Compiled by SHAY KEENAN
County Meath offers special value
COUNTY Meath Golf Club in Trim is offering an attractive green fee special this year of € 60 for mid-week fourballs.
The club, one of Leinster’s oldest members-owned clubs, is also inviting a limited number of applicants for full membership at a cost of € 1,500, which includes entry fee, annual subscription and GUI levy, while society outings are always welcome.
The original County Meath course was founded in 1989 and designed by renowned American course designer Devereauz Emmett, while the present course was designed by Eddie Hackett and Tom Craddock.
The course measures 6,660 yards and has a par of 73.
In recent years new bunkering has been added to the course to further enhance the challenge, while a new clubhouse was built in 1993.
Further details on outings and membership are available from the club Secretary at 046-9431463 or 086 2749859.
Death of esteemed member
LAYTOWN AND BETTYSTOWN GC lost one of its most esteemed members recently with the sudden death of Pat O’Brien. Originally from Cork, O’Brien was a former Irish pitch and putt champion representing Woodvale. He came to golf in his late 20s, joining Laytown and Bettystown and going on to represent the club with distinction in Senior Cup and Barton Shield as well as representing Meath at intercounty level.
He was a prominent member of the Links Golf Society, winning a prize at the recent outing last month.
However, it is off the course O’Brien will be most missed. An outstanding club man he served as captain in 1988, the year Des Smyth helped bring the Dunhill Cup back to the club. He went on to fill the roles of honorary secretary, trustee and treasurer, finally retiring from council only in December, 2010.
O’Brien managed almost all of the senior club teams through the years but it was his role as head of junior golf in Laytown and Bettystown that he most enjoyed. He was a fixture at junior golf events, watching proudly as youngsters learned the game and progressed through the ranks.
His legacy will live on, not only in his years of service, but in a generation of young golfers, who benefited from his generosity.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
McElroy third at Spanish seniors
IRELAND’S Sheena McElroy finished joint third place on 161 with scores of 81 and 80 in the Spanish international senior women’s amateur individual championship at Santa Ponsa GC, Majorca, last Friday. France’s scratch veteran Cecilia Mourgue d’Algue, with rounds of 80 and 76 for 156, was a three-shots winner from team-mate Barbara Jourde, who carded rounds of 76 and 83.
Earlier in the week McElroy teamed up with Vicky Thomas from Wales to finish seventh in the Spanish doubles championship on 161 after rounds of 774 and 84.
On a day of bad weather, the Spanish pair of Cristina Marsans and Caralina Castillejo shot 85 for 157 and a one-shot winning margin over Mar Corcostegui and Beatriz Juanco also from Spain.
Scotland’s Pamela Williamson and her Canadian partner, Diane Williams, just two shots off the pace after the first round, failed to maintain a title challenge and eventually finished joint sixth on 161 after rounds of 74 and 87.
Selwyn-Smith nominated as captain elect of PGA Mooney wins at Ballyliffin Phelan to the fore for North Florida
THE next outing of the Leinster Alliance Golf Society will be at Portmarnock Hotel and Links on February 26th. The time-sheet is with Michael Neary at 01-2827297 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Mooney wins at Ballyliffin
DAMIEN MOONEY was a three-shots winner of the North Western Alliance outing to Ballyliffin’s Glashedy course on Saturday.
Mooney fired a one-over-par 73 to win from Michael McGinley from the Grange, Conor Mallen from Narin and Portnoo and Justin MacLochlainn from North West after all three finished on 76.
Strabane 13-handicapper Kieran Martin won the nett with a 69 from Dunfanaghy’s Keith Lapsley and the Strabane pair of Odran McGettigan and Stephen McCay, all three finishing on 71. The next outing is to Rosapenna GC on Saturday next, February 19th.
Selwyn-Smith nominated as captain elect of PGA
NEIL Selwyn-Smith has been nominated as captain elect of the Professional Golfers Association. The 64-year-old Midland Region PGA professional will take on that role in April before being given the role of PGA captain in 2013.
Selwyn-Smith is a member of the PGA for 48 years and the honour caps a wide-ranging and successful career that has covered all aspects of the golf industry from club professional through to coaching, corporate golf entertainment and lecturing on the sport.
“Being asked to be PGA captain took me completely by surprise but I’m deeply honoured and very excited at the prospect of being captain-elect to Eddie Bullock and then captain for 2013-2015,” said Selwyn-Smith.
Last year he achieved PGA master professional status, while he still coaches and is familiar to hundreds of young aspiring professionals as a PGA tutor in the midlands. He also is a lecturer on the Applied Golf Management Studies degree at the University of Birmingham.
A well-known figure in the midlands, he has been captain and chairman of the region and is secretary of the Warwickshire PGA as well as club and coach co-ordinator for the Warwickshire County Golf Partnership, while he was head professional at Edgbaston GC from 1969 to ’84. He has also branched out in to driving range and course architecture.
Phelan to the fore for North Florida
IRELAND’S Kevin Phelan from Waterford and a student at North Florida University was the highest placed British and Irish student, in joint 29th place, in the Sun Trust Gator Invitational over 54 holes at the Mark Bostick course in Gainesville. Phelan fired rounds of 74, 72 and 73 for nine-over-par 219.
Local knowledge paid off for University of Florida students Philip Choi and Andres Echevarria at their home course.
Choi and Echevarrie finished in a triple tie for first place with Florida State University player Drew Kittleson, who would also be familiar with the lay-out.
Choi scored 72, 69 and 69 for level-par 210, a total matched by Echevarria with rounds of 69, 70 and 71 and Kittleson’s scores of 72, 69 and 69.
Not surprisingly, Florida (844) won the team title by nine shots from Auburn (853), with Louisiana State (862) third and North Florida (866) fourth in a field of 14 teams.
