Today's other stories in brief
Roganstown event
The PGA EuroPro Tour will stage a second tournament in Ireland in May, with Roganstown GC in Dublin hosting the Oceanico Group Irish Challenge. The 2007 season will see the PGA EuroPro Tour cross the Irish sea for the first time, with Roganstown hosting an event on May 9th-11th and Faithlegg following with a second event on May 16th-18th.
Meanwhile, 187 players will join the 55 players who were exempt to compete over 54 holes at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire on Thursday in the final qualifying for the 2007 season.And leading the Irish challenge are Brendan McCarroll, from Ballyliffin, and Brian McElhinney from North West GC. McCarroll followed up an opening-round 66 with a level-par 72 at Fulford GC, recovering from three early dropped shots with four birdies and a bogey at the 16th. He finished two shots clear of Tom Maddison (67, 73) and Paul Cormack (68, 72).
McElhinney was another two-shot victor, winning the Bedford leg at eight-under-par 136, following up his opening 65 with a one-under-par 71 after hitting four birdies in his second round. The former British Amateur Champion finished two shots clear of Tommy Hunter (70, 68), with Daniel Brooks, Robert Watkins (both 68, 71) and Spain's Pablo Ramirez (70, 69) three shots back at three under.
Charities benefit
Well over €1 million has been donated by the Links Golf Society following their outings for 2006. Three-quarters of a million was donated to a total of 20 charities throughout the country for the provision of ambulances, while a further €568,250 - making an overall total of €1,318,250 - was donated towards various other charities from the Des Smyth, Padraig Harrington, Irish Youth Foundation and Tesaco Golf-Day events.
Down through the years the Links Golfing Society has raised millions of euros for charity and in the last 11 years the society has actually donated €€7,273,863.
Each year the society continues to raise greater amounts of money and many of the leading lights of Irish golf like Smyth, Harrington, Eamon Darcy and Philip Walton have supported their outings.
Charity Donations for 2006 were: Special Olympics €64,500, Beaumont Foundation 44,500, Ryder Fund 23,000; Mater 65,000, 3Ts 63,500, Ryder Cup 21,000; Links Donation €11,250 - First Tee 8,000, Hope House 1,000, Motor Neurone €1,500, Ambulance Donation €750. Total Donations awarded: €568,250.
The following charities were selected to receive ambulances from the Links Ryder Cup draw: St Michael's House, Goatstown; St Michael's House, Ballymun; Kare, Co Kildare; Spina Bifida Association; Enable Ireland, Sandymount; Irish Wheelchair Association; Central Remedial Clinic; Cork Cancer Research, Mercy Hospital Cork; St Luke's Home (Alzheimer), Blackrock Cork; St Michael's Schools, Holy Angels, Glenmacroon; Nano Nagle Special Needs School, Listowel; Ballinasloe Mental Health Association, Ballinasloe; St. Mary's Special Needs School, Navan Co Meath; The Children's Sunshine Home, Foxrock; Phab (NI) Independent Living, Belfast; Artability (NI), Shankill Road, Belfast; Upper Springfield Development Trust, Belfast; Des Smyth Drogheda Youth Foundation; North Side Learning Hub, Limerick; Irish Youth Foundation, Dublin.
Turner's fifth top 10
Niall Turner of Minnesota University and Muskerry GC posted his fifth top-10 finish when placing joint seventh at the US Collegiate Tournament at Stanford University course over the weekend. Turner shot a one-over-par total of 211, after rounds of 74, 67, and 70, to finish nine shots off the pace set by the winner, Bob Grube of the host university, who shot an eight-under-par 202.
Turner's team-mate, Bronson LaCassie, tied for second place on 204 with Daniel Lim from Stanford. Stanford won the the tournament on a tie-breaker from Minnesota - calculated by the three-day total of the throw-out score each day. Stanford had a 219 while Minnesota had a 223.
Walshe takes honours
Alison Walshe, whose parents come from Galway, helped Arizona University to a share of fourth place at the Dixie Classic at Entrada at Snow Canyon, Utah, last week when taking the individual honours. Walshe claimed the individual victory after carding a five-under-par 67 in the final round, matching her season low. The Westford, Massachusetts native finished with a total score of 214 (two under), two strokes ahead of Stephanie Sherlock from the University of Denver.
The Wildcats carded a 301 (13 over) in the final round to bring their three-round total to 911 (47 over). BYU won the tournament after finishing 16 strokes ahead of their closest challengers TCU. The Wildcats will next be in action when they compete at the Pac-10 Conference Championships on April 23rd-25th in Seattle, Washington.
Classic at Druids
The inaugural "CLRP Celeb-Am Golf Classic" takes place at Druids Glen Golf Club on May 2nd. The event is limited to 36 teams of three, with the fourth member being a celebrity from the world of sport or entertainment. The Classic will be followed that evening by a star-studded Gala Dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
The Children's Leukaemia Research Project (CLRP) committee is comprised of a group of parents and medical staff working together to raise funding for research into finding further cures for childhood Leukaemia as approximately 20 per cent of children fail front-line therapy.
These children are being treated for this potentially fatal disease at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children (OLHSC) in Dublin.
There are only a limited number of teams available for this event at a3,000 a team of three golfers, plus celebrity. To enter a team, buy a table or make a donation, please contact Adrienne Healy on Mobile: 086 806 7074 or email: gahealy@eircom.net
Friendly outing
The Friends of Dublin Hurling Golf Classic will take place at Castlewarden Golf Club on Thursday, May 31st. The event is a four-person team with the best two scores to count at each hole. The cost is a400 per team and this includes a four-course meal. For places on the timesheet contact Michael O'Grady at 087-2331983.
Captain's day out
The North Dublin Golf Club Captain's Association are heading for The Island golf club for Jim McBride's Captain's Prize. The event will take place on Monday, May 14th, and the tee is booked from 9am to 3pm. The Captain's Prize dinner will follow at 8pm. Places on the timesheet will be available from Tuesday, May 1st.
Silver sponsorship
The Golfing Union of Ireland have announced a major new sponsorship for Irish mixed golf. Newbridge Silverware are to sponsor the Irish Mixed Foursomes 2007. The Newbridge Silverware Irish Mixed Foursomes will include entries from over 323 GUI Affiliated Golf Clubs nationwide - all competing for the prestigious title.
The provincial qualifying rounds will be played through May, June, July and August. The national semi-finals and finals will be played on Wednesday and Thursday, September 5th and 6th.
The winners of the Newbridge Silverware Mixed Foursomes will be presented with a specially-commissioned trophy, designed and crafted by the sponsor.
The members of the winning team will each receive the GUI's gold medals (men) and brooches (ladies); runners-up will receive silver while the beaten semi-finalists will receive bronze.
Nordlokken double
They say losing a shot is supposed to make it harder to win competitions, but that wasn't the case for Joan Nordlokken in South County Golf Club. On Wednesday last she won the weekly singles competition with 39 points and it saw her handicap drop from 21 to 20. But it wasn't going to stop her winning ways and on Sunday in the monthly medal she was the winner once again, this time with a score of 72.
Tomorrow (April 18th) is the closing date for entries to the Munster Strokeplay Championship to be held at Cork GC on May 5th and 6th. Enrty forms can be downloaded from the GUI website under Munster.
