By SHAY KEENAN
Coláiste Bhríde claim Leinster title
CONGRATULATIONS to Coláiste Bhríde, Carnew, who won the Leinster final of the Irish Schools Junior Strokeplay Championship at Castlewarden Golf Club last week.
Coláiste Bhríde finished five shots clear of St Mary’s Diocesan School, Drogheda, with 12 schools competing for the Leinster title having qualified at earlier stages in the competition.
Coláiste Bhríde will now represent Leinster at the All-Ireland Schools Junior Strokeplay Championships at Strandhill Golf Club on April 25th, 2012.
* THE East of Ireland Alliance have switched the day of their weekly outings.
They are now holding them every Sunday at the European Club and anyone who is interested in taking part over the testing Co Wicklow links course in Brittas Bay can put their names on the timesheet; all interested should contact the clubhouse on 0404-47415.
Headford incentive to boost numbers
IN these challenging times for golf clubs, Headfort members passed a motion at an egm recently that will help greatly in maintaining membership numbers.
On payment of their 2012 annual subscription full members will be awarded a “Membership Coupon”, which is redeemable only by a prospective new member, using it to offset the entrance fee on joining Headfort GC.
This offer is valid only until June 30th, 2012.
The coupon may be used to facilitate a family member, friend or acquaintance to join Headfort GC without the expense of an entrance fee.
Applications will be considered on a first-paid, first-served basis and all applications will be subject to normal terms and conditions.
In addition, a “waiting list” has been set up. Members who register a nominee’s details with the admin office, together with their own contact details, will be put on this list pending payment of their 2012 subscription.
* THE R&A’s chief executive, Peter Dawson, received the 2011 David Chu Award at a ceremony held during the recent World Cup in Haikou, China.
The award is named after Dr David Chu, who died earlier this year, and recognises those who have been instrumental in developing the game in China.
Strabane 1-2-3 at Ballyliffin outing
THERE was a 1-2-3 for Strabane golfers at the North Western Golfing Alliance outing to Ballyliffin on Saturday, their final outing of the year.
Playing the Old Links course in what were probably some of the most testing conditions experienced by the Alliance, with very strong winds and driving rain, the top three spots in the nett category were taken by members of the Co Tyrone course.
Adapting best to the conditions and the winner with a nett score of 74 was 24-handicapper Odhran McGettigan.
He was one clear of club-mate Ciarán Patton, playing off a handicap of 18, while completing the Strabane podium finish was nine-handicapper Michael Kelly, with a score of 77.
Meanwhile, in the gross category the spoils went to John Callan from Ballycastle, who, playing off a handicap of five, won with a score of 81.
That was three clear of Seán Young (scr) of Foyle, while John G McBride, also playing off scratch, was third with an 85.
The Alliance takes a break for a while now and will return for their next outing on Saturday, February 4th, with a visit to Portsalon in Co Donegal.
One-stop booking site launched
CARR Golf Travel recently launched its new internet venture, www.onlinegolftravel.com.
The venture has seen an investment of over € 200,000, which includes support from Enterprise Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. The site offers a one-stop shop for golfers wanting to plan, price and book golf holidays directly online, in different destinations.
Golfers can not only view tee times and hotel inventory but book them directly at the most competitive rates, with immediate confirmation, day or night. The site is powered by Golf Channel Solutions’ GolfNow technology along with a number of aggregators to provide a selection of over 3,500 golf courses and 10,000 hotels.
The site also enables customers to book cars, flights, travel insurance and also research details of their trip in Ireland, the USA and more recently Scotland, but intends to expand destinations to England, Spain and Portugal in 2012.
Coffey retains Ulster Merit title
MALONE’S Louise Coffey has once again proved to be the top golfer in Ulster as she has once again won the province’s Ladies Order of Merit.
At the recent Ulster District agm, Coffey was presented with her prize by the Ulster Lady President Marjorie McCorduck.
She is no stranger to picking up the award as it was the second year in a row she had won the trophy.
She took the 2011 title ahead of Charlene Reid from Royal Portrush.
Meanwhile, the junior order of Merit trophy was won by Lisburn’s Paula Grant, with Jessica Carty from Holywood in second place.
McKenna’s ILGU presidency to begin in January 2013
DONABATE’S Mary McKenna has been appointed president elect of the ILGU, with her presidential term of office starting in January 2013.
The appointment is well merited, following a long successful career as both player and more recently as administrator. She made her international debut in 1968 and won her first Irish Championship a year later. It took her little time to establish herself among the elite golfers of the time and by 1975, the consensus that McKenna was to take over the mantle of the retired Philomena Garvey was realised.
In an unbroken 22-year sequence from 1968 to 1989, she reached 12 finals, winning eight, seven of which were secured in a purple patch between 1969 and 1982.
McKenna represented Britain and Ireland on nine successive Curtis Cup teams from 1970 and on 10 Vagliano Trophy teams from 1969.
More recently, she has captained the Irish Ladies team for two years, from 2002, and later the Girls Junior European team in 2006. She was honoured with the captaincy of the BI Curtis Cup teams in 2008 and 2010 and the Vagliano teams of 1995, 2007 and 2009.
She sits on the ILGU’s high performance committee supporting the development of the game at all levels.
McKenna will take up the presidential reins when the current incumbent, Marjorie McCorduck (Roscrea), completes her two-year term.
