of the season at Narin and Portnoo.
Higgins makes light of conditions
SCORING conditions weren’t easy at the latest Leinster Alliance outing which was held at Portmarnock Links last Saturday.
The course was in superb condition, but a very strong wind on a course which is a real test at the best of times ensured that scoring was far from straightforward and put the large field under pressure to deliver.
However, despite the testing conditions on the day some managed to produce good golf and the best score was an excellent 36 points from Corrstown’s Paul Higgins, playing off a handicap of five.
With that score he won the best nett on the last six holes from Stackstown’s Peter Horn, playing off eight. Third in the nett category was Terry Lilly (off six) from Slade Valley, with the best of the 35s.
The first prize in the gross section was claimed by Henry Byrne, a professional at the GUI Academy at Carton House, with 35 points, while second gross was won by Declan O’Neill, playing off scratch from Grange, with 33 points.
The next outing for the Alliance is on Sunday, March 13th, at the Royal Dublin GC.
Places on the timesheet are available from Michael Neary at 01-2827297.
Kennedy wins Links event
DAVID KENNEDY, last year’s captain at Royal Dublin, used his local knowledge to full advantage when winning the Esso-sponsored Links Golfing Society President’s (Des Smyth) prize at Royal Dublin last week.
The eight handicapper fired a nett 68 to win by three from Niall Kearney, with Jim Toal from St Anne’s taking third place on 72. Tour player Damien McGrane fired a three-under-par to take the gross honours with a 69 from David Mortimor (70) and Leslie Walker 71.
Kennedy also figured in the team event when joined by Eamonn Darcy and Bernard Gibbons to card a nine-under-par 63.
Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge
THERE are 10 golf courses in Co Clare, and golfers are being offered the opportunity to play all 10 at the rate of just € 10 per round.
The Clare Ultimate Golf Challenge invites teams of four to play all 10 courses for a team entry fee of € 400.
The courses have to be played between April 1st and September 30th this year.
And the bonus is that the top eight teams will play off in Doonbeg GC for the overall title at the end of October.
This is the second year of the challenge which last year attracted a great deal of interest.
The idea is the brainchild of the Clare Tourism Forum, an umbrella group of tourism interests in Co Clare which has been set up to promote the county.
In the only competition of its kind in Ireland, golfers must play Doonbeg, Dromoland, East Clare, Ennis, Kilkee, Kilrush, Lahinch, Shannon, Spanish Point and Woodstock.
The format is a team of four with two scores to count at each hole. A team’s four best course scores will count for entry to see who goes through to the final.
All proceeds raised by the event will go towards the Clare Tourism Forum’s 2012 marketing campaign.
Entries may be made online at www.clare.ie/golf.
